The Good News of the Holy Days

Could you use some good news? You know, we turn on the television, we see what the news is on the nightly broadcast, perhaps, coming through, and it's not generally all that great most of the time. So, I guess the question would be, could you, can I use some good news? Because there is good news out there.

I was sitting down last weekend with Mike Imes. We had the schedule laid out, and we were working on it through the next few months, kind of lining out who's going to be speaking, where I'll be of an Africa trip planned here at the end of February through about the first half of March. And as I was looking at that schedule, it just struck me, the Holy Days, they're barely eight weeks away. And that is incredibly wonderful news, brethren. We are coming up once again on God's Holy Days for this year. And what a blessing they are, and because they're not that far off, I think it is a good time for us to start focusing our thoughts and our attention on the really good news that the Holy Days have to offer. The message that's bound up within those Holy Days that we rehearse, that we live each and every day. And as we keep that cycle each year, the good news that is expressed, not only in our lives, but if we're open with this, express to the world.

We've all heard the term gospel, right? I assume we all know what gospel means. Somebody shouted out what's good news, right? The gospel. The church preaches the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ and the soon-coming kingdom of God. And it's good news we've received in our life. It's impacted us. It's good news that can impact the world around us today. And it's what God has given us to preach. But it would surprise you, then, to learn that we also live out the gospel message each and every year through the keeping of the Holy Days.

I don't know if we always have thought about it in that way. We say, you know, God's Holy Days, they reflect His plan of salvation for all of mankind. So we say that in, really, in maybe different terminology. But, again, the point being, we live out the gospel message each and every year through the keeping of the Holy Days. We rehearse the good news as we keep those days. Today, I want to focus us in primarily on this point, and that is the Holy Days portray the gospel message in action. The Holy Days portray the gospel message in action. We're going to take a look at the Holy Days in kind of a brief overview.

As we go through each one of them this year, as we actually observe those assemblies, we'll go in detail. But it's good from time to time to have the big picture, the grand overview of God's Holy Days and what it is that He is doing, and see how God is declaring the gospel through them, and how we're declaring it as well, as we keep these days as the Church of God.

The title is The Good News of the Holy Days. Again, we can all use some good news from time to time, and frankly, the whole world around us could use good news. I think that's very safe to say. But the unfortunate thing about what we would call mainstream Christianity today is that they have a completely...

I'll say they've missed the boat. Let's say that. On the relevance, the significance, the importance of God's Holy Days. Many churches will look at the Holy Days in Scripture and dismiss them as, well, that was an ancient harvest festival kept by Israel, but really doesn't have relevance to New Covenant Church today. Or they'll say, the Holy Days were something, yes, God commanded, but they were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, done away, no longer to be kept by the New Covenant Church. While the Holy Days were harvest festivals of ancient Israel, it's important to understand that they were also commanded by God as an element of worship. He says, I'm your God, and I'm giving you these days. And the days weren't just a focus on great or wonderful crop. The focus was on God as their God, the one who provided for them, the one who directed their lives. It was a form of worship to keep those days. And they served as a type, as well. You have type, and you have fulfillment of something greater that the type points to the Holy Days, as you would look at them in the Old Testament and how they were observed as harvest festivals, or a type of the harvest of mankind. That God is fulfilling, ultimately, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His plan of salvation. So they're important, and they're still definitely relevant for us today as God's people. It's not my point to walk through scriptures necessarily that prove the Holy Days ought to be kept today. I did that about two years ago extensively in a sermon. It's there in the archives. But we will see a few of those as we go through the message today. But let's just understand these are relevant to us as God's people. And we need to understand that what God is bringing the past in our lives today through the Holy Days, and the fulfillment in our lives, indeed, is good news. Not just for us, not for our salvation only, but good news for all of mankind as this plan unfolds and indeed is fulfilled in its ultimate entirety.

In fact, salvation is the greatest news of all.

You were once lost, right? Now you're found by God, called by God, saved through the sacrifice of His Son as you would respond to that. Salvation, the greatest news of all.

Let's begin today in Leviticus chapter 23. I do at least want to set the stage of understanding whose Holy Days these are, because if we're going to acknowledge the significance of the good news and the lasting benefit of it, we need to know who gave us these days to begin with.

Leviticus chapter 23, and we'll pick it up here in verse 1, it says, The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, The feasts of the LORD, not the feasts of Israel, not the feasts of the Jews, the feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my feasts. So right off the bat, we see whose Holy Days these are, by design, by application, the plan behind them, the good news behind them, who brought these things to be. It is God, and these are His days. As Leviticus chapter 23 moves forward, we won't go any farther. I invite you to read through it before the Holy Days, but it outlines each of God's Holy Days that we keep as the people of God today.

If you jump forward to the New Testament, to Colossians chapter 2, verse 16 and 18, what you're going to find there is that the Apostle Paul describes the Holy Days as a shadow of things to come. It's like something is still yet ahead of you. It's moving towards you, and it's casting a shadow. So rather than the Holy Days being passed and done away and not relevant today, they are forward-looking. God is fulfilling them in our lives today, but they will be fulfilled by His purpose in the life of all mankind, and they are a shadow of things to come, not a memorial of the things which have passed away. That's a blessing for us. They assure us that what it is we do year after year is what God has designed for us, what He desires us to live as His people. So let's take some time today. Let's look at the good news that's revealed within the Holy Days of God. We're going to say kind of like a rock skipping across the pond, and you kind of, you know, you have a point of contact, and then you move on. We're going to move through the Holy Days as kind of a broad overview today, and I want to draw out to our attention the gospel, the good news, the message we share and live as the Church of God. We're going to start with the Passover. Passover, because that's God's starting place as well. So you start with the Passover, and starting there reveals that there is a plan of salvation, whereby all can become the literal children of God. And that's an incredible concept, brethren. I don't know if we fully, I would say we grasp it. We know this, right? We've said this for years, but have we heard it so often that the significance of that maybe just bounces off us? Oh, yes, we know. That is incredible. It's incredible understanding the purpose for our existence, to be literal children of God, that the Creator God of the universe wants to make you His Son or His daughter in His likeness. And the Passover is the starting point for that spiritual process. It springs forth from there. Without the Passover, all the other holy days are meaningless. That's a big point, too. Without the Passover, all the other holy days are meaningless. Without the Passover, everything we aspire to accomplish in this life and hold up with meaning actually is meaningless. Why? Because we're still in our sins. Because there's no redemption. You're still under the death penalty, and you are still at odds with God, apart from what He has fulfilled through the sacrifice of His Son and the Passover. So this begins here. Historically, the Passover commemorated Israel's redemption from Egypt. It recalls a time where they took and they killed that lamb. They put the blood on the doorposts, on the lintel. The destroyer passed over. Firstborn of the Egyptians died. Firstborn of the Israelites were spared. Because they came under the blood of that sacrifice. And ultimately, then God's deliverance was applied to them. When John the Baptist saw Jesus Christ coming to the Jordan River to be baptized in them, John exclaimed, Behold, the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. That's John chapter 1 and verse 29. John understood the significance of who Jesus Christ was, His purpose. Why the Father had sent Him to this earth, and indeed what it was that would be accomplished through His sacrifice. He is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 5.

1 Corinthians chapter 5 here. The Apostle Paul is actually addressing the days of unleavened bread, but tucked into the middle of that there's a verse that I would like to pull out and at least understand it in the context of who was Christ. What was His significance? 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. Paul says, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. When we keep the Passover, brethren, we commemorate, we do, we remember what happened with ancient Egypt. In Egypt, right? Israelites there. The deliverance, the bondage, the release, the blood of the Lamb. We remember those things. We commemorate those things as we keep the Holy Day. But you see, today, as a church of God, it's much more profound for us even than that. We're commemorating the death of the real Passover that was slain for our deliverance, for our spiritual deliverance from bondage, that one being Jesus Christ.

The New Covenant, as we are given, is a covenant in His blood.

Right? Isn't that what Christ said on the night of that Passover? The covenant in His blood, which means you can't be a part of that New Covenant without accepting His sacrifice for you. It is not real and significant. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23.

Let's jump over there. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23. Again, the apostle Paul writing, He says, For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread. We're talking about that final meeting with His disciples, the upper room, Passover on that evening. He took bread, verse 24. When He had given thanks, He broke it.

And He said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. He says, But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. This isn't talking about spiritually examining yourself before the church potluck. We're talking about examining yourself prior to partaking of the symbols of the Passover.

Jesus Christ is our Passover, and that is why we keep it today. We're commemorating the covenant God has made with us through that sacrifice. We're remembering the forgiveness, the mercy that was extended to us, and we're remembering the price that was paid.

The big price was paid. A perfect, sinless, guiltless life was taken so that you and I can live. That's what we commemorate as a memorial in that service. In Romans 6, verse 23, Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death. If you have a job, you earn a wage, right? You've conducted activities and you've been paid. So the wages of our activities, apart from God, is death. We've all earned that. But the gift of God is the eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The Passover is a gift. It's God's gift to us. It's a very beautiful and marvelous and gracious gift from God. For those of you who have not yet come under that sacrifice or entered into that covenant relationship with God, I would just encourage you to talk to me. See me. Let's discuss this. Let's not leave the package unopened. The Holy Days is like a beautiful package where God has taken it and it's beautifully wrapped. It has a bow on it. And he says, here is my gift to you as my people. But you can just let it sit on the table and not open it. It's a beautiful package, but God says, imbibe in this covenant relationship, open the gift I would give to you. Again, we do that through repentance and through baptism. So the goodness declared through the Passover is just that. You were dead in your trespasses and sins, but now you've been made alive in Jesus Christ. In fact, that is the foundation of the gospel message. That's what Jesus Christ proclaimed when He came to the earth. The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand. The King of that Kingdom was in their midst. And His call was repent. Believe the gospel. Again, that begins with the Passover God has given.

Now following the Passover, next is the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Days of Unleavened Bread, this Holy Day, also recalls the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. It's actually seven days of unleavened bread. It's a feast. And because Israel left in haste, their bread was unleavened. The Passover occurred and Egypt said, get out. You're a curse to us. And they grabbed their dough before it was leavened, and their kneading bowls, and bound them up, and threw them on their animals, or over their shoulders, and out they went. It was unleavened, departure in haste. And they kept it as a commemoration of that.

It symbolized leaving behind of sin. And it symbolized the walking and newness of life, because, see, now they were heading towards the destination, the Promised Land that God had given them. They were no longer slaves to man. They were free to follow God. Thrust out of sin, moving towards the Promised Land. That was the package God offered them. And again, we remember, we rehearse that as we keep the days of unleavened bread each and every year. But as the New Covenant Church, there is significance for us today.

By responding to God's calling, and coming under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we can, in a sense, we rehearse the same thing. We can put out our carnal nature, our leavened nature behind us. And we can live by every word of God. If we go back to 1 Corinthians 5, and I want to pick this verse up in the context of the days of unleavened bread. Read a little more around it. 1 Corinthians 5, and we're going to begin in verse 6. 1 Corinthians 5, and verse 6, Paul says, your glorying is not good. He says, do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? It's like if you've ever made dough for cookies or for bread, and you put a little leavening in there, you know that action, right? It multiplies, then it expands. And the Bible actually uses the concept of being puffed up in terms of pride, equated to leavening. And here Paul says, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And we understand how that process works. Verse 7, he says, therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. You come under that sacrifice and you walk forward from Passover through the days of unleavened bread. Unleavened. And it's a type of how we're to walk through life following this conversion process. Verse 8, therefore Paul says, let us keep the feast. Who's he writing to? Who's he talking to? Let us keep the feast. This is the book of 1 Corinthians. This is the church at Corinth. This is a Gentile church. These weren't Jews. This wasn't Jerusalem. You might have had a few Jews in the mixture, but this was a church that did not have a, so we say, a historic background as a cultural people in the Holy Days of God. And Paul expected them to understand the Holy Days and to keep the Holy Days. And he's not saying they're done away. He's expressing, so we say, the ultimate fulfillment of the Holy Days, as in, filled to the fullest in Jesus Christ. The law is fulfilled in Christ. That doesn't mean done away. It means magnified to the fullest. The Holy Days are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean done away. That means filled to the full with the greatest of expansive understanding here now that God has provided as we walk through them as his church. But Paul just said again, let us keep the feast. Verse 8, not with old leaven nor with eleven, nor with eleven a malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Because of the sacrifice made for us, this must be our response today. We need to actively live our lives in such a way that we're putting off, again, sinful nature and we're taking on the mind of God in Christ. The personality, the character, walking in, again, newness of life, partaking of the bread of life, Jesus Christ. And that's what we rehearse every year through those days, right? We find the leaven in our house and we put it out for that week. It symbolizes sin during that week. That week is over. You can bring leavened bread back in. It no longer symbolizes sin. This is a specific feast for a period of time. But we put that leavening out, symbolizing sin. We partake of unleavened bread, each of the seven days of unleavened bread, Jesus Christ, the bread of life in us. And we walk in newness of life. And we do so in the likeness of our Savior. Romans 6, verse 8. Romans 6, verse 8. You see, Christ died and was resurrected. We died with Him through this covenant.

But we don't stay there either. We walk in newness of life. I went through this in great detail last year. Let's just read one verse on the topic. One passage. Romans 6, verse 8 says, Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more, death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death which He died, He died to sin once for all. But the life He lives, He lives to God. In service to God, in the righteousness of God, and all that God has purposed for Him. Verse 11. Likewise, you also, you and me, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourself to God as becoming alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. And again, as I expressed earlier, that term of not being under law is an expression of the fact we're not under the penalty of the law. The wages of sin is death. We are under the grace. The gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. But we still observe the laws of life and righteousness, which have blessing to our lives. The good news here, brethren, is in this holy day, mankind can walk out of the waves of spiritual Egypt and follow the lead of Jesus Christ in their lives. They don't have to remain in bondage any longer, captive any longer, living under the effect and the penalty of sin any longer. They can walk in a freedom and newness of life. They can live unleavened lives of righteousness. Again, putting one foot in front of the other towards our Promised Land, the Kingdom of God. That's the good news in our life. That's the blessing we are living in our life today. And that is the good news that we proclaim as the Church of God to the rest of the world. You can have a part to play in this as well. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.

Now, this leads us then to the next holy day, that of Pentecost. Because we can't do this under our own power. We can't walk out of Egypt. We can't live unleavened lives truly by our own carnal nature. You may put the old man under water of baptism and you come back up, but what truly changes about our ability to keep these things? Well, it is the blessing that God gives us as portrayed through the Feast of Pentecost. We can't sustain unleavened living apart from Him. It is God who transforms our lives. And it is God who fashions us after His likeness. The Feast of Pentecost pictures are a taking of the divine nature of God by receiving His Holy Spirit. Is God's Spirit in us? It then seals us as the children of God. And we become firstfruits, spiritual firstfruits harvested out of Satan's world. This is the process of Pentecost. Okay, I want to repeat that.

By receiving God's Holy Spirit, that seals us as the children of God. And as such, we become the spiritual firstfruits harvested out of Satan's world. Remember, this is a harvest. It is a firstfruit harvest. And God is calling out of people and saying, You are my own. I've given you my spirit. You are my child. You are not of this world. You are of my kingdom.

Brethren, you and I live in the reality of God's first spiritual harvest today. We are firstfruits of His creatures, which James 1, verse 18 tells us. God is gathering His firstfruits out of the world, and this is a spiritual harvest that is taking place in our midst right now.

Again, the first spiritual harvest in this day. Jesus Christ founded the New Testament Church on the day of Pentecost, and He gave them God's Holy Spirit for a very important purpose. Let's go to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 and verse 1. This is a harvest festival, a firstfruit harvest festival. Acts chapter 2 and verse 1. It says, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, you're anticipating it, you're counting towards it, seven Sabbaths from the morrow after the Sabbath during the days of eleven bread plus one day fifty days.

Right? Brings you to Pentecost. And Pentecost had fully come. They were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and it began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. This is the day of Pentecost.

You'll notice that the disciples of Jesus Christ were gathered together on that Holy Day. There was an expectation of this Holy Day, not an expectation that it was done away now. But that this was a continuance of the plan and purpose of God. And Christ had said, you know, Terry in Jerusalem, to your imbued with power from on high. And this is the fulfillment of that which He had declared to His people. So they were there. They were still keeping it. They were gathered together for the receiving of this incredible miracle.

And if they just said, oh sorry, done away, just imagine what they would have missed. This is God's work in action. Verse 32, Acts 2 and 32, we're going to now jump into the middle of Peter's sermon on that day. He said, you know, you killed the Christ. He was the one God sent, and you killed Him. But you see, now He's alive. Acts 2 and 32, Verse 34, Verse 34, Prophecy from Psalm, chapter 110, David is not in heaven. Only Jesus Christ has ascended even up to this point today.

Verse 36, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? There's a plea of, how are we going to reconcile this? We're convicted of heart now of what indeed they've done. And honestly, we all come to this point in our life, don't we, when we evaluate sin, evaluate our nature. What have we done?

And what can we do? The blessing is that it's lined out right here for us, Verse 38. Peter said to them, Repent! Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved, be called out of, be removed, be harvested, we could say, from this perverse generation. As the people of God called out of the world today, given God's Holy Spirit today, we live in the church age of God's plan of salvation.

And what an incredible blessing that is. This is the church age. Church means assembly, right? Church means called out ones. These are called out of the world, given God's Spirit, called into assembly together. And there's a spiritual harvest that is continuing to take place today, as God calls people out of this world and puts His Spirit into them, again, making them His children.

For those who have received the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, as Romans tells us. And that, indeed, is part of the Gospel message, too. It's the good news that we proclaim to the world, for the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off. The message was the Gentiles were being brought near. They were far off. They weren't of Israel, but they were being brought near through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

As many as the Lord our God will call. And today, the spiritual harvest includes a small percentage of mankind, okay, as it's played out today. Old Testament, and in gathering a harvest festival here in more expansive spiritual fulfillment, the harvest of mankind, but still a very small harvest. But we understand that following the return of Jesus Christ, there will be a great harvest. As the calling goes out, as those who would respond to that call then become a part of the family of God. Now, some look at the harvest festival at Pentecost and insist, then, that the resurrection of the saints is portrayed as having taken place on this day.

Because, again, it represents a harvest, right? The first fruit harvest. And the teaching would be that the resurrection takes place on this day, because a harvest festival is equated to resurrection. And that the resurrection is the actual harvest. Okay, so some do teach that. It's not what the United Church of God teaches, as the significance and the meaning of the portrayal of Pentecost. I would strongly suggest that it's conversion of the first fruits, brethren, by God's Holy Spirit, that is the harvest being portrayed by this day.

Let's notice Jesus' words in Matthew, chapter 9. We're talking about a harvest, okay? And Jesus Christ talks about harvest as well. Matthew, chapter 9, verse 35. This is a harvest of people, a harvest of a spiritual sort, of the first fruits, as it would be. Matthew, chapter 9, and verse 35 says, Sheath need a shepherd. It is what God has put in place by his design. Verse 37, then he said to his disciples, The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few.

If you look through the other parallel gospels, in one of them he says, Lift up your eyes, the fields are white for harvest. Okay, so the harvest is ready in terms of there's a harvest that needs to take place out of humanity, okay? Harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

What's the harvest that Jesus Christ is talking about here? Is it a grain harvest? Well, no, it's not a grain harvest. It's not a barley harvest. It's not a wheat harvest. Okay, it's not a grain harvest in that way. Is it the resurrection he's talking about in this case of the harvest? Well, no, because you see the point is Jesus Christ, why does God need help in the first resurrection? Why pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest? Jesus Christ is still addressing a harvest, and it's a harvest that is called out once, have a part to play in.

Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. And those are you and I. Okay, we are to go out into the fields that are made white for harvest and work in the harvest today. What's being portrayed here is laboring in the fields of those God is calling to salvation. And it's working in order to bring them to repentance, to baptism, and ultimately conversion by God's Spirit, which he pours out. We labor in that harvest as the Church of God. That's what Pentecost is showing. There is a harvest taking place out of humanity by the sealing of God's Spirit, by which he makes them his children.

And we labor in that harvest as the Church of God. It's the commission that Christ left with his disciples when he said to preach the gospel, He said, Take disciples of all nations, baptize them, teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you. When God gives you his Holy Spirit, it does not mean that you will one day be firstfruits for his harvest.

It means that you are now firstfruits harvested out of the world, sealed by his Spirit, children of God. And the day of our resurrection will come. But again, it comes at the last trumpet. The Feast of Trumpets portrays everything that is contained within the blowing of the trumpets. And at the last trumpet, the dead in Christ will rise. But you see the harvest by God's Spirit, and the sealing of those as his children by that Spirit, calling them out of the world into the Church, is the harvest that's taking place today.

And it's the first fruit harvest he's given us opportunity to participate in as well. So this is the good news. This is the message. This is what we declared. God's Son has died. He has been resurrected. God has poured out his Spirit. Your nature can be like God's. You can be his children. You can be formed now, and his likeness prepared for his kingdom, because that kingdom is coming. Repent. Leave in the Gospel.

Now this does take us next to the Feast of Trumpets. And on the Feast of Trumpets, under, let's say, in the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, Israel reflected upon God's judgment and mercy on the Feast of Trumpets. It was a day of a memorial blowing of trumpets. The trumpets were brought out. The trumpets were blown. It was a feast day. It was a holy convocation, and they reflected on God's judgment and his mercy. Because you go through the Old Testament, and you look at everything that is portrayed by the sounding of the trumpet, the alarm in war. God says, you blow the trumpet, and I'll remember you, my people, and I will confound your enemies, and I will save you out of the distress.

So God's judgment and mercy very much was reflected upon on the day of trumpets, but the ultimate fulfillment is yet future. Let's go to Revelation 11, verse 15.

Again, this is a very exciting plan and purpose of God, by which he says, I'll fulfill in you your purpose, and I'll save you, and frankly, the rest of humanity from your own devices, because I've created you for righteousness. As a righteous God, you will be my children.

The blessing will be awesome. Revelation 11, verse 15, again talking about the Feast of Trumpets, It says, So you have the blowing of trumpets. This is number 7. You've had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. They're blown all through the day of the Lord, which appears to be the final year of the three and a half years of the Great Tribulation. Okay, trumpets blown on the day of the Lord.

They will remain forever and ever. The Feast of Trumpets portrays the day of the Lord, portrays God's judgment upon the nations in the time when God intervenes in human history, in a direct and dramatic fashion. God has always worked throughout human history to accomplish his purpose, but he gives man some leash. And there comes a point, then, where God intervenes, as Christ says, if those days were not cut short, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, they will be cut short. God intervenes, then, to bring judgment upon the nations. So it is the day of the Lord. It also portrays the return of Jesus Christ to establish the kingdom of God. And it portrays the resurrection of the saints at the last trumpet. So there's a lot of exciting things that are happening on the Feast of Trumpets. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 50.

Again, the portrayal is the blowing of trumpets and the events surrounding the sounding. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 50. These are very encouraging scriptures. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Paul says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. And the moment and the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. So that alarm will sound, and the dead will wake up. The twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This holy day was a memorial blowing of trumpets. What's a memorial? It's a remembrance. God says, that trumpet will be blown, and I will remember you, my people. And you will be called out of the graves. And indeed, you will live. Verse 53, For this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. So when the corruptible is put on incorruption, and mortal is put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. It's a victory, brethren. It's a victory over the grave. It's a victory over sin. It's a victory over any opposition that could stand against the people of God. This is the first resurrection. Verse 55, O death, where is your sting? O Hades, or grave, where is your victory? The grave will not hold, will not contain the people of God. Verse 56, The sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. It is all worth it, is what Paul is saying. The stress, the trauma, the trial, the opposition, the struggle of living God's way in this world, in this life, it is not in vain, because the victory at the return of Jesus Christ will be yours. The Feast of Trumpets portrays some incredibly difficult things, but it also portrays some incredibly wonderful things as well.

When we keep it today, we reflect upon the various elements of God's judgment and God's mercy. Just as ancient Israel did, we do so today. God's judgment and God's mercy are tied up in this feast, knowing that in the end, righteousness will prevail.

That's the greatest news of all. That's the most incredible message we can teach as the Church of God. Righteousness will prevail. This world will go its way.

There will be things that, frankly, would seem overwhelming, and mankind will have its time.

But again, righteousness at the end will prevail. God will intervene, set things straight, and His Son will rule for Him His righteous right hand.

And justice and truth will be brought to bear.

Day of Atonement. Day of Atonement is the next holy day we come up to then. The Day of Atonement points to reconciliation.

Reconciliation. Recall that under the terms of the Old Covenant, the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies once a year, not without blood, which he offered for the sins of himself, as well as the sins of the people, and if God accepted that offering, then their sins were covered. Okay, Atonement was applied. And in that sense, they would be reconciled, at least ceremonially, to Him.

Hebrews chapter 9, let's consider our New Covenant perspective of this.

Hebrews chapter 9, because you see presently the Day of Atonement has meaning for the Church of God today as well. It is Jesus Christ who is our high priest. Jesus Christ went into the Holy of Holies, but not with the blood of an animal. He went in and approached with His own blood, because He was perfect, and He was sinless. And He offered it on our behalf so that we can be accepted by God. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 6, says, Well, the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic. Okay, it was symbolic. For the present time, in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make Him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience.

Again, it was symbolic. The play, if we can use that term, the play that the high priest rehearsed under the old covenant of the slaughter of the animal and the blood taken in, going through the veil into the Holy of Holies, sprinkling it on the mercy seat for the sin of the people. It was a type pointing to a greater future fulfillment that's happening right now. As in Jesus Christ is our high priest. And He's passed through the Holy of Holies and into God's presence on our behalf. Verse 10, concerning only with foods and drinks and various washings, fleshly ordinances, opposed until the time of Reformation.

But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come. Again, this isn't just backward looking. This is forward looking. The good things to come. They're taking place in our life today, and they will continue to take place for as long as God's plan of salvation for mankind is in process.

He came as the high priest of good things to come with the greater and 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 for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Once again, Jesus Christ is the high priest of what it is that is happening in our life today.

And as such, we're able then to go boldly where? Into God's presence. Before the throne of grace. Knowing that we have a high priest, Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of God, who is our high priest, who is our intercessor, who is the mediator of our covenant with God.

That's why we're told we can come boldly into God's presence. When the high priest went behind the veil, what if he didn't come out? Who's going to go in to get him? So, you know, tradition says, much later on, maybe the time of Christ, and later they used to tie a rope around the high priest. In case maybe he wasn't accepted.

He got to pull him out. So, Christ, though, has sealed the deal for all of mankind, and he is our high priest. Additionally, this day of atonement portrays a future time after the return of Jesus Christ, when all mankind will be extended the same opportunity for atonement and reconciliation with God through their high priest.

Passover, he was our sacrifice for sin. Atonement, he is our high priest at the right hand of God, and he continues to make intercession for us. It is a very real and active process today. Additionally, after the return of Jesus Christ, this day portrays the future regathering of the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. The jubilee trumpet will be sounded on the Day of Atonement, and there will be the second exodus. Israel, the remnant, will be regathered out of the nations that have been scattered across the face of the earth, that will be settled in the Promised Land, and will be the model nation to the world that God intended them to be from the beginning.

It's incredible. Again, so many of these meanings are tied into God's holy days. Additionally, we understand as well the removal of the instigator of sin, Satan the Devil, takes place on this day of Atonement. It's about reconciliation and removing these stumbling blocks to that reconciliation with God. It's another hopeful message of good news. Something that God has planned for mankind that we're called to declare today is something that we live today as we keep these days, and we express to the world, God has a purpose for you, and it will be fulfilled.

You can look around and be discouraged and concerned about what you're seeing happen in this world today. But be a good cheer, Christ said. I've overcome the world. Indeed, in Him you will as well. Feast of Tabernacles. Feast of Tabernacles. It's another seven-day feast of God. I think we all understand that the word tabernacle is a temporary dwelling. This is a feast of temporary dwellings, of tabernacles. It's like a tent. It's like a booth. It symbolizes a stay that is only temporary. When you have a tent and you go camping, you don't dig up the ground and pour a foundation, do you, before you set your tent on it?

I hope not, because I'm not coming camping with you if that's the case. I'd rather be in a hammock somewhere. Temporary dwelling. Ancient Israel observed the Feast of Tabernacles as a reminder that they had been souljourners in the land of Egypt. God brought them out of that. They were strangers. They were foreigners in Egypt. They were in bondage. God says, I'm removing you from that and I'm taking you to a better place. But you see, you're just passing through. Between Egypt and the Promised Land, you're not putting down roots. You may have to camp for a night, but you're just passing through souljourners.

Likewise, as we keep the Feast of Tabernacles, it's a reminder to us we've been brought out of this world and we, too, are souljourners on the earth. We're just passing through this life. Other things we learn, there's lessons that God gives us to build upon. We're working on His nature and His character, but we're not putting down permanent roots here, because this world and this system is not our home.

We're seeking the Promised Land. We're seeking the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ said, you know, foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. The point was if you're going to be my disciple, this is a pilgrimage life.

You're going to follow in that, and you're living as well. So, temporary dwelling. We seek the Kingdom of God that is permanent. In the future portrayal of this day and the fulfillment, Jesus Christ rules as King of Kings on the earth for a thousand years, saints with Him, and during that time, the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Prophecy after prophecy that we read during the Feast of Tabernacles of the blessing that will flow out, the peace and the harmony that will result as the Kingdom of God is established. The plowmen will overtake the reaper, abundance and blessing. The desert will blossom like a rose. The animals of enemy will lay down in peace.

It's a reflection of what God's Kingdom does when it is lived. It's the benefits of that right relationship. We declare that today. A better age is coming. The solution is coming. The Kingdom is coming. Like Mike Imbs gave in a sermon at the Feast in Bend a number of years ago, just take the yellow pages and rip out most of the pages and throw them away.

You won't need the divorce attorney in the Kingdom of God, I pray. You won't need...pick your category. Because it's the blessing of God's way of life, living the law that Dale was talking about with results of mercy and peace. Finally, that leads us to the last great day or the eighth day. Last great day or the eighth day, as it would be termed, is portraying a time following the thousand-year millennial reign of Jesus Christ and the saints on the earth, and it pictures God's ultimate judgment of all humanity.

Ancient Israel observed this day as part of the fall harvest season. You and I observe it today. We finished the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, and right after that last holy day of the Feast, there is one more day, the eighth day, this Feast of the Lord. It pictures the great white throne judgment of Revelation chapter 20, a period of time featuring the general resurrection of all mankind. Graves of everyone who has ever lived and died apart from the firstfruits are opened, and they will stand on their feet as physical.

This is a physical resurrection. They will face their God. Let's go to Revelation chapter 20. I wasn't going to necessarily turn here, but it's just... Let's read the words. That's the easiest thing. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11. It says, John's vision, he says, Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead small and great standing before God. That's the only question that has taken place. And books are open. So we understand that, brethren, there are essentially two categories of people who are resurrected and judged at the end of the age.

All those who ever lived or died apart from a true knowledge of God will be resurrected. district will be given an opportunity for a right relationship with him. Knowledge and understanding of God's word will be open depending on their response to God. If they respond favorably, eternal life will be given to them.

We see on the flip side those who reject God with understanding. And those who have either past, present, or future will enter into a judgment as well. They will ultimately be destroyed in the lake of fire. This is what Revelation 21 is telling us. I saw the dead, verse 12, small and great standing before God, and books were opened. Books. Biblia in the Greek. The Bible. The books of God's word are opened.

So these people who didn't have understanding and true knowledge of God, their mind is going to be opened to the understanding of God and his word. Books were opened. And another book which was opened, which is the Book of Life. Access to potentially eternal life. To have your name written in that book. It is open to these people. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. They lived for a period of time, learned who God is, his way, received his spirit.

Now there's a judgment that will take place. The great white throne judgment according to things written in the books. According to the standard of God's word. And carrying on, verse 13, the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. Now we have another group of people. And they were judged, each one, according to his works.

If you had an understanding of the truth of God, the books had already been open to you. If you had God's spirit, the Book of Life had already been open to you. But if you turned your back on that, there will be a day of resurrection and judgment. And you'll be judged according to your works.

But you see, no books are open. The judgment has been made. The Church of God, this is our day of salvation. The Church is, judgment has begun with the Church of God today, as the Scripture tells us. So the books are open to us today. Understanding of God's word, the Book of Life. So those who would turn back, there is a judgment. But the Book of Life is not open to them. Again, verse 14, Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, and anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Okay, so there is just, there are some hard things coming, but you see, God will not exist in eternity with evil and rejection.

He's building His family, giving them His spirit, and calling them His children in His likeness. There's no rebellion that's going to exist there for eternity. So what this brings us to is that as the end result, all that remains is the spiritual family of God. Those who have entered into the Book of Life. Let's conclude today, Revelation 21, verse 1, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, also there was no mercy.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. And He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them, and be their God. God will literally dwell with His family for eternity. Verse 4, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Brethren, they're all gone. The sin, the death, the destruction, the pain, the anguish that comes from living apart from God's way is swept away. Now in righteousness God has His family. Justice has been served, and righteousness reigns. Verse 5, Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. And I will give the fountain of water of life freely to Him who thirst.

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God, and He shall be my Son. What an awesome plan God has purposed to bring to past, to bring to the past and the lives of those formed in His image. Beginning of Genesis, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, God said. And when that is brought into fruition, what a wonderful, wonderful blessing that will be.

This is an eternal family plan. And it is founded upon peace and harmony with God. This is the good news! This is the good news of the Holy Day. This is the good news of our existence, our purpose. It is the good news of what God is accomplishing in the church today. And it is the good news we proclaim to the world today who is lost. The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand, and the message to those who have not, repent, believe in the Gospel, and God has packaged a plan by which not one person will fall through the cracks.

Not one person will be forgotten. God is not willing that any should perish, that all would come to repentance. And this offer in God's perfect plan and timing will be made to all of mankind. That's what we celebrate in these Holy Days. That's what we live. That's what we preach. It is indeed good news. And, brethren, now we are standing on the brink of only eight more weeks to go. Eight more weeks until the Passover, and we begin to walk through this cycle again. That is really, really good news.