Continue to Grow After the Feast

Well, I know as I return from the feast and think about the wonderful, uplifting, and encouraging time that I think we have to say that we are simply really blessed that God has provided us not only the design which He gives us in when the Holy Days are, how we can observe them, how we can celebrate them, how we can learn to worship God. There are courses we mentioned beforehand to be a time of rejoicing, a time of celebration, and thankfully, as we almost always find, we find the Feast of Tabernacles when we get together in little larger groupings than what we do in our local congregation, we find it to be a time of peace and a time of cooperation. Everybody is focused on the world to come, the world tomorrow, the time beyond today, and clearly that's what we're told in Hebrews chapter 11 where it tells us to keep our focus on our vision of what it is that God is going to bring. He's going to bring a solution, a solution to these problems that we face around the world today. The problems we may have drawn back from a little bit because we were away, they were still going on. They still exist in the world. They did not come up with any solutions as far as any better peace proposals, any better anything that would look like it's going to provide solution to man's problems. Everything is still the same. And yet we know time certainly is coming that is going to be glorious that we've just in a sense envisioned here during the Feast of Tabernacles. And clearly that's the focus. That's what God wants us to think about. I want us to to look to begin with here today in Nehemiah chapter 8 and chapter 9. Nehemiah 8 is a chapter we often have read in connection with the celebration of the Holy Days. We see those delineated, defined, and observed in numerous of the books of the law. But here in Nehemiah you find a celebration that and again it gives an example actually gives a big if we read it from and I'm not going to read it from verse 1 on down through verse 12 you see a celebration taking place on the first day of the seventh month. And so that would be the Feast of Trumpets.

And of course this celebration was in this case such a joyous affair because the people Nehemiah and Ezra, others of the House of Judah who had been in captivity had now returned. Returned to Jerusalem. They were ready to start rebuilding the area, rebuilding the temple, restoring the land. It was going to take a good while. But in essence what you read about here in chapter 8 of Nehemiah, verse 2 on the first day of the month, the seventh month, it says they read the book of the law and it says in verse 3 in the latter part of it that the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. So they were now being, having been in captivity, having been deprived of being able to do what you would think they might want or you would hope that they would want to do to find out what God was doing.

It says, and you read through this section down to verse 12, and it talks about how they had a sense of worship service. They were involved in reading the book of the law. Nehemiah, who was the governor in verse 9, and Ezra the priest and the Levites taught the people, said, this day is a holy, a holy day, a day to the Lord your God do not warn or weep. And he even said, he went on to say in this verse 10, the day is holy to of the Lord do not be grieved, the joy of the Lord is your strength. See, so they were being told in a sense kind of being reminded that, well, the festival of trumpets is a day to observe as a holy day. It's to be observed in joy, not in grief. And it goes on in verse 12, the people went on their way to eat and drink and to send portions, to look out for each other, to share with one another the things that they had, to share and to make great rejoicing because they had understood the words that had been declared to them. See, this had been in a sense deprived from them. And so this was, it was a revival. It was a reviving of an awareness of the law. And when you read from verse 13 on down through the end of the chapter here, you see that they also took a look at what else was there. In verse 14, they found it written in the law that the Lord had commanded by Moses the people of Israel should live in tabernacles or booths during the festival of the seventh month. They should publish and proclaim that in all the towns and in Jerusalem, go out to the hills and bring branches and make booths for themselves. And so they were, they were again, in a sense, rediscovering. They were reaffirming in their mind, you know, what it was that God said to do. And it goes on to say that in verse 17, as all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. So they were in temporary dwellings from the days of Joshua to that day the people of Israel had not done so. Late day, at least they had not done so if there had been a recognition or an acknowledgement of it during any of the time frames from Joshua to then. And certainly there would have been times when they would have been aware of it, but it appears that they were doing it with such zeal and such excitement that it was unlike anything they'd done before, because they were excited to know what it is that God wanted them to do. And it says in verse 17, there was very, very great rejoicing. And day by day, from the first to the last, they read the book of the law of God. They kept the festival seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance. And so again, we have this chapter 8 that talks about the Feast of Trumpets observance and a service that talks about the observance of the Feast of Tabernacles and the way in which they were excited to do that. And I think that certainly would reflect what we have felt or what we have enjoyed as we have gone and observed the Feast and then now return back home. And of course, we're looking into what you might describe as somewhat of a dark time of the year. We don't have another Holy Day this year. They have concluded for this year, and they begin again in the spring with the Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread. And yet that's six months from now or so. And during this time, we have some other holidays.

If you walk into any store, you find that there's pumpkins everywhere, there's candy everywhere, you know, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day. All, you know, so many days are going to be observed between now and the time when the Holy Days begin again next year. And so the thing that I want us to be mindful of as we return home and as we can say we've enjoyed the Feast, you know, how do we intend to continue to grow? You know, we've been encouraged to grow. We've been admonished. We've been given vision. How can we intend to continue to grow? Well, there are some very essential things that we can keep in mind that these are not things we are not aware of, but they are things that need to be priority items. And I'll say the first one is revealed here in chapter 9 of Nehemiah. See, here in chapter 8, you know, they were learning about the law. Again, they were observing the festival. They were rejoicing. They were uplifted. They certainly could receive God's blessing and guidance. And yet here in chapter 9, you see an entire chapter that actually leads into what you see in chapter 10 and 11, which ultimately is an agreement that the people of Judah would make with God. You know, they will acknowledge that they had been wrong.

And what we see in chapter 9 is, in essence, a kind of a national repentance, a national confession to say that even though God has been faithful to us, we have not been faithful to Him. And we need to know that. We need to acknowledge that.

We need to acknowledge where we're wrong. We need to acknowledge our sins. And we need to ask God, you know, for His guidance and blessing and thank Him certainly for, you know, for the way that He is so very, very just in dealing with us. Here in chapter 9, it says in verse 1 on the 24th day of the month, the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and inside cloth and with earth on their heads. So they were in a fasting mode. This was actually later in the month at that time. And, you know, what you read about is Ezra and Nehemiah, in a sense, kind of leading the people in an understanding of their need to be repentant, to have a repentant mind, to have a heart that is soft toward God, soft toward His words, impressionable by the words of God, instead of being hard-hearted, instead of being indifferent, instead of ending up in captivity like we've just come out of. We need to be appreciative of what God has done. In chapter 9, verse 6, Ezra says, you are the Lord, you alone are the Lord. You have made heaven, the heavens of heavens, and all your host, the earth and all that is in them the seas and all is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you. So here he's leading the people in reminding everyone that, you know, we need to look to the Creator God. We need to look to the One who created everything. We certainly need to look in verse 7. You are the Lord, the God who chose Abraham, and who brought him out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the new name, chose Abram, and gave him the new name Abraham.

And you found his heart faithful before you, and you made with him a covenant to give to his descendants the land, the promised land, and you have fulfilled that promise, and you are righteous.

So he was reminding the people that, well, look, we're the descendants of Abraham. God began to develop a nation that he would say is his with Abraham. He started working with Abraham, and then Isaac, and Jacob, and Jacob's sons made up, you know, the house of Israel, and later the house of Israel, and the house of Judah. And here, the house of Judah, who are coming back to Jerusalem, you know, they're wanting to be reminded of how it was that God was very merciful. How it was he had delivered them out of the land of Egypt, how he had nurtured them in the wilderness, how he had brought them into the promised land. That's, you know, that in a sense was a reminder of their history. And what he wanted to help everybody be reminded of was in verse 16, you know, God has given us so many blessings. He has given us the law. He has given us understanding, at least to a degree they had an understanding that if you would obey, then you would be blessed. You would be encouraged. In verse 16, he says, they in our ancestors have acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey. They were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and delivered to return or determined to return to the slavery in Egypt. And so in verse 16, and in verse 17, you know, he points out that, well, the people were rebellious. There wasn't anything wrong with the law. There wasn't anything wrong with the agreement. There wasn't anything wrong with God. But what was failing, what was limited here, were the ability of the people to faithfully follow God. And he goes on in verse 17 to say, even though the people were not faithful, you are a God who is ready to forgive. You are gracious and merciful. You are slow to anger and you are abounding in steadfast love or mercy, and you did not forsake them.

See, even though God would later cast off Israel, he would say, I was married to you, but I'm divorcing you. I'm putting you away. But you also see that he says, but I never give up on you. I never give up on my people, because I'll continue. Maybe I'll work with them in a different way, but I will never give up on my people. And that's what we find. That even though in verse 27 God had given them into the hands of the enemy, and they had suffered, God was still able to hear their cries. He was still able to listen to their petitions. And in verse 29 it says, the people acted presumptuously, they didn't obey, but sinned against your ordinances by the observance of such a person should live. And so in verse 31 he says, nevertheless, even though they wouldn't obey, even though he could see that our national characteristics are just dishonor, you know, we don't deserve your blessing, nevertheless, in verse 31, in your great mercy. You did not make an end of them, or you did not forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. And now therefore our God, great and mighty and awesome God, in verse 32, keeping covenant and steadfast love, do not treat lightly the hardships that has come upon us.

Verse 33, you have been just. See, they are just coming out of captivity. They were coming out of the oppression and even under some of the oppression, because they were still being pretty much supervised by their captors, even though they were allowed to return to the land.

It says in verse 33, you have been just in everything that has come upon us, and you have dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly.

See, this was, in a sense, an admission, that they needed to be repentant. That that was a key. It was a key to continuing to draw close to God.

If they didn't recognize that, if they didn't acknowledge that, then whatever they did would not cause them to be close to God. They would need to have a repentant attitude and a repentant mind to be close to God. And so, as we return from a glorious festival, you know, what are the things that we need to keep in mind in order to grow? See, I think you have to say, at least I'm going to say what we heard in Canmore, and what I know all of us heard, if we were in a location where you could get the webcast, which I think almost all of us heard, the exact same sermon that Mr. Kubik went over, pointing out the connection between Psalm 15 and who can dwell on God's holy hill. Who will be a part of the kingdom of God? Who will be serving and reigning and teaching and leading what we have to look forward to as far as our role in God's family? It says, who will dwell in God's holy hill? Who will be a part of his tabernacle, his tent? And then, of course, he went through the entire chapter, went through the different statements that are there, all of which dealt with spiritual growth, spiritual development. And then he contrasted that, of course, with what Jesus said in Matthew 5 and 6 and 7, the Sermon on the Mount. He showed us how it was that every one of these spiritual items, the spiritual development, is what is going to empower us, what's going to enable us to be able to be, as Dan mentioned in the sermonette, to be overcomers, to be enduring, to endure to the end, to grow so close to God that we have an emphasis, an emphasis on our closeness to God.

And I know, you know, it was extremely good to have that type of sermon go to all of us, because in essence it frames everything that we covered, you know, the remainder of the messages at the feast. You know, I know that one of the messages we had in Canmore was just simply regarding the topic of pride, of resisting pride and arrogance, of how it is that that is so terribly destructive. It is clearly a clear and present danger for all of us. That's what this sermon was about. You know, it's very difficult to remove. And, you know, I might just read here because here in James chapter 4, in James 4 you see how it is that God views the topic of pride and why it is that not only is an understanding of repentance continually growing in being repentant, being yielded to God, but here in James chapter 4, God says that He gives all the more grace. Therefore, it says God opposes the proud. So if we want to be in opposition to God, then we need to seek pride. Of course, that tells us, you know, God opposes the proud, and yet He gives grace to the humble. He wants us, you know, to seek an attitude of, you know, humility, an attitude of teachability. He goes on to say submit yourselves to God, resist the devil.

And so, in essence, He's saying resist pride because, you know, the devil was characterized by pride and arrogance and jealousy and a lot of other things, but I'll say pride would be the critical issue that you could easily identify with Lucifer and his defiance of God. But He says, resist the devil, resist pride, and he will flee from you, draw near to God, he will draw near to you.

He says in the remainder of verse 8 something that we need to keep in mind. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. See, so we always need to be sure to wash our hands. Every time we walk by the sink, we need to wash our hands. You know, He's telling us, you know, cleanse our hands, not just cleanse our activities, not just telling us to wash our hands, but He's telling us to, you know, clean up our act, clean up our lives, and purify your heart. That's how God is truly working with us. And that really was the, in essence, the theme of what I saw in the Feast, not only in the broadcast sermon, but in many of the sermons that we had at the Feast in Canmore. I want to just mention a few of the kind of the topics that were covered, because they all tie together with this same topic of spiritual development. And I know, you know, you received whatever you did wherever you were attending, and that's also very good, but all of these tie together. You know, one of the sermons that we had that I guess we could always tie together with us was regarding Luke 12 verse 32.

And what that says is, you know, fear not, little flock. And I guess we could say, you know, we identify with that maybe today more than ever before. You know, we feel like a little flock. We feel like a small number of people trying to do a large work that God would like us to do. But He says, fear not, little flock, for your Father, your Father desires to give you the kingdom. He wants us to be in the divine family of God. He's not against us. He's wanting us to do our part as far as what we're told. You know, we have to learn to live by faith. We have to be obedient. We have to be overcoming. Let's see, all of those are really based on a relationship with God. They're really based on a closeness to Jesus Christ. They're really based on a trust in God.

So, fear not, little flock. Your Father wants to give you the kingdom. Another statement that was made, again, some of these are just things that stood out in my mind. You know, one man was describing how God started out with dirt, dust, and moved from dust to flesh. And then, as He works with flesh, as He chooses to do, He wants us to be eternal. Eternal Spirit. Dust to flesh to Eternal Spirit. I thought that was a... you know, it is something you could talk about.

Think about, you know, it's discussing the growth of God's children. You know, and we are to be, and that's certainly what, you know, whenever we think about, you know, we clearly have to have belief in Jesus Christ. We have to have faith that we are going to be a part of God's divine family. We need to continue to do that. We need to continue to grow in that nature. You know, we can't say that we're the finished product yet.

We can't say that we're absolutely without flaw. We do have flaws. We fight those, and we repent of those, and should repent of those every day. And yet, we want to grow. And we had a sermon that was about God's enduring faithfulness. See, now we often think about, well, we want to be faithful. We want to live a faithful life. So we're told that we need to have faith, and certainly faith is one of the fruits of the Spirit.

And clearly, we want to be enduring, and we want to be faithful to the end. And yet, far more impressive is an understanding of the faithfulness of God. Part of that I read in Nehemiah 9. See, where Nehemiah and Ezra are praying or talking and saying, well, as bad as we've been, you still are willing to work with us. You still have not cast us off, or not forsaken us, I guess would be the right thing, because he did set them aside. But he says, you still are going to work with your people.

And in the New Testament, and in the Church of God, God is still working with His people. He is working with a people who will yield to Him, and who will grow in a divine nature. We had topics about the spiritual values of the Kingdom of God, how people ought to be excited. Excited about eternal life, about choosing that life. That's what we all should have.

The sermon regarding Psalm 15, I guess you could say, was about becoming a perfect man with God's righteousness from the heart. That's really what was being described. If we're going to abide on God's holy hill, we're going to have to identify with Jesus' discussion of Christianity. His, and of course, he started out that whole section that addresses many of the same things that Psalm 15 addresses. But he starts that out with the listing of the attitudes that are required. The attitudes that he calls the beautiful attitudes, the attitudes of being poor in spirit, and mourning, and being meek in hunger and thirst for righteousness, and being merciful, and having a desire to have a pure heart, and be able to be a peacemaker and even realize some persecution will come.

We want to endure persecution because he says theirs is the kingdom of God. Those attitudes are to be reflected in our heart. I mentioned pride, a sermon that was about that. I thought that was very meaningful because, and as this was presented, a couple of examples were quite impressive because the minister likened pride unto, I think it was Japanese, not wood. Now, it's apparently a type of plant, and I'm not familiar with it, and I didn't look it up to know more about it, but what he was describing was how that in areas where this grows on the earth, it's noxious, it's a weed, it's not wanted, it needs to be gotten rid of, and yet in order to get rid of it, it's almost impossible.

You cut it down, you cut it off, you dig it up, you pour poison on it, you know, all the things that you think would work to kill it, and it still grows. It still thrives. That's a very good example of the way pride is. As much as we know it's wrong, as much as we might want to get away from it and replace it with humility, it's very hard to stamp out, very hard to kill out, and that's something I think, and of course, a part of the thing that we can think about.

You know, whenever there is pride, there is always enmity. Whenever there is pride, there is always hostility, there is always conflict, there is always, there's a lack of peace, there's a lack of order and cooperation, and you know, a working together. Whenever there is pride, there is always going to be enmity.

And certainly, self-glory is not glorifying God. You know, that could be easily seen with Lucifer. You know, whenever he decided that to glorify myself is much better than to give way to God and be in submission to God, then, you know, he wasn't glorifying God anymore. He was not, he was on, even though he had been on the very inside of the leadership and rulership and government of God among the angels, he blew all of that with his pride. And so, of course, an antidote would be, as Jesus said, become like a little child. You know, have a completely different attitude and that, of course, is something that maybe we should, maybe we should cover even next week. Normally, we have a blessing of little children's service. I don't think we have anyone that we might need to do that for, but we might need to talk about it anyway next week, because it's still, you know, what all of us are doing. A couple of things that were mentioned on the last Great Day I thought were extremely helpful, because, of course, the last Great Day is a different festival altogether. The eighth day is about a time that is remarkably described in the Bible, although almost virtually completely non-understood, not just misunderstood, completely not understood at all. How, how could God resurrect everyone who has ever lived? That seems incredible. And yet, for man, that is impossible.

For God, that's nothing. Everything is possible with God. And, of course, last year we had a very good sermon on that last day that was regarding John 11.

If you think about John 11 and what that's about, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He can bring people back to physical life. That's not a question exactly how he would do it, why he would do it, what the setting would be. Those are all important things. And so, you know, one of the topics was having hope. And that clearly is, you know, there is hope in the resurrection, in an understanding of the resurrection, not only in the first resurrection, that we desire to be a part of, which is called to be a better resurrection and raised to eternal life as opposed to just a physical resurrection and raised to a period of judgment, which, you know, that would be what a life lived with a knowledge of God would be. And yet, right now, we have a knowledge of God. We have the tools. We have an understanding of the books of the Bible.

And so we have a great deal of hope. And certainly, I think one of the greatest messages of the last day is that there is hope. You know, we are, we hope in what's going to happen. But see, we hope, knowing that it is absolutely sure because God is faithful. He will do what He says.

He will bring it to pass how He will choose to work with the billions of people who have lived or died and lived and died, and even the millions and maybe billions that would still be alive. You know, as we go into the millennium, how He chooses, when He chooses to work with them, He is completely faithful. And so, you know, that concept is one that we want to keep in mind. Another thought that I don't think I had thought about before, because we're often thinking about, you know, who's going to be resurrected in the future? You know, what will they be offered? How will they be able to relate to God? How will we help them relate to God? Because that is a part of what we need to know. But the statement was made that the first fruits, the first fruits who are raised to be a part of God's divine family, are a tiny fraction. I don't know what the fraction is, but the first fruits that God is choosing and has chosen over the last 2,000 years to deal with men in the Church of God, a tiny fraction of the billions that it would seem would be a part of God's family eventually. You know, what a special privilege to have a certain knowledge today.

And to have even more than the knowledge, the Holy Spirit of God, that can empower us to be a part of that. So it's incredible to think about the encouraging themes that we have talked about. I want to mention here in closing three reminders or admonitions. I don't know if any of these were given at the end of the feast, wherever you were, but they were up in Canmore. And I think they're very significant, very significant in that they were given in the last five minutes of the service. And so, you know, it wasn't that we spent time on all of these all through the feast, but it's very significant that we keep in mind as we return home, as we get ready, as we said, for the months between now and the time of the Passover, the things that will be distractions, the things that will need to be, in a sense, overcome and worked around, because that's what we have to do for the most part, the Halloween and all of the celebrations that are going to be between now and that time. But there were three admonitions that were given, and I'm just going to pass these on to all of us as we prepare an exciting year, because we should have an exciting year as we look forward. First of all, as we leave each feast, we should plan to be there next year. We should intend to get ourselves prepared, to get our mindset on the fact, you know, that the festivals of God are designed for our benefit, they're designed and given from God for us, for our not only learning, but for us to be growing in obedience and in service to God. And of course, that involves not only planning, but saving throughout the year, or festival time. We have to be able to be financially ready if we're, you know, able to go to the feast. And in Zechariah 14, you know of this verse that, you know, we read often at the feast, Zechariah 14 is a chapter that involves the return of Jesus to the earth. In verse 3, the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when He fights in the day of battle. On this day, that day in verse 4, His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives. In verse 9, the Lord will become king over all the earth, and on that day the Lord will be one in His name one. You know, this is talking about Christ's setting up a kingdom on earth.

And of course, in verse 16, it says all of those who survive of the nations that have come against Jerusalem are going to learn to go up year after year after year after year after year. They're going to be taught how it is that the festival is something to work towards, something to look forward to, something to benefit you. We see that statement, you know, they're going to be taught year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. See, that is, you know, something that we know, and it's going to be taught to others as we get into the millennium, but we need to plan and prepare, you know, to be a part of that festival next year, something to look forward to. And so that's the first reminder. If we back up, I guess, go over a page into Malachi, I'll read a verse in Malachi chapter 3 where it says in verse 16, then those who revered the Lord, they spoke with one another.

Those who revered the Lord spoke with one another, and the Lord took notice.

Malachi 3 verse 16. Those who revered the Lord and spoke with each other, the Lord took notice and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the Lord and who thought on His name. See, that's what we want to do. We don't ever want to get distracted. We don't want to get sidetracked by anything about what it is, you know, that God has laid out for us. In verse 17, He says, those who revere the Lord, those who think on His name, who speak on His name, they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession. On the day when I act, I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them. See, this is what God holds out for us. He is interested in our development. And so, first reminder, plan to attend the feast next year. Secondly, and this is something we have to guard against, is simply don't be bitter.

Don't be bitter or become bitter. In Hebrews chapter 12, in the closing admonition that you find in the book of Hebrews, written to people who were familiar with the book. They were familiar with the law. They were familiar with Judaism, per se. They were familiar with the law and the activities of the ordinances and rituals. They had been brought up in that, but they had accepted and come to understand Jesus Christ as the Lord, as the one who could give them salvation. But here in Hebrews 12, of course, it says, look in verse 2 unto Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of your faith. That obviously is what has to be done. But in verse 14, Hebrews 12 verse 14, it says, pursue peace with everyone and pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Seeking peace and seeking holiness is a requirement for all of us. And see to it in verse 15, see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled. See, that's kind of almost connected to that Japanese knotweed that I referred to being so hard to kill out, so hard to get rid of, and could be easily likened under pride.

You know, the same way as a description here of bitterness. You know, bitterness is something that kind of starts with a spark of something that upsets us, and then we start getting further and further off target, off track, and ultimately we are embittered to the point that whether there's not much we can do to recover. He says, beware that a root of bitterness would spring up and cause trouble, and through it you would become defiled. See, don't let that happen. Don't allow that, you know, to be a, I guess, a bee in your bonnet. Don't allow that. That root of bitterness can be so terribly destructive. So, plan to be there next year. Don't get bitter, and lastly, don't get caught up in pride. I've already mentioned that, but it is worth mentioning again.

Because what you read in Proverbs chapter 6 is the fact that, you know, God hates a number of things, but He certainly hates pride. He hates a proud look. He hates a haughty eye. He hates those who are swift to do evil. He hates those who intend to deceive.

Here in Proverbs 6, six things, in verse 16, the Lord hates. Verse 17, what are they? Well, a proud look.

A lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans or devices, feet that are swift to run to evil, a lying witness who testifies falsely, someone who identifies with the false as opposed to the true, and someone who sows discord among the brethren, someone who causes division. See, what does God hate? Well, God hates all of these things, but certainly one of those things is pride. You know, the proud look, you know, the arrogance of relying on yourselves. And I mention these things because I think it's helpful for us to be reminded as we come back from a wonderful celebration, you know, that we not allow ourselves to get off target as far as what God wants us to be mindful of. And I'd like to tie in the last scripture that I want to read is here because it ties together, as I've mentioned, you know, the focus on spiritual development, the focus on having a heart that is sensitive to God, sensitive to His words, sensitive to His direction in our lives. You see that written about here in Psalm chapter 15. And yet I want to point us to another chapter here in Psalms that seems, in a sense, to tie very much together with that. And that's over in Psalm chapter 24.

Because here in Psalm 24, in this sense, there is kind of a connection between chapter 15 and 24 because they're in a certain section of the Psalms that are kind of, you know, they kind of have a theme. But I think you'll see this when you read Psalm 24 and how it is, you know, that as we're reminded of the things we need to do, that we continue to grow, that we continue, you know, to develop, that we continue to nurture one another, that we have love for one another, that we desire to have that type of love and respect for one another. It says in verse 1 of Psalm 24, the earth is the Lord and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it. And He has founded it on the seas and established it on the river. But in verse 3 is what I really want to focus on. All of us have been created by God. We went from dust to flesh and from flesh to eternal spirit is the process that we're in right now. And it says in verse 3, who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place? See, that's the same questions that were asked in chapter 15. You know, who is it that's going to be a part of God's divine family and a part of His tabernacle in holy hill? Well, in verse 4, describes who that would be. It says, those who have clean hands and those who have pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false and who do not swear deceitfully.

See, here He encapsulates it in a few smaller phrases that we see James writing about later.

You know, cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. That's what James said. David says, those who have clean hands and pure hearts and who do not lift up their souls to what is false. See, those who are truthful and who don't try to deceive, he says in verse 5, they will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from the God of their salvation. And such is the company of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Israel. See, that's our, in a sense, marching cry. That is our battle cry to go forward in a Christian battle, go forward in Christian warfare, cleansing our hands, purifying our hearts, certainly moving away from anything that is false and striving to seek the face of God.

That is who will be on God's holy hill. And clearly, we want to do that, not only this year, but throughout the year, and ultimately as we get through the Holy Days next year and have the Feast of Tabernacles again in 2016. So, I hope that these reminders are helpful to you, they're helpful to me, to be able to think through what we've just been taught and how it is that we can apply it and be able to benefit from it. So, look forward to sharing with you your Feast delights, whatever it is that you would like to share about the Feast, we can do that following services here today.