Atonement

I'll try to make this a fast sermon. Well, it'll be a day of fast, of course. We might as well go ahead and make it fast. But no, it'll be normal length. But hope that you had a good introduction to the Day of Atonement. It is, of course, an interesting feast day that we observe today. And my wife was pointing out to me as we were coming down that I was ordained 40 years ago on the Day of Atonement. So, I've been in the ministry now 41 years, but 40 years ago I was ordained on the Day of Atonement. I guess they wanted to keep me humble, you know, bring me into the ministry, you know, as an elder at that particular time. But it seems like the years have just gone by so rapidly. It's unbelievable how much time passes and so quickly. We want to, by the way, thank those that did special music and the offer tore it. Very beautiful. You did a wonderful job at it, and we really, really do appreciate the work that you do. As I've said, you know, for those playing instruments, I could do that myself, but it would take a million years, you know, to be able to learn how to play an oboe. It took me quite a long time to figure out how to pronounce the word oboe. So, anyway, we used to actually cut out whistles and make them, you know, out of a bark. I don't know if any of you did that when you were kids growing up, but we used to make whistles. I could blow on one of those, but it had an uncertain sound to it, you know, mainly just whistles. But if you've been following the news, you know that Pope Francis landed at Andrews Air Force Base yesterday. So he is in town. Everybody came out to see him. Time Magazine, by the way, named Pope Francis the Purse of the Year, and they call him the People's Pope. Kind of an interesting name, isn't it, to call him the People's Pope. And that, of course, is what he's been perpetuated to the media in that way, as sort of the People's Pope. And he certainly is the People's Pope, isn't he? He's not God's servant. He's the People's Pope. He's the one that the people have decided on, or at least some red-robed fellows over in the Vatican.

He, of course, is advertised as a very humble individual and has tried to conduct himself at least that way. And that's, of course, to his credit. But we must remember again, he's very instrumental, as are many others, in promulgating falsehoods to the entire world. And, you know, far from being, you know, God's representative, you know, he is not, of course, God's representative, though he represents himself that way. But it is interesting, he chose the Day of Atonement to talk to large crowds in Washington area.

And this is a time he's going to talk about, it seems, things other than spiritual matters. He's going to talk to us about how we have global warming and, of course, the economic problems of the world, capitalism, and that sort of thing. So you'll be hearing a lot of that, I'm sure, over the time to come and other things as well. He's going to talk to the Congress.

He's also going to talk to the U.N. Interesting to see what he actually has to say. And I believe he's going back, if I'm not mistaken, he's returning right before the Feast of Tabernacles begins, or on the day that the Feast of Tabernacles is going to begin. So anyway, he's in the United States and the things he's doing, of course, have never been done before. Speak to an American Congress or, you know, to do what he's doing had just not been done before.

And here you are. You're in here and we don't have windows here, so you can't see out what is going on the outside of the world. On the outside here of the world that is going on right now. But what you're involved in today is what is considered by the Jews the holiest time of the year.

And of course, the Trumpet is also one of the holiest times of the year, days of the year. This day is called, of course, Yom Kippur, the word Yom meaning day, and the word Kippur having to do with why we're here today. We'll talk more about that. But to the Jews, this was a period from Rosh Hashanah, from Trumpets, to the Day of Atonement, of repentance and return to God.

And certainly Israel needs to return to God, doesn't it? This whole world needs to return to God. We observe, of course, this step in the plan of God, and there are seven steps in the plan of God. And we're in the fifth step of that plan that God is enacting and is carrying out and carrying forth in His plan of salvation for all of mankind. The first step in the plan is the Passover, which has to do with Christ's sacrifice. And of course, that pointed to the time when Jesus Christ Himself would come and die for all of mankind.

He was that Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. Then, of course, we have the Days of Unleavened Bread, that picture putting out sin of our lives. We put the leavening out, and so that leavening depicts putting sin out of our lives. It depicts, of course, ourselves also putting God's way in.

God's unleavened way into our lives, that His sinless way of life is a part of our life. And then we, of course, observe the Feast of Pentecost, which pictures the giving of the Holy Spirit. And it's also called the Feast of the First Fruits, which, of course, we know when we understand about Pentecost, it pictures the calling of the Church. The calling of all who are called in this age of mankind, this dispensation of mankind, that where Christ raised up the Church in 31 A.D. When He built the Church, He began to build the Church, as Matthew 16, verse 18 talks about. And He began to establish His Church.

And, of course, it also pictures other things as well. The Feast of Trumpets pictures the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It pictures the time of the blowing of the trumpets that is pictured over in the book of Revelation. It pictures the Day of the Lord. It pictures the First Resurrection, which is very important to those who are the first fruits that are pictured by those in the Pentecost. And then we're here on step number five.

We're going to talk about step number five here in the sermon today. Number six step is the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a feast of temporary dwellings. Because we are sojourners. That's what it pictures for us. We're sojourners, so we dwell in temporary dwellings during the Feast of Tabernacles. In the Old Testament, they were called booths. If you read it back in the King James Version of the Bible.

And, of course, the Feast of Tabernacles pictures the time of our permanence upon the earth. And that is when we will rule with Christ for a thousand years in the millennium and in the world tomorrow. And then there's an eighth day that's right after the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles. We have called it the Last Great Day. It's called the Eighth Day in the Bible. And that pictures when all of mankind that has ever lived or existed upon the face of the earth, who never came to know the true God, who are going to have an opportunity for salvation.

They're going to be brought up in one of the most dramatic resurrections because it's going to be a resurrection of 40 or 50 billion people. This will take place at the end of the millennium, by the way. After we've ruled with Christ for a thousand years, and people are going to be brought up, are going to be shown God's way of life.

And the books are going to be open. These books. They're going to be open to their understanding. The Biblio says, is in the Greek. But why did God give us step number five this day? I'm attempting, by the way, to speak to you without coughing because I've got a little tickle in my throat here. But why do we have step number five in His plan of salvation for all of mankind called, of course, the day of atonement?

And I think in order to understand that, first we need to understand why did God call the church? Why did He call you and me? And why are we today empty stomached and thirsty? And probably by the end of the day, you're going to have cotton in your mouth. And the sun is going to hang in the sky because you won't be able to eat. Well, the answer, brethren, lies in how God works and how God operates. You know, God, throughout the Bible, tells us the story of why the church, why He had to call the church, why He had to call people, select people out of the world and bring them into the church of God as it is, the Israel of God, as we understand it means in the New Testament. You have the Old Testament Israel and you have New Testament Israel. So, in short, why is there an Israel of God? Why is there a church? Well, let's go back over to 2 Samuel 7.

You know, when God created Adam and Eve, He had a very special reason for doing that. His reason, brethren, was that He desires a family. He desires a family.

And when Adam was created, He walked and He talked with God. He spent time with God. Adam and Eve were able to do that. Remember, God had gone looking for Adam in the garden, where He had walked and talked with Him, like we do with our children. You know, God wanted to be that with Adam and Eve. We know the story of what happened in the book of Genesis. I won't recount that. That's, of course, elementary to us. But eventually God brought together His family in the form of Israel. And He formed them and He made them and He put Himself in the midst of Israel.

There was a tabernacle in which God would go and He would be there in the tabernacle. And interestingly, during this time, this day of atonement, was a very special time to God because an atonement was made for all of Israel on this day. That you're sitting here and you're doing without food and water. But in 2 Samuel 7, verse 1, it says, Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house. So here was David dwelling in his house.

And the Lord had given him rest from all of his enemies around about. And the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside of tent curtains. And Nathan said, well, you know, do whatever you feel you need to do.

And during the night, in verse 4, the Word of God came to Nathan. And God told him, You go and tell my servant David, Thus says the Lord, Would you build me a house for me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time I brought the children, as were up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle.

And wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken of anyone from one tribe of the tribes of Israel, whom I have commanded, the shepherd my people Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now therefore, shall you say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I cook you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be a ruler over my people, over Israel.

See, God took David, he was a shepherd boy, and he made him into a king. Now sometimes we think that we can't be used of God. But here you got David was chasing sheep on top of the hill. You know, we like to picture a shepherd being the shepherd there, and all the sheep follow the... Well, David was running after sheep sometimes. He wasn't at all like that. You know, but he was following the sheep, but he was made ruler over Israel. And I've been with you wherever you have gone. Get that, brother? What are you saying here? I've been with you. I've been with you. Wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies before he made you a great name, like the name of a great man who are on the earth, moreover, I will appoint a place in my people Israel, and will plant them, but that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more, nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them any more as previously.

You see, God says, look, I didn't ask for you to build me a cedar house. My desire has always been toward you. My love is for you. I wanted to be with you. I wanted to be among you. That wasn't important to me. I dwelled in tents. I was with you. And wherever, in fact, you went, I was with you in the tent. That's where I dwell. That's where I was. He sang here. So God was content with what was there.

His only concern, brethren, was for Israel. His only care was for Israel. And though he blessed abundantly Israel, he blessed David and Solomon. And what happened? What happened, brethren? Well, we know the story about what happened with Israel. Eventually, Israel, after they were blessed, they arose and became very great in the world. Well, they turned away from God. They turned to idolatry.

And, you know, God had to send one of his prophets, Hosea. And Hosea was ordered of God to marry a prostitute. A prostitute. And that prostitute was Gomer. Not Pyle, by the way, but Gomer. And Gomer pictured Israel in the way that Israel was toward God. And each of the children that were born from Gomer... Let's go over here to Hosea. And Hosea over here in chapter 1, he was ordered to marry this prostitute.

And each one of them basically had a certain name to it. The first one was just real, because God was going to destroy Israel at just real. Israel had, in fact, departed from God long before Judah did. And so Israel was to go into captivity. The next child that was born was called Lohama. In verse 6 of Hosea 1, call her Lohama, or Ruhamah. It says, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away, yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, or battle by horsemen or horses. But in verse 8, when she had weaned Lohama, she conceived and bore a son, and then God said, Call his name Lohama, or Loami. For you are not my people, you are not my people, and I will not be your God. So this, you know, Israel, that God had had had the utmost concern for, departed from God, went and died adultery, and God said, You are not my people anymore, and I am not your God. But God does say later in chapter 2 over here that there will be a time that God will take them back. Now this is the way of God, by the way, that God is very forgiving. God is very loving. And if Israel repents, God will take Israel back. And if you read chapter 2, that's what it talks about toward the end of chapter 2 of Hosea. Over here in verse 14 on down to verse 20, I won't go to read that for the sake of time.

But when God commanded Israel to keep the commandments, the first three commandments, basically, were telling Israel, You be faithful to me. Don't have any other gods before me. Don't take my name in vain. In other words, You be faithful to me, God is saying. So one of the things that God wanted, brethren, is for Israel not to follow after the other nations of the world, the other religions of the world, but to be faithful to God. When Jesus Christ came along in the New Testament, what did He say when He was asked what was the greatest commandment?

What was His answer? He said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. That's what God wants us to do.

And that's what God wanted out of Israel. You know, God wanted a relationship with Israel that was true. You know, there's nothing more beautiful than two people getting married, you know, and one promising their love toward the other, you know, looking into one another's eyes and promising each other that they're going to be faithful to each other in marriage. That's what God wanted. He wanted Israel to be faithful to Him so that He could have a relationship with them, an exclusive relationship.

You know, husbands and wives, do you not want an exclusive relationship with your wife? Don't you want an exclusive relationship, wives, with your husbands? Or do you want your husband to be Tom Catton all around, you know? How about you, husbands? Do you want your wife, you know, gone all hours of the night wondering where she's been or who she's been with? Well, God's no different.

God wanted a faithful relationship, an exclusive relationship with Israel.

And you know, atonement, brethren, reminds us that our relationship with God must be maintained. Does it? You're fasting today, right? You're fasting to maintain that relationship with God.

You know, it's not good enough to start loving God with all your heart and soul and mind, but we have to continue to do that. It's not good enough for a husband and wife to promise when they take the vows when their marriage, you know, when they do marry, that, you know, they'll be faithful to each other that day, but until death, you know, that they're going to be faithful until death. So loving God must continue, brethren. And Israel's love did not continue.

And brethren, that is the real purpose of your calling, why God called you. Because Israel proved not to be faithful, so God had to bring about the calling of the church, the Israel of God. And that's where the church has been brought on the scene. And the real purpose of your calling, brethren, is for that relationship. And so in a roundabout way, brethren, that's why you're fasting today. You're fasting because of your relationship with your husband, your future husband, Jesus Christ. You're fasting because you're Israel. And you've got to maintain your relationship, you know, with your future husband.

Now think about it. Of all of the billions of people upon the face of this planet, there are seven and a half billion people on this earth. God wants a relationship with you.

Why you? I think all of us could ask that question. I guess God would say, why not? Why did He choose David? You know, why did He choose a little shepherd boy as the king of Israel? Because He did. Because He did. And God has chosen to have a relationship with you and with me.

Now why do we fast, brethren, today? Well, fasting has a lot of meanings to it. It seems like every year I observe the Day of Atonement, I think of new things that it teaches us. Now this morning when you got up in the morning, did you think about food? Now all of us didn't, didn't we? But we...did you think about water?

Did you think about maybe you'd like to have a cup of coffee?

Or some hot tea? Or whatever it would be that you normally...as your ritual in the morning? But you didn't have that to do, did you?

And the concept, brethren, that we learn through the Day of Atonement is that this day is a spiritual day. It's a spiritual fast. In other words, our feast is spiritual. It's not physical. You think about, there's not a day in your life you don't get up and talk...think about the physical. Frankly, there's not a holy day that goes by you don't think about the physical. I mean, trumpets, uh, Pentecost, uh, Days of Unleavened Bread. You have to...you think about food even on those holy days, don't you?

You think about eating. But today, brethren, we get down to the nitty-gritty and God says, no, you've got to think about the spiritual.

God wants a spiritual relationship with you, brethren, with all of us today. You think about, also, this day, brethren, teaches us...it teaches us how to keep the Sabbath, then. I learned that this time, by the way. Atonement teaches us how to keep the Sabbath. Well, let's go over here to Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23, I think we'd be remiss not going to Leviticus 23.

But Leviticus 23, on down here, uh, to verse 27, shows why we're here and what we're doing, why we're here on the 10th day of Tishri. But in verse 27, it says, also the 10th day of the 7th month shall be, it says, the day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal. And you shall do no work on the same day, for it is a day of Atonement to make Atonement for you before the Lord your God. Now, you need to put your name in there, brethren. Your name, I think, is always good to put our name in there. You know that it's a day to make an Atonement for Jim Tuck. It's a day to make an Atonement for John Smith, or whoever, you know, is reading it. That's what the day is about.

But it goes on to say, in verse 29, for any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be caught off from his people. So to maintain our relationship with God, we must do what we're doing today. Any person who does any work on the same day, I will destroy from among his people. And you shall do no work at a manner of work. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. In other words, it always ceases to be important. Or always, never ceases to be important, I should say. And it shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn arrests, and you shall afflict your souls on the ninth day, which was last night, at evening, when the sun went down. We were supposed to officially stop eating and drinking. And it says, from evening to evening, or sunset to sunset, you shall celebrate your Sabbath. So it teaches us how to keep the Sabbath. We keep it from sunset to sunset. The Sabbath will be over, brethren, when you can eat. When the sun goes down, you can eat.

It also teaches us how to keep the Sabbath because God wants us on the Sabbath to focus on the spiritual, and not the physical. The thing is, too, though, we do get to eat on normal Sabbaths, but we need to keep in mind, again, the spiritual. That's what's important. From sunset to sunset, God wants one day of our week on the Sabbath to be a day that's entirely spiritual. Again, on those days, other than the toma, we can eat, but we need to keep our minds on the spiritual elements as God's people. So, brethren, here on this day, we are to afflict our souls, the Bible says. The word in the Hebrew is ana, a-n-a-h. It means to beat down. Does anybody feel beaten down, right down? It means to depress, to abase, to chasten, to humble.

Over in Isaiah 58 and verse 3, God did not accept by way the fast of those that are mentioned over there in Isaiah 58 verse 3, because they were not ana, they were not humble. They were seeking their own on the fast day.

In fact, they were grieving others by their labors, and they were not humble before others, nor were they humble before God, as it says over in Isaiah 58 and verse 3. So, brethren, today we ought to be humble.

We should not, again, be resistant to God, in other words.

It's like I remember our two grandchildren, one of them, Finn, was a little bit hungry, and we were headed up from one hotel to another on a boat. We met our children one time down in Laughlin, and you could do a boat ride down there. So we went on a boat ride, and Finn was on the boat, and his brother Seth and Isaac. But Finn was really feeling it, and he wanted food. I tell you what, I've never seen a more forlorn look on somebody's face, and somebody that is, I think, was five and hungry. You know, you talk about the eyes, the puppy dog eyes, and I'm going to die, you know. I remember our boys, when they would fast sometimes, when they were young. And by the way, I'll tell you later about my wife. She came to the church when she was six. Anyway, I'll tell you later about that. But anyway, Finn was so, again, looked like an old dog that was about ready to die. In fact, I thought about calling the coroner before we got up to the hotel with the boat. You know, because the boat ride, we were talking a ten minute boat ride, but I thought he was going to die on the way. But it's amazing what people do when they're hungry, you know. I mean, our boys, when they were growing up, sometimes they'd initiate a fast. They'd come to me and they'd say, Dad, I just don't think I could make it. I'd say, well, maybe you could. Just try a little bit longer. It's only been 15 minutes. But anyway, I'd better not tell you about my wife, because I'm more humble today.

Or I would be after I told you. Let's go to Psalm 35. Yeah, sometimes it's amazing. You know, we had our children introduced to the Day of Atonement slowly. They'd miss one meal. Then they'd get a little older and they'd venture two meals. And I think most of them were like eight or nine when they did a full fast, you know. But, you know, I'll tell you, that sun hangs in the sky. You know, stand by the window and look for the sun to go down, you know. But, Psalm 35. So God wants in this fast day the wind to be taken out of your sails. That we would be a little more moldable in His hands. More humble. More workable. But Psalm 35 here, down in verse 13. You know, here David says, But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth, I humbled myself with fasting. That word humbled is ana there. I humbled myself with fasting. And my prayer would return to my own heart. You know, so, so, you know, He humbled Himself through fasting. So God wants us to be humbled through the fasting. He wants to get rid of the cockiness and the pride that is in us. And, you know, that comes sometimes when you feel strong physically. He wants us to realize we're weak, pretty weak physically, aren't we? And God desires that our strength comes from the spiritual. That our strength comes from humility. You know, over in Exodus 10 in verse 3, over in Exodus 10 in verse 3, again, we see this word ana, Exodus 10. So Moses, it says, And Aaron came into Pharaoh and said, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? This is again the word ana. Let my people go that they may serve me. So Pharaoh, who was a type, by the way, of Satan the devil, would not humble himself before God, shows again the cockiness and the arrogance of Satan. But here, Pharaoh was defiant. You know, from a human perspective, brothers, sometimes we're that way, aren't we, with God? It doesn't matter what God commands. I'm going to do what I want to do anyway.

But we should be willing to obey the very whisper of God as God's people. Brethren, have you surrendered to Jesus Christ, or have you resisted? Are you resisting in your life?

In obedience to God. Sometimes God has dealt serious blows on nations who refuse to humble themselves. You know, take for instance, I think this country, the United States, faced a terrible blow at 9-11. It took the wind out of our sails, didn't it? And some wonder if, in fact, that there's going to be a market crash that's going to occur, that that will take the wind out of our sails.

Why is God allowing some of these things? Why is God allowing, for instance, a terrible drought in California?

Maybe God is trying to humble a people who resist.

You know, our prayer for, by the way, the United States and Britain, and all Israelite-ish nations, modern day Israelite-ish nations, that God would deliver our people, that our people would repent, that they would not be defiant. It sure doesn't look like it's going to go that way, does it? I mean, when, in fact, a man who stands up and says he didn't believe that a Muslim should be the President of the United States, I mean, if he gets lambasted for that, just by what he believes or what he thinks, he'll wonder what's coming to this nation. Makes you wonder if there's going to be a blow to humble our nation that is going to come up to some things, and we know eventually God is going to take our nation to captivity, to humble the nations. And God says then you will be humble, because the prophecy actually says that Israel will loathe themselves, come below themselves, and then be willing to be putty in God's hand, to be workable, and to be moldable.

You know, God allowed Israel to wander in the wilderness. I'm not going to go over to Deuteronomy chapter 8 in verses 2 through 3, but you can read over there distinctly what God wanted. He wanted them to keep His commandments, and He said He made them wander in the wilderness to humble them.

And to prove them, to try them, to whether they would keep His commandments or statutes. That God allowed that people to go through humbling experiences. And God allowed them to do it for 40 years.

Because God is not going to have an intimate relationship, brethren, with someone who rebels against them.

I mean, all of us, of course, would like to be married, wouldn't we, to a maid that is on the same team? They're working together. Is that what a husband and wife are supposed to do? I mean, how many husbands want a wife that is basically ordering him around?

Or how many of you wives want a husband that is ordering you around at everything you do?

Again, you want faithfulness in a maid? You want, you know, a teamwork. You want to have a cooperative attitude, you know, with your mate. And that's what God wants. God is not going to marry again a rebel. He just is not going to do it. And God will never bless, by the way, rebellion. He simply will not. And, brethren, if we surrender to Jesus Christ, we are the clay in the hand of our potter, God, who's molding us and is shaping us. You know, let's notice over here in Proverbs chapter 3, Proverbs chapter 3, God is molding you, brethren, you and me. And this day, when we are without food or water, frankly, we're the most pliable in the hands of God.

Maybe we'll listen to some of the things God has been saying to us. You know, we're pretty hard-headed, aren't we? We are pretty hard-headed. Now, don't tell me speak for yourself, because I know you are too. All of us are hard-headed. But in verse 34 of Proverbs 3, surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble. So God scorns the scornful. You know, those are going to be defiant to God. God Himself scorns them, but He gives grace to the humble. What is grace, brethren? Unmerited pardon. You know, those who are lowly or humble before Him, God dispenses this unmerited pardon. Chapter 6 of Proverbs, as we're over here in Solomon's writings. In chapter 6, verse 16, it says, You know, you think about God hating something. You wouldn't want to be what He hates. Yes, seven are abomination to Him. Notice it says, the first one, a proud look.

And it says, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift to running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among the brethren. You know, someone who sows discord is unfaithful to God, unfaithful to his brothers and sisters, quite frankly, too.

Yet we've had people that have sowed discord who have been unfaithful, unfaithful to God.

And at the same time, believe they did God a service. Amazing. Again, God will not have a relationship with rebellion, brethren.

You know, the word, the phrase proud look here, Vain says, is showing oneself above others or arrogant. The arrogant look. Being arrogant. And of course, there's a lot of arrogance in the world today. Like I said, though, fasting takes the wind out of your sails, doesn't it? And if it doesn't happen, and by the time the sun goes down, brethren, and you want to prove my theory, go ahead and keep fasting.

And I think by the time of three days, you'll be crawling to a refrigerator, and you'll be asking for somebody to give you a glass of water. Because we wouldn't last long, would we, without water and without food.

And we are nothing. We are just nothing without those physical accoutrements. And frankly, it proves we're nothing without God. Let's go to Psalm 18. Psalm 18 over here.

Psalm 18.

Psalm 18 in verse 26 and 27.

It says, With a pure heart you will show yourself pure, and with a devious you will show yourself shrewd. For you will save the humble people, and will bring down haughty looks. So God will save the humble people. So you want to escape the time of trouble that is coming, brethren, in the world in the future?

We have got to have an atonement attitude of humility.

Like the time of, you know, the Passover is a foot washing attitude of humility, isn't it? And here we are at atonement, it's the atonement attitude of humility. They all go together, brethren. And the Bible says that if we humble ourselves on the side of God, you know, that we'll have a relationship with Him.

You know, if we turn to God with all of our heart, we'll have a relationship with Him. You know, as God's people, we need to be doing that, brethren, and be humble before God. Atonement in the Greek, by the way, is equivalent to the word that is in the Greek, kettl. I'll spell it for you, because I'm not sure exactly how to say this, but it's K-A-T-A-L-L-A-G-E. And it's translated, reconciled. Reconciled. Atonement means to reconcile. You know what the word reconciled means, brethren? It means the restoration of divine favor. You have God's favor. Reconciliation. So today, brethren, we're reconciled to God. It pictures, when we're fasting here before God, we're reconciled before God. And that reconciliation comes about for us through Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

And when we humble ourselves before God, like this today, brethren, it shows that we can have a relationship with God that is possible for us to have that relationship. You know, we have to overcome this flesh, and we need God's grace to have forgiveness of sin. We need God's forgiveness to overcome the devil. This day signifies the time when the future world is not going to be subject to Satan's deception in the future. There are a lot of scriptures that show us this. Revelation 12, verse 9 shows us that Satan has deceived the whole world. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4 shows that he is the God of the world, and that he's blinded the minds of those so that they cannot believe, unless the light of the glorious Gospel should sign to them. But God's taken the veil off of our eyes so that we can see the truth. Also, brethren, we look to a time when the world again is going to have Satan out of the way, and the demons as well. The Apostle Paul said in the book of Hebrews, he says, for under the angels he is not put in subjection the world to come. The world that comes is not going to be put into subjection, as it is today's, in subjection to the demonic powers of the world. It's not going to be put in subjection, by the way, even to the righteous angels. It's going to be put into subjection to Jesus Christ and the saints in that time. So we see that it's in God's plan, brethren, that Satan and the demons are going to be put out of commission. This day of Atonement pictures that as well. Satan or his angels will rule in the world to come, and God is going to, in fact, incarcerate Satan and his demons at the beginning of the millennium. And this day of Atonement pictures this. Atonement reveals this part in the plan of God, the fifth step in God's plan. And ancient Israel was given this pattern, by the way. Over in Leviticus 16, Leviticus 16, let's notice over here.

Here, this maps out, in fact, what is going to happen, what in reality is going to happen. In the same way, by the way, that the Passover mapped out how Christ was going to come and die.

The Day of Atonement, Feast of Trumpets, and all this maps out, you know, the steps in God's plan. But here it shows what is going to happen, and what is happening, in fact, with regard to Jesus Christ, particularly. But what will happen in regard to Satan the devil? In Leviticus 16, verse 16, verse 2, maybe we should begin there. And the Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron and your brother not to come at just any time into the holy place, inside the veil. This was what was called the holiest of all, that was beyond the veil. Because the high priest could only go in there once a year. And he went in there for what purpose? He went in there, brethren, for the sins of Israel.

But we'll see that a little bit later on. But he was not to go, they were not to go into the veil except, you know, the high priest could go in. But if the other priest went in, they would die. It wasn't their duty. For I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. Now down in verse 5, let's get into this scenario here. We'll try to make it as brief as possible. But at the same time, make sure we present this. But in verse 5, He shall take, from the congregation of the children, as there were two kids, it says of the goats. So he was to take two goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burn offering. And Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself. So here there was a bull that was offered for Aaron. Now Aaron, because of what he was going to depict, by the way, in this whole scenario, had to be clean. His family had to be clean, as a matter of fact. But, you know, that, of course, is another topic. But going on and making a torment for himself and for his house. But notice that he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the house of the tabernacle of meeting. And then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord, L-O-R-D, or Y-H-W-H, you know, in the tetragrammatian. We know that, we refer to that as the eternal. Or one for God, and the other lot for the scapegoat. Now in the King James, in New King James, you have the word scapegoat. Scapegoat implies that somebody's not guilty, but they're being punished anyway. So that's certainly not what this goat means. In the Hebrew, the Hebrew word is a zazol. And it means, basically, to let escape. From which they get the word scapegoat. But this is why the King James translators use the word scapegoat. But it's the goat that was let escape, which is entirely different. But one goat depicted the future sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the other goat depicted none other than Satan the devil, as the azazol.

And the goat that depicted the Lord here was taken, and its blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat for the sins of the people, for the forgiveness of their sins. And you can read again, going through here, about this.

And it says, And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord, Adore the tabernacle of meeting, then errant shall cast lots, And so he chooses one for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat, And errant shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell, And offer it as a sin offering. And the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, Shall be presented alive before the Lord, To make an atonement upon it, And to let it go as the scapegoat, or the escape goat, into the wilderness.

So the goat depicted, the Lord depicted, in fact, Jesus Christ.

And errant, by the way, is a type of Jesus Christ, who enters into the holiest of all with a goat that was the, pictures the Lord, or the Eternal, with that blood, He enters into the mercy seat, and sprinkles it on the mercy seat. Depicting, you know, the sins of Israel forgiven, because remember, the Ten Commandments were in the mercy seat, which is, you know, sin is broken law. And so God forgives, or remits, the sins. And then we find that Aaron, who depicts Jesus Christ, lays his hand on the escape goat, or the Azazel, and this goat was let go in the wilderness.

But he lays the sins of Israel, in a symbolic way, on the head, by the way of this Azazel, and is let go in the wilderness. And this depicts, brethren, that eventually, the sins that Jesus Christ took for mankind, for all of mankind, are going to be put back on the head of the author of sin, who is Satan the devil. See, there's no reason why Jesus Christ should be made responsible for eternity for the sins of humanity. God is going to put those sins on the head of the devil, and the Bible says he's going to be let go into the wilderness. In fact, that will commence, in fact, when Jesus Christ returns.

Because when Jesus Christ returns, he's going to, in fact, bind Satan the devil. And that will be in preparation for the time when he's going to be let go ultimately to his fate that the Bible spells out as outer darkness, where the wicked are going to be cast. Wherever that is, we don't know where that is, do we? We don't know what that is. Maybe it's a super black hole. I don't know. You know, maybe it's this place that scientists call dark matter. But he's going to be tossed out there where no being, no human being will be. But let's go over to Revelation 20 over here, Revelation chapter 20.

So this day has a very important meaning, brethren. You had to picture a time when Satan is going to be bound. The demons are going to be taken out of the way.

And that, in fact, brethren, that there's going to be a vacuum in the world a vacuum that's going to occur. And I'm going to talk a little bit about how that vacuum is going to be filled and what this day has to say about it. In Revelation 20, though, in verse 1, it says, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon, and that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he was cast in the bottomless pit, and shut up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a short period, a short while, and then, of course, after that he's going to be cast into outer darkness. So this day, brethren, depicts that time when that's going to occur.

And that's going to commence again at the beginning of the millennium, and the Day of Atonement, brethren, looks to that time. It looks to that time. So this day is a day of atonement for us, or as you look in the Hebrew, it's a day of atomance, really, for us. It's a day when God begins to atone for a lot of things, you know, that have occurred in this world, and set things straight, picturing that time. Like I say, when Satan and his demons are taken out of the way... Now, again, Satan was the God of the world, right?

The demons rule over the nations. You read the book of Daniel, we find that out. Remember when, in fact, Gabriel had come to Daniel to reveal, you know, the dream that Daniel had had? That, you know, he said, I would have been here earlier, but, you know, the Prince of Persia would have stood there. He was talking about a demon.

And he said, and when I go back to fight him, he says, then, you know, the Prince of Grisha is going to come and help him, basically. So, in other words, the demons are ruling over the nations in the way that Satan is the God of the world. So when, in fact, they're bound, there will be a vacuum. Well, Jesus Christ is already qualified to be the King of kings and Lord of lords. And, brethren, we're here in the church to qualify to be the lords and the priests, you know, the lords and the kings that are going to be under Jesus Christ. If Christ is the King of kings, who are the kings and lords that he's over? That's you, brethren. That's the church. That's what the church is all about. And the Day of Atonement pictures our inauguration as kings and priests. Now, again, don't think, brethren, I couldn't be a king. I couldn't be a priest or a lord, you know, as it's referred to in the Bible. Well, brethren, God could say to you the same thing He said to David. If David had said, well, I'm a shepherd, I can't be the king over Israel.

But didn't David turn out to be the greatest king that Israel ever had? He did, didn't he? He was the greatest king that Israel ever had. Brethren, and God is going to make you a king and a lord, and you're going to be with the king of kings and the lord of lords. And this day looks to that inauguration, into that time, brethren. You know, God is going to, again, get rid of the cause of the problems, the cause of the chaos that is in the world, cause of the violence, and that culprit, brethren, is the devil. This evil world is a product of His mind, and Satan is going to be locked up for a thousand years, brethren. He's going to face God's vengeance, and eventually He's going to be cast out into our darkness. Again, what that means, we don't ultimately know, but that's what the Bible tells us, brethren. And those who are going to come along, brethren, who have overcome by the power of God's Holy Spirit, brethren, and by the blood of the Lamb, God's people, God's church, are going to be inaugurated into office, and they're going to rule with Christ in the world tomorrow. Let's go to Revelation 5 and verse 10 over here. Revelation 5 and verse 10.

Over here it talks about those that are redeemed.

It talks about how that in verse 9, and it redeemed us to God by your blood, by the blood of Christ, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, as verse 9, but verse 10, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. So this is what this day pictures, a part of it, brethren. It pictures the binding of the devil. It's a day when you and I are supposed to be humble before God, that we're to have a real spiritual relationship with God. It pictures a day, brethren, when we're going to be inaugurated and given the job that we'll be rewarded with in the future, as kings and lords under Christ for a thousand years. And, brethren, God wants us to be humble, doesn't He, as future kings and lords. Gotta get the wind out, brethren, and humble ourselves. Anna, afflict ourselves. So why are you keeping the Day of Atonement, brethren? You know, it's because God wants a humble people. He wants a mate that He can have a relationship with, a partner relationship with. Of course, He will always be over us, brethren, and have that position of King of Kings, brethren. But He's wanting to have a relational, intimate relationship with us. So, brethren, this is the incredible truth of this day that we're observing today. Brethren, if we can only remember what we're learning right now, right now, as you're hungry, if somehow you could hang on to this. And I always like to say that Atonement is a springboard to the Feast of Tabernacles, to have a spiritual feast. So use this as a springboard, the spiritual feast. Don't think about the physical as much, brethren. Although the feast is a time to rejoice, it's a time to eat and to enjoy the fruits of your labor, and to bless you with the things you've given to you, and bless you with. But think of the spiritual. Put the spiritual first. If we humble ourselves before God, brethren, we can be used in a very big way in the world tomorrow. We'll see Jesus Christ's return. We'll see Satan, in fact, bound. And we'll see the world's problems resolved, and we'll have a part to play in it. And most awesome of all, brethren, we'll have the chance of eternal life, and to rule with Christ for a thousand years in his family, to be part of the family of God. So let's make sure again, we today, even though we're not eating and drinking, and even though the sun will hang in the sky tonight, and your tongue will cleave to the roof of your mouth, for thirst, and you will spit cotton by the end of the day. If we can learn the lesson of this day, of remaining humble and like clay in the hand of the potter, we will have gotten the meaning of this day and the importance of this day of atonement.

Have a wonderful feast where every may be going. My wife and I have taken off tomorrow for the feast over in Hawaii, and we'll be praying for you that all goes well where you go. Have a safe feast and a wonderful feast, and enjoy yourself and rejoice as the Bible commands us to.