Atonement

Well, thank you very much, Steve. That song was sung at our wedding.

Look how good it's done for us. 41 years, so appreciate that. Thank you very much.

The Scripture says to be still and therefore to know that I am God.

Perhaps there is no day quite like today in which we have that with the solemnity and the holiness that accompanies this day called the Day of Atonement.

My message to you today is entitled, Atonement in the Spirit of Jubilee.

Atonement in the Spirit of Jubilee. I hope to bring you this message because the Day of Atonement is more than just simply about facts and figures and items and things and knowing the verses. More than anything, it's about the Spirit and the grace and the love of God the Father and Jesus Christ visited upon us.

I'd like to begin this message by sharing with you that it was on this day, the Day of Atonement, that the shofar was to sound through the camp of Israel.

Now, for all of us that are in the United Church of God Los Angeles and visit with us, we know that oftentimes we do play that shofar. And for some of our young people or for some that are new to the Word, that perhaps you think, well, we know about the shofar because Dr. Hoover plays it, plays this horn that nobody else plays anymore. We normally play with brass instruments, etc.

And maybe that's all that we understand about the shofar. But the shofar was deeply rooted in the consciousness of the average Israelite. Back to the days of Abraham, back to the Mount, back to when the father of the faithful went up the Mount with that son of promise, that son named Isaac, and was about to offer him up and was going to be willing to offer him up.

And then to recognize just when he was about to slay Isaac, that God said to the angel, hold back, now I know, I know about you. I know about you. And then Abraham looked over, and in the thicket, in the chaparral, we might say in Southern California, there was a ram that was caught in the brush, caught in the thicket, with its ram's horns and couldn't get out. The sacrifice had been placed on the Mount. The sacrifice would be in the hands of Abraham to offer his God. And thus, the name of that mountain was changed. And the name of that mountain was, the Lord will provide. It is when you hear the sound of the shofar, it is the sound, and it is the melody, and it is the tune, and it is the spiritual lyrics, that whenever you do hear it, that you have that consciousness, you have that reality, you have that hope, you have that knowing that God will provide. But the shofar that I'm talking about today, on that day of atonement, this was gifted by God to be like no other ordinary atonement day. For this would be the 50th year since the trumpeting shofar had sounded in such a way. And God, that good God, that loving God, desired that the people would rush forward in an air of excitement that would be generated from village to village to village as they heard the shofar sound forth. They knew something would be special about to be occurring. God's intention was that there would be ecstatic joy from house to house as the sound of jubilee, the sound of jubilee, was in the air. Yeah, sure, everybody's stomach might be churning, might be growling on this commanded fast day, but the meaning of the moment was greater than the squeeze on the tummies. For the time was here. Now, after seven times seven, which numerically signifies God's perfect creativeness, here would be the 50th year.

His incredible plan of grace-filled generosity was to go into motion. Brethren, it was to be the jubilee.

God, having spoken through Moses, left no doubt about this moment of jubilee. Join me if you would in Leviticus 25. In Leviticus 25, it speaks of the jubilee.

And let's pick up the thought in verse 10, if we could.

Actually, let's pick up the thought in verse 8. And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourselves, seven times seven years, and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you 49 years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the day of atonement. You shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all of your land.

And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all of its inhabitants. And it shall be a jubilee for you. And each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. Now, let's understand some of the things that were occurring here. It is very specific that what would happen. What this jubilee on this, the day of atonement, would be about. In verse 10 we find this. It says, you shall proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all of its inhabitants. Number one, for those of taking notes, liberty was to be proclaimed. Liberty.

Liberty. He said, but wait a minute, weren't these, weren't these Israelites? Hadn't they already been liberated? This would be the next step of liberation. And we'll talk about it a little bit later. Point number two, again in verse 10, it says, to all, to all the land, to all its inhabitants. Nobody was to be untouched. It wasn't going to be locked up in a closet somewhere just for the chosen few. God says there's going to be liberty and it's going to be for everyone that is in the land. Then again, verse 10, it shall be a jubilee for you. And notice, and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. The third point I want to share with you about jubilee is this. Each were to return to their possession, and they were to be grounded in family and property.

They were going to be able to go back no matter what their father or their grandfather or what they had done. They were in that sense going to be released and given a brand new start.

On this day, the day of jubilee, on the day of atonement. You can check later. I'm not going to go there. You can jot down verse 23 and 28. The loss of land was indeed restored at the jubilee.

Verses 39 through 41, indentured servants that had debts, that had debts to others, and the only way that they could pay off those debts was to make themselves indentured and be a man's servant or a family servant for seven years. Those two were forgiven. But now let's go to Leviticus 25 and verse 11. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you, and it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord nor gather the grapes of your intended vine. Interesting.

For it is the jubilee, and it shall be holy to you, and you shall eat its produce from the field.

In this year of jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. And later on, what is very interesting down here in verses 19 through 21, let's pick up the thought there, then the land will yield its fruit. Remember, the land on the jubilee was to rest. You weren't to activate it, you weren't to work it. We say, you can't do that and stay in business, you can't do that and stay alive. Then, verse 19, then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell there in safety. And if you say, what shall we eat in the seventh year since we shall not sown or gather in our produce, then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. God would bless them. You cannot outgive God. But what they began to do in that jubilee was not just an event, it wasn't just a one-moment action, it wasn't just something you do by the clock. Jubilee denoted an existence, a way of being that lasted more than a moment. And when you notice what it says here, which is a beautiful word I'm going to build upon in this message, verse 18, so you shall observe my statutes and keep my judgments and perform them, and you will dwell in the land of safety. So for that year it was like a Sabbath.

It was a land of safety. It was in the truest sense a type of the kingdom of God.

But the grand significance of the jubilee experience was not to be its roll out of liberating activities, but the spotlight was to be on relationships. Relationships. And I want to focus on that for a moment. As I began this message, I said we need to be still and know that God is God and what God is asking of us. And recognize that on this day of atonement, brethren, I hope to a little bit move you away from thinking about your tummy, and to recognize that it never changes the Word of God. God is calling us to relationships, relationships, to jolt us, to move us, to shape us, sometimes to shake us and to wake us up, and to recognize the holiness that He wants to incorporate in all of us. It's about relationships of what God wants, lest we forget. And you might want to jot that down, lest we forget, because this is going to be very cardinal in this discussion regarding the jubilee.

Let's take a closer look at the relationships that God wanted us to obtain. Let's notice verse 14.

It says here, And if you sell anything to your neighbor, notice, during that time, and if you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor's hand, you shall not oppress one another.

You shall not oppress one another. Verse 17, Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God. Verse 23, The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is mine. For you yourselves are strangers, and sojourners with me. Verse 35 through 38, If one of your brethren becomes poor and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or sojourner, that he may live with you.

Take no usury or interest from him, but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.

You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit.

Why? Why? Why does God put these regulations on Israel? For I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

I will be your God. You will be my people. I rescued you from Egypt. You were the stranger in a foreign land. You were a slave. You had nothing. Think back of where you were.

Remember who you are. Remember who I am. And because grace and mercy has been visited upon you, thus every human being that is made in God's image and after his likeness, you are indeed to treat the same. Verse 42. This continues to echo, For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, for they shall not be sold as slaves. And then we pick up the thought in verse 55. For the children of Israel are servants to me. They are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

How often the festivals that we observe remind us before we can move forward with God, we must go back to our beginning chapters, whether it was of Israel of old, or whether it's the Israel of God today. The body of Christ is to remember where God picked us up along the way, where God first visited us, where God first had mercy.

And understand that love that Mr. Budge talked about, that there's nothing that can separate us from the love of the Father through Christ. And because we remember what has been visited upon us, that is exactly how we treat other people. Now, let's be frank.

Humanly, it's quite natural to be stingy with mercy. Here God says, think of others.

He says, pass it on. Verses 18 and 19. It says here, so shall you observe my statutes and keep my judgments and perform them, and you will dwell in the land and safety. And then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell there in safety. God is talking more than just simply about a singular activity or a day. He's talking about a way of life. He's talking about an existence. He's talking about an environment. He's talking about love being an action that moves beyond ourselves and what we want and truly being concerned about others.

When we look at this, we need to understand something very specific. You might want to jot this down if you're taking notes because we're going to build upon this. The Day of Atonement is not only about us focusing where God is, but also to help us recognize where we are with our fellow man and our fellow brother. Now, we're going to build upon that. It's very interesting when you look at everything that is associated with Jubilee in the 50-year. It's not only directed towards God, it's directed then in practice as to what you're going to do with your fellow man and with your fellow person and how you yourself are going to be a different person. Now, with all of this said, we're going to build upon that later to the New Testament. With all that said then, it's of note the word Jubilee. What does it mean? The word Jubilee itself literally means that it is a time of shouting. That's what Jubilee means. I love talking about the Jubilee on the Day of Atonement because when you're physically fasting, the last thing that you really want to do is whoop it up.

You might not quite feel like shouting, but this shouting is about proclaiming. It's about getting excited. It's about getting revved up. It's about getting, as we say out of the 60s, turned on to what God is doing, to what God is about. And what He's not only going to necessarily bring only to Israel of old or the body of Christ today, but what He has in store for all of mankind.

The Day of Atonement is about getting your mind off yourself and your tummy and your flesh and what you want to do and what you're about and your list and your plans. And to rededicate ourselves as we now move towards the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day Festival and all that they mean. Jubilee means to shout, to get excited! Churches at one o'clock, Day of Atonement, gotta start fasting. Probably should pick up the Bible, read Leviticus 23, just to make sure.

Better read the Bolton, make sure I'm on time. Better also look at time, what time sunset is, because I'm really hungry. This is kind of how I do the Day of Atonement, year in and year out.

Doesn't this sound like shouting? Doesn't this sound like proclaiming?

Same old, same old. SOS. Help! That's why I'm giving you this message to help you.

If there is one day that is exciting in the plan of God, it is this, the Day of Atonement, and why God placed Jubilee on that day. He says to proclaim liberty throughout all the land, to all of its inhabitants. The word liberty out of the Hebrew literally means to release.

To release. To release. The action behind it is as if you are releasing a bird like a swallow, and thus conveying motion and freedom. It's a release. It's a letting go. It's freedom, and it's liberty. And that's freedom is something that we can all shout about.

Most of us that are Americans are familiar with the Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell, and on that is, comes right from Leviticus 25 and the Jubilee, proclaim liberty to all the inhabitants of the land, which was actually, the bell was commissioned for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when William Penn said, I know the challenges that you are having, trying to be a Christian in different places and in different lands.

I want you to feel free. I want you to feel able. Come to Penn's Woods. Come to Pennsylvania, and worship your God, and we will live side by side.

50 years later, that bell was molded, proclaimed liberty to all the inhabitants throughout the land.

Most importantly, and amazingly, this year of Jubilee was to commence on the day of Atonement.

Share me if you would in Leviticus 23 now. In Leviticus 23.

And let's take a little look here at what God instructs in Leviticus 23 verse 27.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of Atonement, and shall be a holy convocation. It's a summons.

A convocation is a called-for meeting by the sovereign of this universe.

It's not a maybe. It's not, well, I'll see if I'm kind of up to it. Have you ever done that with the local superior court when you get a summons? I'll think about it. I don't think that works there, and that doesn't work in heaven above. God has called us here for a purpose.

And it shall be a holy conversation, and you shall afflict your souls. You shall afflict, the word is anah, and offer an offering made by fire to the eternal. Now, watch verse 28.

And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the day of Atonement, to make Atonement for you before the Lord your God. For any person who is not afflicted and soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work, second mention of not doing any work, any work at all, I will destroy from among his people. Verse 31, you shall do no manner of work, third time. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations and all your dwellings.

And it shall be a day of solemn rest to you. It's a Sabbath. And you shall afflict your soul on the ninth day of the month, that evening from evening to evening. You shall celebrate your Sabbath three times in this command regarding Atonement. More than any of the other festivals, God tells us, don't work. Stop. Stop. Stop.

Be still. You're not going to be able to save yourself by the works of your own hands. You're not going to be able to save yourself by your industrial labor. In fact, this time is so holy so that you can understand my purpose that I even want your tummy to stop. It's not going to be digesting. Everything comes to a stop that we might behold the saving work of God the Father through Jesus Christ. It's a wonderful day, brethren.

It's on this day, every 50 years, that God's intention was to lay it all out. What would be the underpinnings of his great society? Forgiveness of debt, redemption that we heard about from Mr. Budge, restoration to the inhabitants of the land. Elsewhere in the scriptures, you can jot this down in Ezekiel 46-17. It was called the year of liberty. In Isaiah 63 and verse 4, it was called the year of the redeemed. The redemption spoken of in the Bible speaks of a payment that one could not make on their own. It had to come from somewhere else. It was also called the acceptable year of the Lord in Isaiah 61 and verse 2 in dealing with the messianic prophecy concerning Jesus coming.

And that word there acceptable meant the pleasurable, the pleasurable year of the Lord.

Now, you want to know something that's really...let's go one step further now. What's really amazing here with this setup that I've shared with you, what's really amazing is that we have no written record of a jubilee year ever playing out in Israel. It's of note that the chosen people of God seemingly, I say seemingly, never put it into motion. The mechanics of this redemption that the shofar was to announce, God shall provide. So near, yet so far, the tools were all there for a society like the kingdom of God being on earth. They didn't do it.

It's a lesson, brethren. It's a lesson. Lest we forget. And I'll talk to you about that at the end of this message. What is of interest and what is recorded is one man that did not forget the jubilee. Join me if you wouldn't look forward. In Luke 4, we have one of the opening messages of Jesus Christ we find in Luke 4 and verse 16. And in Luke 4 and verse 16, it is none other than Jesus in the fulfillment of the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61 who announces and prescribes that acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4, 16. Let's read it together. So he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as discussed and was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. What was the jubilee all about? He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Jubilee, openings, moving beyond social caste, looking after your fellow man, bringing up that which is lowly and raising him on high, taking that which is on high and bringing him down. These were the words of Jesus. And further on in the sermon, he has the audacity and the courage to talk about the Gentile and to talk about the widow. He moves beyond the comfortable social norms of the church of that day and says, yes, they will also be included. Yes, they will. Because jubilee is about proclaiming liberty to all of the inhabitants of the land, be they Jew or be they Gentile.

What you need to understand, I'd like you to jot this down if you're taking notes.

Don't want you to mistake moving out of here today and wondering what Robin Weber was talking about.

Jesus Christ is the Jubilee incarnate. He is the Jubilee in flesh. He's it. He is that Jubilee.

He is amazing. He is wonderful. He was not recognized in his own hometown. They wanted to kill him. They wanted to get rid of him immediately.

And he came back and said, can a prophet even be recognized in their own place?

Jesus Christ came to level the playing field for every human being before God the Father.

That indeed, even as our own Declaration of Independence says, all men are created equal.

Jesus Christ came to this earth to make sure that on behalf of the Father, that all humanity had equal access to him. How incredible and how wonderful.

Luke, in search of this story, building upon what he wrote in Luke 1, 46. Join me if you would in Luke 1.

It is what is commonly called the Song of Mary, which is again the Song of Jubilee.

You want to know what the Bible is about, friends? You want to know what the good news is? You say, let's preach the gospel. Let's talk about the good news. It's good news about Jubilee. Jubilee, that God in his wisdom of all days when you and I are feeling a little shallow and a little disconcerted because our blood sugar is down. He puts all of this on this day, Jubilee, on the day of atonement to say it's not by our flesh, it's not by our works, but it's what he's doing. Step aside! Step aside! And when you are going down low, my work is going to prevail. And as he said in Isaiah 46 verse 9, he says, I have declared the beginning from the end of the end from the beginning, and I will do all that I say, and I will, my purpose will stand, and I will do my pleasure.

And then he says, I will do it. That's what Jubilee is about. Notice what it says in Luke 1, verse 46. When the news came about Mary being blessed to have the Son of God, the Son of Man, and Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit is rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has regardeth the lowly state of his maidservant. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and his holy is his name, and his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. And he is shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. Now, notice, and he has put down the mighty men from their thrones, and he has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. This is Jubilee.

This is Isaiah. The mountains shall be abased, the valleys shall be exalted. We're not just talking about the topography of this earth. We're talking about the kingdom of God and what it will bring, and create a level playing field for all of those that are made in God's image to have access before God as they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and High Priest.

This is talking about a moral revolution. It's talking about a social revolution. It's talking about an economic revolution that we'll be discussing more as we go to the Feast of Tabernacles. And that's what that'll be about. Which takes us back then, back then, to one of the major lessons of atonement, is that man cannot choose his own sacrifice and Savior.

The people in Nazareth, all the other Nazarenes, said, who is this? He's loco. Gone crazy.

We don't accept this. And they tried to do them in just at the beginning of his ministry.

Which takes us to a pivotal part about what this day of atonement is about, that God chooses our Savior. Join me if you would, just for a moment, in Leviticus 16, to remind us of something. In Leviticus 16 and verse 7, that when the high priest came out and there was the selection of the sacrifice for all of ancient Israel, that they might be redeemed on this day of Yom Kippur.

We find in Leviticus 16 and verse 7, he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. There were two goats.

Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.

It had to be determined by God, which would be that initial sacrifice that would be taken by the high priest on behalf of the people. That blood that would be scattered around the mercy seat that we know. Brethren, this is an amazing lesson out of the day of atonement, Leviticus 16, is to recognize that you and I, we could not pick the Savior for mankind.

We just didn't have simply the tools for it.

It was God's miracle. It was God's selection. And beyond that, it was God's miracle to even begin to open our mind. You know, sometimes I laugh. I hear this sometimes come. People will say, well, I want to join your church. I want to join your church because you believe like me.

Rather, nobody joins the body of Christ. I know what they mean. I think you know what they mean, don't you? But you don't join. You don't hook up and say, I'm going to be a caboose on the body of Christ. It's a revelation, and it's a miracle, and it's God's continued unveiling and revealing of not just simply a goat of old, but his son that was given for us.

We can never lessen that miracle, and we can never forget where God found us and what God did with us, and that what is good for not the goat, but what is good for the goose is also good for the gander, the person that's looking at us and that we come into contact with.

Let's look at this now for a second. Some of the blessings. Mr.

Budge mentioned that the 10 days between trumpets and this atonement are called days of repentance, also known as the days of awe, which finished this evening at sunset. Let's reflect on some of the freedoms that God has given us now. We know the freedoms that God designed for the jubilee year to be experienced by ancient Israel. It doesn't seem like the God around to it, but what about the Israel of God? What about us? What are some of the things that God is giving us through Jesus Christ, who is the jubilee incarnate? Number one. Number one. We are set free as servants to sin.

We are set free as servants to sin and now serve a new master.

Romans 6 verse 21. A verse for each point. Romans 6 and verse 21.

What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?

For the end of those things is death, but now having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end to everlasting life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We've been set free. We have been given, dear friends, we have been given liberty, just like I'm sure at one time or another in our backyards we've all seen a little bird that hit a window or got injured and you pick up that bird and you know something about a bird you start a little bird you know and then all of a sudden you know it kind of goes like this and you go like that go like that and you say those wings and it's gone it flaps its wings and it goes now you now you know what I do about three o'clock in the afternoon every day right okay but it's a feeling of joy it's a feeling of release it's a feeling of liberty and brethren sometimes we need to remember the liberty that is in ours because the father's greatest gift to us the sacrifice of Jesus Christ not just a goat but his son number two our debt to sin which is death is forgiven the debt is forgiven we've been redeemed we have been redeemed as much as a gladiator or a slave or a criminal of old who could not buy their own freedom that's where the whole thought of redemption comes it's something you couldn't do on your own we were all abased in our sins we were all going the way of this world the walk towards death and we have been redeemed we should have that same excitement that Israel had when the priest walked out of the tabernacle knowing what was going on in there knowing that that sacrifice had been accepted we are indeed redeemed Hebrews 2 and verse 14 Hebrews 2 14 in as much than as the children have partaken of flesh and blood he himself likewise speaking of Christ shared in the same that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage for indeed he does not give aid to angels but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham those that belong to indeed the father of the faithful number three through the sacrifice of the lamb of God not a goat and due to his ongoing ministry we're not only free from sin but from its accompanying guilt that sometimes just wants to hold on when Christ who is the jubilee incarnate is shouting talk about jubilee and what it means he's shouting you're free you're free and yet sometimes we don't mind God removing the stinger but we still kind of want to stay in the wound kind of still want to feel the pain or feel like the pain is there I want to share a verse with you please join me if you would in Hebrews 3 and verse 1 Hebrews 3 verse 1 therefore holy brethren partakers of the heavenly calling consider the apostle and high priest of our confession Jesus Christ let's take a look he says let's drop down here then to 4 verse 14 next chapter seeing then that we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace in time of need and then verse 7 through 23 now 7 through 23 in dealing with this specifically also there were many priests also there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing but he because he continues forever has an unchangeable priesthood he's it he knows us and therefore we can have confidence then as we go to chapter 9 and verse 11 where it says because Christ came as a high priest of the good things to come with the greater and the more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is not of this creation not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood he entered the most holy place once and for all having obtained eternal redemption for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh now notice verse 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God levels the playing field we're not only forgiven of our sins but God's spirit begins to work in our minds and in our hearts to remove to remove the pain to remove the guilt to remove the bad feelings God does that with our sins he says he removes our sins as far as the east is from the west and when he says that it's not like it never happened but that's he removes the judgment from our sins as far as the east from the west he's saying here through Hebrews that he also can remove our our memories our feelings our pain our deep sorrow that we we went that direction the pain that sometimes we feel that holds us back from completely serving our God with all of our heart and all of our mind and all of our soul because we're kind of wondering what he thinks about us he's forgotten it he's put it behind him some of you may be going through that right now as we're moving towards the Feast of Tabernacles brethren this keeps being visited by me I think by God's spirit to tell his people one and all we need to have the joy of our salvation restored we need to shout we need to proclaim we need to know that we are in this process of salvation that we are under God's grace that it is not by our works it's not by our good means it's not by our good thoughts but despite that God has visited us and gifted us with his son with his spirit with other members of the body of Christ he has not called us to fail he has called us to be a part of his glory and it says right here this is one of the ways we also recognize point number four we're free from worry then free from worry we prayed for a woman today that has worries right now and together we collectively bonded for a few minutes in prayer and said amen that means so be it that God would gift her and through his spirit remove that worry that no matter what happens with her physical condition your condition my condition as mr budge said as you read out of the words of Paul there is nothing that can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ point number five we are offered a return to the kingdom of God through this sacrifice we are offered to return to the kingdom of God that was interrupted at eat we're given citizenship in his kingdom now we're not on a visa we're not on a green card we're not on student visas God sees things as if they already are join me if you would in Philippians three and verse 20 Philippians verse 20 for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ that's where our citizenship is that's where our confidence is that's where our heavenly apostle is one in whom we will not be disappointed one in whom we don't have to have worries about the jubilee incarnated the point of all this brethren is to recognize that the work of jubilee is not yet complete i'm going to share two quick thoughts with you and we'll conclude remember what i said about lest we forget seemingly ancient Israel lost track of jubilee brethren you and i we just simply can't afford to do that not after what God has done for us and given us his son and given us all the innumerable blessings and gifts that are mentioned in Ephesians 1 if you want to read that later to whom much has been given much is expected and some of the aspects that i've talked about today of jubilee cannot wait 50 years 50 days or 50 minutes aspects like being merciful aspects like being gracious aspects like restoring someone to a relationship with us that is what the day of atonement is about in a microcosm and in a macrocosm that i'm about to speak of join me if you would in 1st John 4 1st John 4 and notice the words of john concerning reconciliation first john 4 and verse 20 if someone says i love god if someone says i'm going to go up and i'm going to keep god's festivals i'm going to go up and i'm going to keep the day of atonement i'm going to go up and i'm going to hear about perhaps goats that were bullocks that were sacrificed 3000 years ago and i'm going to hear about this and i'm going to hear about that if someone says i love god and maybe they have been fasting for three days and not just 24 hours from sunset to sunset and hates his brother he's a liar for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen how can he love god whom he has not seen and this is the commandment we have from him that he who loves god must love his brother remember what was spoken about in Leviticus do this god keeps on saying you will not do this you will not do this you will not do this do this do this do this remember that you were a slave in Egypt remember where you were you treat others as i have treated you you've got to remember that christianity is both vertical and horizontal it goes up to god and it goes out to only do half of that you're not practicing christianity you're not we must treat others the raw reality of christianity friends here in Los Angeles is we must treat others exactly as god has treated us our wives children grandchildren neighbor person that's been in the way for 50 years person that's been in the way for five weeks our neighbor the person at work the policeman the fireman the school teacher that's a lesson of atonement acts three verse 18 let's think big here now let's go wide acts three 18 perhaps one of the great anthem messages throughout the scriptures acts three and verse 18 but those things which god foretold by the mouth of all of his prophets that the christ would suffer he has fulfilled repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the lord and that he may send jesus christ who's preached to you before whom heaven must receive until the restoration notice the restoration of all things which god has spoken by the mouth of all of his holy prophets since the word world began rather than this day of atonement picture is a much wider frame than just simply us in this building ancient israel of old but the world that is around us i just want a spotlight for a moment there's gonna this piece this land of safety that is being talked about cannot come about until the great oppressor the great oppressor is removed from this earth satan the devil the adversary the dragon the one who is the accuser of the brethren i'm thinking we just need to look at this for a moment i think especially with everything that's going around this world right now to on this day of atonement look at this release that is going to come in the future when this is going to occur revelation 20 in verse one let's notice what it says then i saw an angel coming coming down from heaven having the keys to the bottom of his pit and great chain in his hand and he laid hold of the dragon that serpent of old who is the devil and bound him for a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should not deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished but after these things he will be released for a while as we read through this scripture there's much that can be said but the bottom line is to recognize this as i put it this scripture even in its apocalyptic writing in sense tells us that god is going to put satan out of commission you know it's kind of interesting right now there's a lot of this talk over in the middle east about what we should do or what we shouldn't do and that we shouldn't have boots on the ground i think all of us have heard that phrase or some people are suggesting we shouldn't have boots on the ground we keep on hearing that there aren't going to be boots on the ground can i tell you something when you look at revelation 20 there are going to be angelic boots on the ground and on behalf of the authority of god the father and jesus christ they're going to lay hold of satan the devil and they're going to put him out of commission if that's not something to crow about to blow about to proclaim to think of the release that is going to come to all of humanity for the very first time when the prince of the power of the air is put out of commission when there's going to be no filter in all the nations and they're going to be able to see god as god as god and he's going to say come and the nations are going to say come let us go up to jerusalem and let us learn the ways of the lord and let us indeed walk in his past atonement reconciliation liberty release is the window that opens all of this up to see what our great god is doing i hope in a sense today rather than for just a few minutes and you've been very still i told you at the beginning remember be still you've been very still i probably have not been still because i cannot help but get worked up and excited of how a god is doing and if he's done it for me he's done it for so many others down through the ages and it's not going to stop here brother and this is one of the great great understandings that has been visited upon the church of god community these many years that we are not exclusive that god is inclusive that when he says that all all all might have liberty wow i think it's time to go to work i think it's time to get active i think it's time for us in this thought of jubilee to treat others as god asked us to so that you and i can indeed be the kingdom of priests to serve jesus christ during those thousand years what a wonderful truth we have brethren pray the prayer as we come up to the feast of tabernacles father above restore to me restore to me and if it has been restored let's go to the second prayer expand to me fill me with the joy of your salvation that is brought out by these biblically invested days called the holy days of god