The End Of The Beginning

[David Jones]: Happy Last Day of Unleavened Bread! You see? The encore by the choir. I was so moved. I’m totally off my game. Not even at the right Holy Day. But this is the one I want to get to. Happy Last Great Day, brethren. And what a great day, what a great Feast it has been. 

I did say encore to Mr. McClain. I was like, encore, encore! And he looked up and he said, no, this time we’re done. 

Brethren, has this been a good Feast? Yes. This has been so wonderful. It has been an honor and a privilege to be here with all of you here in Klamath Falls. We have thoroughly enjoyed it myself, my family. As we’ve heard already at this Feast, Mr. Light talked about this being a family reunion. Some of you I’ve been able to be reunited with, some that I’ve known years ago in far-off lands and congregations. And the others that I have met were just family that I didn’t know yet. And it has been such a blessing. 

I do want to thank all of those who have been working so tirelessly to bring us the Feast. I want to thank especially our coordinator, Ben Light, his family, having coordinated a number of Feast sites myself. I know exactly how much work goes into it. And Mr. Light does everything. They don’t let me touch the technical stuff. I am a beast of burden -- I lift and carry. But he’s involved in all of it. It’s truly amazing. And his family serves right along with him. Aiden has been responsible for the webcast. You know, the Kinsellas, who have been here, one of the Kinsella’s sons came down just for the opening service and first day, his wife gave birth to a baby girl four days before the Feast. But he traveled down anyway to be here just for the opening service, opening day, and then he went back. That’s dedication and love. 

Mr. John Jackson, whom I’ve seen through the years, who has served faithfully, constantly. Even you’ll see him with his cane. He’s still the top sound guy. He’s still doing this. And we know, brethren, that they don’t do this for acclaim. There’s certainly no money in it. But they do it for the reason of the two great commandments. They love God, and they love each other. They love you. And so I would like to say thank you and ask if we could give them a round of applause for the love they have poured out. 

Thank you very much. Now, brethren, we have, I believe, fulfilled the commandment to rejoice at the Feast. We have celebrated. We have...how many had absolutely fantastic meals? Yes. There’s a reason I’m wearing a vest today. I, too, have rejoiced at the Feast. You know, we’re commanded to drink the sweet and eat the fat. And at no other time of the year do we typically have the ability to eat like we do at the Feast. We also never have the same type of opportunity to take in spiritual food, the Word of God, at any other time like we do today, like we do now at the Feast that God has given to us. We have rejoiced, and I am so very thankful for it. Brethren, I, too, wanted to continue on with another story.

Mr. Light, I believe, covered the meaning of the day, the prologue, the epilogue. We were joking around after services, and I said, well, what do you say after the prologue? And he said, well, you can be the appendix. But this day does mean so much. It is something which envisions not only the second resurrection. When every individual who has ever been born, who has never known God, will be raised up, will be given an opportunity to know Him, to become a son, a daughter, a child of God. There are so many that we are looking forward to. But that day is not yet. We’re not quite there yet, are we? We have been given a glimpse of what it will be like in the spiritual word that has been poured out to us that we have Feasted on. We’ve heard about it. Do we have that image in our heart and in our mind of what the thousand-year reign of Christ will be like? And the imagery that was given to us today, the massiveness of the Kingdom of God, of the Father on this earth, is beyond comprehension. But do we have a little bit more of an idea, from Klamath Falls to Oklahoma City? That’s one side.

But it’s not quite yet. The images that we are given, the food that has sustained us this week, is to help prepare us for the time that still remains, for the time that is left.

Brethren, in 1939, something happened in our world that changed the course of it. There was an invasion by the German army by the forces of Hitler, the invasion of Poland, no one was ready for that. No one expected it. There were suspicions, but it came in some ways out of the blue. Britain responded. They tried to come to their aid, but the German blitzkrieg was on, and Poland fell. First Poland, then Denmark, followed by Norway. Belgium fell as well, then the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and then France, followed by Yugoslavia and Greece. It seemed as if there was no stopping Hitler from taking over the world. He had armies not only in Europe, but in the Middle East and in Africa. They just rolled across the continents. Army after army fell. It was as if there was a darkness that was spreading. For three grueling years, those who remained their resistance fighters, their soldiers, the British allies, the allies fought, and they lost. They suffered defeat after defeat after defeat. 

Eighty-two years ago from yesterday, there began another battle in Egypt. It was called the Second Battle of El Alamein, and that battle lasted for 20 solid days. And the allies who had not known any type of victory up to that point, when the dust settled and the smoke cleared, were still standing. For the first time, the armies of Adolf Hitler had been defeated. That was new. That was not something which the world at that time was used to. Word spread rapidly. Winston Churchill was on his way to a meeting, and he was told of the news of the victory of the Allied forces. He spoke to a group of people shortly thereafter, and he said this, “I have never promised anything but blood, tears, toil, and sweat. Now, however, we have a new experience. We have victory, a remarkable and definite victory. A bright gleam has caught the helmets of our soldiers and warmed and cheered all of our hearts. The Germans have received back again that measure of fire and steel, which they have so often meted out to others. Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

The end of the beginning, brethren. That is the title of my message today. The end of the beginning, because, as Mr. Churchill said, it was not the end of World War II, but it was the beginning of the turning of the tide. See, the Allied forces went on to fight for another two and a half years before the surrender of the Axis powers. But it began with that first taste of victory that they so desperately needed. Now, I know that there are some who are here at the Feast in Klamath Falls who were actually alive during that time, who do have memories of the war happening wherever they were in the world, whether it was in the United States or England or in Germany itself. Most of us have not been through that type of experience. But do we realize that we are currently still living in a world at war? There are conflicts happening all over the place right now, many of them that don’t even make the news because they’re not big enough. But they’re big enough if you’re the one in it. But the fact of the matter is, brethren, is that thousands of years ago, this world turned against its Creator, the One who created all things and said that it was good. But then there was a deceiver, a liar, who brought in sin, who turned mankind against God and led them to do his bidding.

Brethren, that’s still taking place in this world. That will happen until Christ’s return. So, what are we to do? Brethren, earlier this Feast, I spoke about how God has placed His name upon us. And we are not to take it in vain. We’re not to wear it in vain. But in accepting that name, in accepting that calling, we have been called into the family of God and into the army of the Lord. We have a fight to win, brethren. And again, we have received a taste of what that victory is like. Brethren, earlier this week, I was able to speak with our teens. We had a teen Bible study. And what I spoke with them about was kind of a summation of the camp programs this year. Every year, the camp directors get together and they discuss the theme. And this year, it was “Stand Strong,” talking about putting on the armor of the Lord so that whatever is happening, they may stand, to stand during this present evil age, to stand at the day of the Lord when Christ returns, to stand together and united. Brethren, our youth, whether they want to be in it or not, have also been called into the family of God and the army of the Lord. And that is not an easy calling, is it? It’s something that they look at and they wonder about. Can I do this? Can I survive until that time? Can I stand today?

Brethren, how will we, as the family of God, as the army of the Lord, go forward from here? Brethren, we are in a spiritual war.

And I want to say this, though we shod our feet with the preparation for the gospel of peace, kingdoms are not won by pacifists.

Christ Himself said in Matthew 11:12, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” Now, that does not mean that we pick up a sword and try to fight our way into the Kingdom or to bring about the Kingdom on this earth. It means we strive for it. We are willing to fight for it, to suffer for it, to endure for it, because we are committed to it. And so, we have instructed our teens, our pre-teens, that they must stand strong, that regardless of their gender, their size, they have simply to put on the armor of God and rise, rise to the occasion. Brethren, we’re telling that to our youth, but it’s up to us to show them how to stand. 

How many of you have been baptized for more than 50 years?

Wow. These are our veterans, brethren, who have been wearing the armor of God for many decades, a half of a century or more. It’s up to us to teach our young ones how to put that armor on, how to show them what it feels like, how to walk with it, how to stand with it. If you would, turn with me to Ephesians 6.

Ephesians 6. We begin in verse 10.

“Finally, my brethren,” again, this means family. “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). It’s not our strength. It’s not by our power. It is not even by our self-discipline. That plays a part in it, but it’s the power of His might. “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). Brethren, Satan really almost never comes at us head-on, does he? He comes in from the side, from the angles where we least suspect it. We are at our weakest. If we don’t have someone standing beside us to help, it may get through; we may be taken from our blind side. In verse 12, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.” Brethren, when Satan is truly bound and put away, I don’t know what that’s going to be like. He has sat on the throne of this earth my entire life. He has had influence and power. How many of you have ever had a pain?

I am a pain for many of my family. But sometimes you live with it, right? Sometimes you can forget that it’s there. As we age, our joints ache, our back hurts. Have you ever had a day where it just wasn’t there? There was a healing. Suddenly, you could stand straight, or you could breathe and be like, “Oh, I didn’t realize. I had gotten so used to it that I just thought, that I just thought that was normal, that this was good.” When his influence is removed from this world, I believe a shadow will lift and the light will shine and the whole world will take a deep cleansing breath. Oh, I didn’t know it was so powerful or that it was so there all the time. This darkness that I just got used to looking through and walking through. It is truly beautiful now. That is what we wage war against. That is what we need this vision of the future for. Verse 13, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand, to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). That is the image that we are given. A warrior for the Lord, standing strong and powerfully. “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth.” We know that God’s Word is truth, “having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14). 

And that’s not my righteousness. It’s not your righteousness. That’s God’s righteousness that protects us. 

“And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). Brethren, that’s what we stand on. That is what gives us traction, that keeps us from sliding around. 

“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16). Because Satan is broadcasting his message, his fiery darts, all the time. It never ceases. This morning, we heard about how we used to have to write letters to everybody. And I remember Mr. Armstrong, when I was a boy, talking about how Satan would broadcast his message. And he talked about the radio and the television. Wow! The radio and the television has nothing on the internet. Does it? No! It is a constant bombardment that without that shield of faith, we would be defenseless. We must believe. 

In verse 17, “and take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” In verse 18, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end, with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” Soldiers don’t win battles and wars by themselves. It doesn’t matter how good one warrior is if he’s all alone, in spite of what Hollywood would show us. We need each other. Not only praying for God to deliver us, but our brothers and sisters who stand beside us. Continually. We pray for them. And Paul continues, “And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for those who are the evangelists, the pastors, the preachers” (Ephesians 6:19). But brethren, are we not to be examples? Are we not to be ambassadors? As we heard about earlier in the Feast, are we not to be a living sacrifice, a witness, as we heard the choir sing just a few moments ago? We must pray for each other, that we are all examples of God’s gospel.

When I spoke with the teens this week, I touched on some of these points. And first off, I want to say, because I know most of our teens are all from the northwest, this area. You have an outstanding group of young people. 

You know, as a father, you’re always kind of looking at your kids, and you’re always kind of like, “Ah, sit up straight, don’t do that… you know, people think we’re normal. Behave!” It’s always interesting when, you know, it touches your heart when someone comes up and tells you about something good that your child did. I want to tell you how good your kids are. They’re amazing. From your very little ones, your pre-teens, your teenagers, when I was getting to spend time with them, I thoroughly enjoyed them. They were thoughtful and kind. They were funny. They were looking out for each other. They paid attention to what I said, which really raised them in my esteem. But you are blessed, and you have been pouring yourselves into your children, into your grandchildren, and that is preparing them for their calling.

Brethren, we have to be able to help them rise to the occasion, too, to put on their armor and take their place in the army of the Lord. There’s a surprising number of hands that went up when I asked how many had been baptized more than 50 years ago. There’s a lot. Brethren, you are our veterans. You have stood in the heat of the day. You have survived the attacks. You have endured them. You have stood strong. 

Now, as we age, sometimes we don’t feel like we have as much to give anymore. We don’t have the strength that we once did. Brethren, strength is not what’s really asked for, but strength of heart, strength of character. Your experiences. The youth need you. They need you to take an interest in them. And in spite of sometimes when they’re young, they’re kind of worried about being cool. They really want your attention. They want to know that you care about them and love them. It was one of the beautiful things that I also got to see at this Feast is grandmothers and grandfathers spending time with their grandchildren and to see the smiles on the grandchildren, to see them lean in to that affection and that love. All of you who have stood your ground for all of these decades have stories to tell.

And the youth need that. Because in spite of how much the world has changed in 50 years, the heart of man really hasn’t changed. The trials, the struggles, they’re going through what you went through. They’re going to fall down. They need you to say, “you can stand back up. You can climb back to your feet and take your place among us. You can be a part of this living wall, living wall. Living stones being built into the temple of the living God. Yes, you’re going to fall. Yes, you’ll make mistakes. But we are here for you. Rise. Rise a child of God.”

We can share our experiences, the times that we have fallen, and what it took for us to get back on our feet. And sometimes, even how hard it is to stay on our feet. Because the youth look at us and they think, “wow, if I could only be as righteous as, well, I won’t say me, you.” And they just see us standing there in our nice clothes and our Bible. And we seem so wise and so experienced and so strong. And so strong. And I don’t feel that way. I got to sit with a lady at the senior’s luncheon, many of them in their upper 80s, one in their 90s. And I said, “I have these kids looking at me like I’m this sage.” I said, “I still think I’m the young screw-up.”

I said, “When does that change?” And everybody at the table went, “Nope. Nope, never changes.” Every generation needs the other generations. They need you. And we need them. Help them, brethren, to put on that armor and to take their place in the line.

Brethren, we are God’s people. We are called into the army of the Lord. Our enemy is Satan. We’ve talked about the spiritual hosts of wickedness. That is who we fight against. That is what we war against. The lies and the deceptions that have been poured out upon this world. That is what we stand against. We don’t fight each other. That is not how we will win. 

Christ said this in Mark 3:23. He was being accused of being Beelzebub, of Satan. Mark 3:23. “So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables, ‘how can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.’” So how do we stand, brethren, during this present evil age? We have to stand together. We cannot be divided. We cannot make war against ourselves and hope to stand against Satan. The only way which we can stand is if we can first make peace with ourselves, with our family. Because in Christ’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of peace, everlasting, that’s what we’re going to have to teach. That’s what Mr. Crow was trying to explain to us. This is our time to learn to become peacemakers. It’d be nice if peace were just radiating and everybody was happy all the time. But you can’t be a peacemaker in the absence of conflict. That is what we walk into. That is what we strive to bring, is peace, healing, reconciliation. Shalom.

Brethren, we have been called to stand in the gap. So, what are we fighting about? Well, human nature can fight about anything, right? You know, we get used to coming into the Feast and sitting in a particular spot and we come in and somebody’s in our spot: “I’ve been here for five days! Everybody knows this is my spot!” 

I’d like to apologize for anybody’s spots that we may have taken. We like to hop around a little bit. But, brethren, what are the things that the family of God has been divided over?

Speculative doctrines, pronunciations, calendars, who’s in charge? Brethren, this is the body of Christ. Not me. Not any man. You. Do not be divided. Choose peace. Choose to be united. Choose to stand strong together. Because there’ll be plenty of reasons that’ll come along to divide. Don’t. Choose that now. I will not be divided again. This is my family. This is the army. And divided, we cannot stand. We will stand together. Philippians 2. Philippians 2:1.

Philippians 2:1. And this is the key, brethren, to staying together, to standing and being united.

Philippians 2 and verse 1. “With humility and with love for one another. Not fighting and bickering. Let us each look to our own salvation.” That’s the attitudes that we can have. The offenses that we can hold on to. They take away humility. They take away love. Someone does something to me, says something to me that hurts, and I become offended. You know what human nature does? Well. See what that was? Pride. Right? Humility, agape love, is to go... “They’ve probably had a bad day. They’ve probably had a hard time. They don’t see it this way. I’m not going to hold on to this offense or this hurt.” Christ is the ultimate example: “Forgive them, Father. They don’t know what they do.”

We will stand together with humility and love for one another. Not fighting and bickering. 

“Let each look to his own salvation.” Not this, but this. This. Reaching out. Holding on. 

“Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded. Having the same love, being of one accord of one mind” (Philippians 2:1-2). 

Brethren, that doesn’t mean that we’re all going to think the same thing. We’re all going to have opinions, differences. Being of one mind means choosing to walk together.

It’s the mystery of the Church. It’s husbands and wives. God created them very differently. Ask my wife. She thinks totally differently than I do about a lot of stuff? But God said, become one. There are strengths on both sides. Learn to walk together. Our mission, our plan, our agenda is God’s Kingdom.

We walk together in spite of whatever differences we may have. They’re not salvation issues. Let’s not worry about it. Let’s put that aside. It’s not worth a divorce within the family of God.

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself” (Philippians 2:3). 

That’s unifying. That brings us together. 

“Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). 

That’s how soldiers survive together. I’ve got your back, and you’ve got mine. 

“Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men [of you and I so that we might know Him]. And being found in appearance as man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). 

Living sacrifices, brethren, in the song which we just heard, that was a prayer, a prayer that was lifted up to our Heavenly Father in a covering for us. Living sacrifices. A man hath no greater love than this, that he lay down his life for his brethren.

That’s our calling. That is what it means to be in the army of the Lord, to be like Christ, to be like the firstborn of the first fruits. Brethren, the Word of God is a double-edged sword. It rightly divides the Word of Truth. When we stand before our Heavenly Father, how’s He going to ask us how we used His sword, His word? Was it to lift up, to encourage, to exhort, to correct once in a while? Or do we like to hit each other with it?

There was a philosopher back in, I think, the 17th century, who said, “What’s the use of having a rapier wit if you never get to stab anyone with it?” Have we ever done that with the Word of God? Well, of course we have. That wasn’t using it wisely, or using it as Christ would. Brethren, we must rightly divide the Word of Truth, to use it for what it was given to us for, to separate light from darkness, justice from injustice, to actually see what godly wisdom is in every situation, to cut through all the wokeness and all the craziness, to truly understand what would Christ do.

Ezekiel 22. We’ll begin in verse 29. 

Ezekiel 22:29, “The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and the needy, and they wrongfully oppress the stranger.” That’s all around us, brethren. We see the injustice, what money can buy, and what the absence of it can take away. 

“So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me, on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it. But I found no one” (Ezekiel 22:30). He was speaking of Israel, Jerusalem at the time. Brethren, we have been called to stand in the gap. To take up the armor of God. Adam Clark said, “I sought for a man who would stand in the gap, that would faithfully exhort, reprove, and counsel with all long-suffering and doctrine. Patience. And with the Word of God.”

Brethren, who will be the good example? Who will be a light shining out in the darkness? For our families? For our children? For our neighbors? For our fellow co-workers? Who will stand in the gap if not you?

Wherever we are, in whatever situation we are, brethren, we have the opportunity to stand in the gap. To be a light of hope and joy and salvation that the world doesn’t understand. As we armor ourselves, brethren, we must help those beside us with theirs. Because sometimes armor slips. There’s a gap. We may not know it.

Romans 14.

While we are in a race to the Kingdom, while we run that race, brethren, it isn’t given to the one who gets there first. Right? It’s to everyone who finishes. The video that we were able to watch of the father who helped his son cross the finish line.

I don’t remember who won the race.

We all remember who finished it. With the help of his father. Brethren, if we can cross unto His Kingdom with the help of our Father, with the help of our brothers and sisters, that’ll be a Kingdom worth fighting for, dying for, giving ourselves for. 

Romans 14:10-13: “Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”

Not just putting a stumbling block in front of someone, but maybe there’s a way that we can take the stumbling block away from them. That takes investment. It’s quite easy to offend. It’s hard not to offend. But what’s really hard is to help someone over their hurdle, to suffer long with each other, to bear one another up. That is what we are called to do. That is how we may stand in that day. That is how we want to be judged. And, brethren, we all know our faults. What is it that covers a multitude of sins? Love. I’m not trying to beat the next guy into God’s Kingdom. If I’m doing that, I’m not going to make it. We have to carry one another. 

2 Corinthians 5:9-10: “Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 

We can wipe out a lot of bad with some good, with some sacrifice, as living sacrifices, one for another. Brethren, we have been given a taste of victory at this Feast of Tabernacles. We’ve been given a glimpse of what the Kingdom will look like upon this earth, but the end is not yet. 

Brethren, the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt. God delivered them, and they walked out. And we’re told that they walked out with high hands. Brethren, I don’t believe they walked out like Rocky. They walked out like this. Praising God who delivered them, not by their power, but by His. They walked out singing praises, rejoicing. That’s how we walk from here, brethren. Rejuvenated, restored, and encouraged. Having been given that glimpse of God’s Kingdom, having been given that taste of victory. Let us go forward as the army of the Lord, with hands held high, praising Him and thanking Him. Because there is still a battle to be fought, a war to be won, and we are united. We have His name placed upon you. Take it. Embrace it. Rise to the occasion. 

Brethren, as Winston Churchill said, this is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning. Brethren, I wonder what I can give to you. I think all of us, as those who have spoken to you, as shepherds, we pray, Father, what can we give? I want to finish today by not giving anything of myself, but rather God’s blessing. Earlier this Feast, I gave one verse from Numbers 6, when the sons of Aaron were commanded to bless the children of Israel. He said to bless them in this way, Number 6:23-27, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”’ So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

Thank you, brethren, for this Feast of Tabernacles. And I pray that when we see each other again, it will be understanding that we have received the blessing of God.