THE HOLY DAYS: PURPOSE and BENEFITS

We cannot live without food, clothing, and shelter. The basics, they say. That's accurate, makes sense. Do clothing and shelter, basics. But you know, there's other things, too, that are outside physical food, physical clothing, and physical shelter, that you also cannot live without. They're intangible, but the effects of these intangibles are very tangible. A person can't live without hope. Some of us have seen that in living color, tragic color, in lives where all hope has been lost, and life is not worth living. We've seen that. Turn with me to Proverbs 13, verse 12, please.

It is a reality, Proverbs 13, verse 12. It is a reality that a person cannot live without hope. Oh, they might survive up to a point, but they don't really live. They don't thrive. And in this human life, we have all experienced what it says here in this first part of Proverbs 13. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope deferred. Your hope's dashed. Your hope's taken away. I saw the crushing effect of that with my wife when her hope of having a better quality of life due to surgery that was scheduled and all to take place was dashed. And yes, she was devastated. And I sometimes misspeak. I said, well, by Friday, after being totally devastated on Wednesday and Thursday, that she's getting her emotional equilibrium back. That was relative to how bad down she was the two days previous. But she's never gotten her emotional equilibrium fully back anyway because she deals with depression and a certain amount of emotional devastation every day. She rises in a trial, she goes to bed in a trial, she lives in a trial.

But I've seen it firsthand with her, I've seen it firsthand with others, I've seen it firsthand with some of you, I've seen it firsthand in my life. This principle, which is more than a principle, it's a truism, it's a reality. Hope deferred, hope's dashed, hope's taken away. Make your heart sick. It just makes you sick all the way down to the bottom of your heart.

Now, here, you and I are, and we lay claim to being righteous. I don't mean righteous in and of ourselves. But we lay claim to have been called by God, responded to Him, taking on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, learning how to exercise right things and do right things.

Well, here in Proverbs 10 and verse 28, there's a Scripture that pertains to us in this regard. A good Scripture, a wonderful Scripture, Proverbs 10 and 28, where it says, The hope of the righteous shall be gladness. We have a hope. We have a great hope. We have a hope that nobody can take away from us. We can give it up, but nobody can take it from us. We have to surrender it if we lose it.

And the hope of the righteous shall be gladness. Or it generates gladness. It generates that.

Verse 28, The hope of the righteous shall be gladness. It translates into, it generates that. You might keep your finger in Proverbs. I will come back. But I'm going to go to Hebrews 6.19.

Hebrews 6.19.

Chapter 6.19. Which hope, speaking of the hope that we have that God has given us, that we thrive on, that we live on, that's part of our foundation. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, an anchor of our being, both sure and steadfast.

Hope here is spoken of as a stabilizing force. Why does a ship drop anchor? To stabilize it, to hold it steady in the waves, in the wind, and all. An anchor is something you drop to, as we say, anchor yourself, to stabilize yourself, to hold yourself steady. And in the winds that blow in our day and age in this old world, especially with the spirit of disobedience that is pounding stronger and stronger and harder and harder.

Hope, our hope, the hope of the righteous, what God has given us, it anchors us.

Now back in Proverbs, this time 14 verse 32, Proverbs 14 and verse 32.

Now the first part says, the wicked is driven away in his wickedness. But here in Proverbs 14 and verse 32, the second part is a statement of hope. It says, but the righteous has hope in his death.

You know, there are people who think, oh, I've got to do anything and everything that I can possibly do to keep from dying because I have no idea what's in the darkness. I have no idea what's on the other side. In fact, I feel like if I go out today, I might wake up in flames. Literally. I mean, that's fear. And they don't have hope. But the righteous has hope in his death.

You know, we all live and we age and we go forward. And there's a time in our life where we're young and we're full of energy. And then we kind of plateau in those middle years and then we started to climb. And eventually we realize, hey, God may give me another year, five years, ten years, whatever he may give me, but it's running out. The sand in the hourglass is running out. But the righteous, the righteous has hope in his death. He knows what it says in Psalm 116 verse 15. He knows that God says, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Because he knows what's coming beyond that in due time. And so that hope gives him peace of mind. It gives confidence. It gives confidence. And so in Psalm 16 verse 9, Psalm 16 and verse 9, David said in Psalm 16 verse 9, therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope. And it could have been rendered in the Hebrew like this, my flesh also shall dwell confidently. You live confidently. You have peace of mind. You live confidently because of the hope. I want to go to the words of the Apostle Paul. Again, I was in Hebrews, but only a little Romans 8.24. Romans 8.24. You can easily put the evidences together and build a case for why a person can't truly live without hope. Romans 8 verse 24. And these are pretty pointed and pretty strong words when it says, for we are saved by hope. It has the power of salvation to it because that hope keeps pulling us forward. Remember, faith, the just shall walk by faith. And a heavy component of that is hope because faith, you keep going forward. You're pulled forward. Hope pulls you forward. And that's why hope goes along with faith. You've got faith, you know, you can't back up, you can't withdraw, you can't turn back, you've got to keep going forward. And that hope that God has given us keeps pulling us forward. Notice if we go back to Hebrews and this time go to what's called the faith chapter in Hebrews 11 in verse 1. Hebrews 11 in verse 1. And again showing how the two do go together. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. The things that are hoped for.

God Almighty, the Father and the Son who are infinite in their magnitude, their wisdom, their capacity, their ability to generate a plan and to carry it out.

They also live with hope. They live with hope. If you notice Romans 8 and verse 20, that's what it says. Romans 8 and verse 20.

They live with hope. They do in hope. They exercise hope. It says, For the creation was made subject to vanity not willingly, but by reason of Him, God, who has subjected the same in hope.

God moves forward in hope. And there are things that God is doing right now in the world in terms of timings, in the nation in terms of timings.

And with His spiritual Israel, the church is called out once to move towards a completion of another step and stage in His plan. And ultimately, through all those steps and stages, the ultimate of salvation for all mankind through God's plan.

God moves forward in hope. A person can't live without hope. A person cannot live without vision.

Notice with me another thing they can't live without is vision. If you lose your physical vision, I'm going back to Proverbs 29 verse 18. Proverbs 29 verse 18. If you lose your physical vision, you can't see, you can't paint, you can't drive, you're shut down.

And you're in dire straits if you don't have somebody that can be your eyes for you. You would perish. Proverbs 29. And this is in the King James, and I have always loved the way that it is put. I'm talking about the non-ambiguity. No vagueness. No couched language. No subtlety. Just straightforward. Where there is no vision, the people perish.

When people cannot look on down the road, when people cannot look beyond and above the current surroundings, when they're trapped only in or caught only in, when their view does not go beyond just the immediate present, in one form, fashion, degree or another, they're going to perish. You've got to have vision. You've got to be able to look down the road. Even in terms of starting a project, you've got to be able to see what the outcome you're headed for, what the results are going to be. We are losing in this nation, we are losing the reality that there's cause and effect. Oh, the reality is still there. We're losing sight of choice and consequence. If I do this, then that's going to happen. Well, I don't want that to happen, so I'm not going to do that. I'm going to do this. And then that will happen, and that's what I want to happen. Cause and effect, choice and consequence. Oh, what I'm doing right now, what's that going to project and cause? People are losing the ability to weigh and judge. Where there is no vision, where people cannot look on down the road and cannot look above and beyond, they perish. And there's an awful lot of truth to that. So a person can't live without hope. They can't live without vision. A person can't live without understanding, either. They can't live without answers. They can't live without knowledge, understanding, answers. Here in Proverbs 15, verse 28, Proverbs 15 and verse 28 says, The heart of the righteous, those that God is working with, those that want God to work with, those that are responding to God, there's something that's germane to their make-up. And it's really, it also is kind of intrinsic to the make-up, because people do generally tend to want to know. They've got curiosity, but it usually is very, very selective wanting to know, very, very selective curiosity. This says, the heart of the righteous studies to answer. The righteous want to know. I want answers. I want to be able to answer. I want to know what the answers are. Now, again, I will come back to Proverbs in a moment or two, but in 2 Timothy 2.15, 2 Timothy 2, 2 Timothy 2, verse 15. Timothy, Paul is saying to him, study, study, to show yourself approved unto God a workman. You study in order to show yourself to be approved of God a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. In other words, getting understanding, getting knowledge, getting the answers, having them. And Peter put it this way in 1 Peter 3.15. In 1 Peter 3, verse 15, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer. Well, I don't know the answers. Well, then find out what they are. Study, learn them, get knowledge, get understanding, get the answers. Peter says, be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason I've noticed. There's that word, the hope.

You could take, in one sense, all the hopes of the righteous, roll them up together, and put a header over it, this package, the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Now back to Proverbs. See, Peter is acknowledging and saying and admonishing, and those who truly are applying, they want to be equipped with answers. But also, Proverbs 4, Proverbs 4 and verse 13, take hold. And any time I see that word take hold, it's like, get a grip. You know, white knuckle it if you have to. But get a grip. Get a grip. Take fast hold. That means, fast hold, those two words mean a very strong, unbreakable grip. Take fast hold of instruction, knowledge, understanding, answers. Let her not go. Keep her. She's your life. They recognize the value of knowledge. And the main key to understanding, answers, and vision.

And I go back to Proverbs 29, 18. Now, I don't know what your translation will say. I do know that some of the translations water it down. It doesn't hit with the same impact. We read in Proverbs 29, verse 18, where there's no vision, the people perish. But I said, a main key to understanding, answers, and vision is also this, the second part of that verse, but He that keeps the law, happy as He. See, when I think about, but He that keeps the law, happy as He, I think about Psalm 111, verse 10. It says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding, knowledge, answers. A good understanding of all they that do His commandments. Happy is He that keeps the law. And I was told long ago, when I was a young man, understanding is given to the obedient. Mr. Armstrong taught that very heavily. Understanding is given to the obedient. And he based it primarily on that verse right there we just read. So a person can't live without hope, they can't live without vision, they can't live without answers, understanding. And there's a fourth thing, they really can't live without. And when I talk about living, I'm not just talking about scratching by, I'm not just talking about just eking out bare survival, I'm talking about thriving, I'm talking about living, I'm talking about growing, I'm talking about hanging in there and pushing your way through, whatever you have to push your way through because of the hope that pulls you forward. And that fourth thing, a person can't live without incentives and rewards. A person has to have incentives and rewards. And does God know that? Is God aware of that? Well, God's the one who made us. He's the one who made us. And He knows that's part of our makeup. Notice with me Revelation 3, just to illustrate this. And Revelation 3, you have the message to Philadelphia, and you have God's commendation, not condemnation, but commendation, commends them. He talks about how that... Well, let's see, let's pick it up, verse 8. I know your works, behold, I've set before you... Revelation 3, verse 8. I know your works, behold, I've set before you an open door. No man can shut it. You have a little strength. You've kept My word and have not denied My name. Now, I said a person cannot live without incentives and rewards. Notice the incentives here and the rewards that God expresses to these faithful ones of His. He says, Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews. That is spiritual Jews, but are not. And are not, He says, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. One of you here related to me a little while back about when you were being called into the truth. You went to one of the preachers in the denomination that you were in at the time. And you showed scriptures about John 3.13, how no man has ascended to heaven, except He that came down who is in heaven. And about how that David is dead and buried, Acts 2, and has not ascended into the heavens. And did the preacher answer the question to you? No. The preacher said, What cult are you in?

Because he couldn't deny the scripture.

You're in a cult. Well, guess what? The whole world is going to be in this cult someday.

God says, I'm going to give you vindication. I'm going to validate you. It is never fun for anybody that you love and care about to look down on you because of what you believe.

It's never fun to be ostracized or disinherited because of the truth. And that does happen sometimes. It happens quite a bit.

And so part of the incentive for you hanging in there is, look, they're going to eventually know. And of course, when the time comes that they do know, you're going to be there as a glorified being. And you're going to be able to help them now with understanding and hope and all that stuff.

But it is an incentive to know that, yes, someday you will be vindicated, validated in the eyes of those you love, and they will know that God, Jesus Christ, have loved you and loved you and were working with you. And then verse 10, because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of tribulation. This is the great tribulation it's referring to, which shall come upon all the world who try them that dwell upon the earth.

That's incentive. That's reward. And he goes on, Behold, I come quickly, verse 11. Hold that fast which you have that no man take to your crown. You have a crown. Don't lose it. There's a crown waiting for you. There's a crown of glory and rulership and power to be set on your head. Don't give it up. Don't lose it. Don't let it be taken from you.

Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out. And I will write upon him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name. Those are incentives. And you can go to the next to last chapter of Revelation, Revelation 21, verse 7, where it says, He that overcomes will inherit all things and I will be his God.

Those are incentives.

Let me follow up with one more scripture, Luke 21, verse 36.

Incentives, rewards, Luke 21, verse 36.

Watch. Watch. Keep your head up. Keep your head up spiritually, vigilantly, to yourself. And keep your head up and be vigilant to what's going on around you. And to the times you live in, your spiritual condition and the conditions of the world around you, community, county, city, nation, world.

Watch. And pray.

Which has to do with keeping close, connecting relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Want you there for it and pray always.

And if you're doing that and you're being faithful, and where I was in Revelation 3, that message I read was to the faithful people of God. That is a message to the faithful people of God. And if we watch Him, we pray, and we're faithful, God says... He doesn't just say, Be that, and someday you'll be in my kingdom, which is great enough in and of itself. But notice what He says, that you may be accounted worthy. He's going to do the accounting. God is. God's the one that has to make the decision whether we're accountable, worthy, counted worthy or not. I might say, I'm worthy. And God says, No, you're not.

That you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass. And I'm going to stop right there for a moment. To escape all these things that shall come to pass. That is a direct, direct statement of being preserved from the great tribulation that is coming.

Number one, I want to live faithful. Number two, I'm not holding my hand up volunteering for martyrdom. If God wants me to be a martyr, He's going to have to... He's got the power. He's got to push my hand up, because if He says I'm taking volunteers, I'm just going to kind of foe. I'm going to obey if He says, well, you've got to be murdered. Well, okay, I guess I don't have a choice. But my point is, He offers that as an incentive, as a physical blessing.

You know, you pay a price, you do what you've got to do, obey, watch, keep close connection to me, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things. And there will be whatever size group it is of God's faithful people that will be spared what is coming. We're not going to be spared all the troubles up to that point. But beyond a certain point, God's faithful people will be spared. And then the second part, which is the most important part of all, obviously, to stand before the Son of Man, which references the resurrection and eternal life. But doesn't it make sense that if you're living in a way that God can't account you worthy to escape?

He also can't account you worthy for the resurrection because something is missing in the way you're not doing like you should? I mean, that's why a certain number of God's people will go into great tribulation, because they're not ready for the resurrection. There's not enough growth or overcoming or repentance. I mean, word it however you want to word it. By the same token, those who are living worthily, who are spared, they're living in a way that when the time comes of that seventh trumpet blowing, they can be.

Anyhow, hope, vision, understanding answers, incentives, those are things we need, and a person can't live and stay refreshed without being reminded of these things. We have to be reminded. I want to go to 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1. Peter has been an apostle for about 30-something years. The day of his death is not far away. He knows his time's about up. And he says this in 2 Peter 1, in verse 12, He says, "'Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth.'" And, of course, it's often been said that James focuses on faith, Peter focuses on hope, and John focuses on love.

"'Established in the present truth.'" Verse 13, yes, I think it meat-fitting, as long as I'm in this tabernacle, as long as I'm alive, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. And in 2 Timothy 4, too, there's a scripture that rings the bell for us when we hear it read.

2 Timothy 4, verse 2, Paul says, "'Preach the word the instant in season out of season.'" There are certain things of God that are never out of season. You preach them any time of the year. They're never out of season. Hope is never out of season. Vision is never out of season. Incentive rewards never out of season. Understanding, knowledge, answers, never out of season. But then there are some things that are more in season, and that ties all these things together and sprinkles them throughout the year. A person needs annual landmarks, guideposts, hitching rails, we might say, to tie to, because we are humanly made to function on a yearly cycle.

Now, the most basic cycle that we function on is daily. We get up, we go through the day, we get tired, we go down, we sleep, we're renewed, we're refreshed, and we get up and start over the cycle, a 24-hour cycle.

There is a daily cycle, and that's the most basic cycle of time that we're all on. Now, something that's not necessarily obvious by scientific methods, but yet you can also prove it. It has been proven to some degree scientifically. We're also on a weekly cycle, and that there's a weekly cycle that God created that is finished each week with the Sabbath, the Seventh-day Sabbath.

But there's also an annual cycle, and we're made to function on a yearly cycle. Our Maker knows this, and He made us this way, and God gave us His annual Holy Days to help supply these needs. And God's Holy Days reveal the outline, the plan, the time schedule for mankind, and by their very design, as intended by God the Almighty, the Author, they give hope, they give vision, they give answers and understanding, and they give incentive and reward, don't they? That's their purpose.

Now, you can tie this all together with this title, The Holy Days, colon, purpose and benefits. The Holy Days, purpose and benefits, because they're chock-full of hope, they're chock-full of vision, they're chock-full of answers and understanding, and they're chock-full of incentives and rewards, and we cycle through these every year. And we're now into the fall season of that cycle. Trumpets, next Sabbath, Atonement on the 28th, and then the Feast of Tabernacles, beginning with the High Holy Day on October the 3rd, and the cycle concluding on the 10th with what we call the Last Great Day, that 8th Holy Day in God's plan. But let's just kind of flow down through them for a moment, kind of in a nutshell.

And think in terms of the hope and the vision and the understanding and the incentives, how they supply those things, and how the Holy Days have that purpose and those benefits in it. Take Passover. Passover itself is not a Holy Day. We know that. But it's the most solemn event of the year because it pictures the greatest supreme, simply the supreme sacrifice that can ever be made. Nothing can ever match it, even come close. But what does that mean? Once we're in Jesus Christ, under His covering blood, through baptism, and we've made a clean vessel in God's sight, and He imparts His Holy Spirit to us and begets new life in us.

And we come and we celebrate in commemoration of all of that and His memorial of Christ's death and what it does for us, the Passover each year. What does it represent? It represents opportunity for life, opportunity for eternity, not just for life, but for life to be a part of the life of God.

And so, we know that we can keep on getting up every day and eating and drinking and doing whatever. Of course, we can get up each day and eat and drink and do what is good and right and proper, knowing that this life can be better and that this life itself doesn't have to end when we die. Because eternity is ahead of us. You live this life in a way that when the time comes, when your consciousness, when that seventh trumpet blows, you rise to newness of life in a way that you can never get tired, diseased, broken, destroyed, hurt, full of glory and power and filled with God's love, joy, and peace forever and ever and ever in a fullness that we can't even begin to imagine now.

Passover, opportunity for life, a way to be saved from oblivion, the second death, the lake of fire. Yet you're no longer under the death penalty. The axe isn't hanging over you. You're granted a future, a parole, a pardon, your cleanse. You now have incentive for going on. You have hope for going on. You have reason for going on. And then right on the hills of that, Feast of Unleavened Bread, where the picture is putting sin out, it pictures us learning to make a fight against sin, which does so easily want to easily beset us, but pictures learning to live clean in Christ, to learn how to live clean in Christ, and to make that effort and to know that God will support that effort, and continually going to God through Christ for cleansing even as we fight against sin.

But again, we're in the process of changing a confirmation that we can be different. I'm not stuck with the way I am. I'm not stuck with the way I've been for 30 years, 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, 20 years, or whatever it is. I'm not stuck with that. I'm not stuck with the way I am. I can change. I can grow.

And then Pentecost. And again, these holy days, especially the high days, are 24-hour periods picturing these realities of God, these spiritual realities, picturing God's plan of salvation, the steps and the stages of it. And then so picturing, engendering hope and vision and answers and incentive. And Pentecost, picturing that you're not going to have to do it on your own. Hey, look, I've been forgiven and cleansed, but it's going to be very difficult for me to stay out of sin because it has made such inroads into me and ingrained there. And God, if I've got to do this all by myself, I may as well just give up and quit because I'll never succeed.

God says you make the effort because you're not going to be doing it by yourself. You make the effort. I'll bless the effort, but I'm blessing you by giving you the power of my Spirit combined with your resolve and effort so that you can be successful. And, of course, the pouring out of God's Holy Spirit and being given to us, to back us, how encouraging that is. And, of course, by the very fact that God pours out His Spirit and gives it to us to help us, that we don't have to do it on our own, that that also engenders us as first fruits of the kingdom of God, the New Testament church.

And that, again, wraps and contains all those things that we need that we can't live without. What about Trumpets? You and I know, and we've got more proof just this year, that man cannot solve his problems. It's going to take Jesus Christ to come back with wonderful power and rulership to set things right and to keep them right. And Trumpets picturing Christ's return. And by the fact that He returns, He comes back in time to preserve the earth and mankind from total destruction, from genocide, planetary suicide, and initiates His Millennial Rule. And also, with those seven Trumpets, that seventh one, generating the resurrection, where you do go from everything you have to deal with in this life that's tiring and dragging and painful and hurtful and limiting and worrying.

As you're ascending to meet the returning Christ, everything you've had to do as a human being at that point is historic. You're not flesh and blood anymore. You're not susceptible to the ups and downs, the where's and tears. And those martyrs who've had their heads cut off, who are now rising to meet the returning Christ, their heads can't ever be cut off again.

They're indestructible. And then atonement, Satan bound and later kicked out completely. The troublemaker removed peace and unity to reign. And then the Feast of Tabernacles, the whole world under God, peace, happiness, productivity, challenge throughout, truth worldwide. And your and my full involvement. And full involvement for everybody. And then the last great day, everyone who has ever lived and died without true opportunity, now given that opportunity, reunion with our roots and loved ones. My dad was the only one on his side of the family called to the truth. His siblings, his parents, his nieces and nephews, my first cousins, were never brought from behind the veil.

They lived under a veil, behind a veil, all their lives. It wasn't their day of salvation. And you know what? On mom's side, mom's family, her siblings, my first cousins on that side, practically every single one was involved with life, with the truth. And on my dad's side, I loved those folks the same as I loved those on mom's side. And I want to see dad's people. I want to see them in the last great day, and I want to be there to help them.

Reunion with our roots and loved ones. And so you look at this yearly cycle that God anchors us to. This is my 60th feast of tarantachals coming up. I don't and can't think of a year aside from that yearly cycle of the Holy Days. My year flows around these Holy Days. It's ingrained in me. It's second nature. And this yearly cycle that God anchors us to contains, again, that hope, vision, answers, incentives, and through these Holy Days that we go through. Christ is emphasized with power in both roles of Savior and King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and that's their purpose.

And again, I remind us what Psalm 111 verse 10 says, a good understanding have they that do His commandments. And the Holy Days are also God's commandments. In brief, Leviticus 23 and verse 4. Leviticus 23, they are to be proclaimed in their seasons.

Verse 4, these are the feasts of the Lord. Even holy convocations, that's commanded assembly. Convocation is a commanded assembly. A holy convocation is a commanded assembly by a holy one. God is holy. Holy convocation is holy assemblies which you shall proclaim in their seasons and kept, obviously. And in the keeping of them, the benefits begin to be realized. And again, always, I'll pick it back up in verse 1. And one of the things that's germane to this, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them concerning the feasts of the Lord. Moses, go tell them about your feasts. No, He didn't say that. He said, You tell them about my feasts, the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. Even these are my feasts. And of course, obviously, it starts off in verse 3, this annual cycle. It actually starts off with the weekly cycle. In other words, the very first Sabbath, which comes 52 times a year, is the weekly cycle. The weekly Sabbath, six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath, the rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work therein. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. I find it interesting when you look here and God says, These are my feasts, Moses, and you proclaim that to them. They're my feasts. You might just want to jot this down. Nehemiah 9, verses 13 through 15. Nehemiah 9, verses 13 through 15, where Nehemiah there is acknowledging, God, you revealed your holy Sabbath. You revealed your holy Sabbath. Let's step forward very briefly to the New Testament. In Matthew 26, and I'm not going to go to Matthew 26, but in Matthew 26, in parallel accounts in the Gospel, Jesus Christ keeps the Passover for the final time while He's flesh and blood. The last Passover He keeps is obviously on the very night that He's going to be taken later that night and begin to be brutalized and then crucified the next day. But what's interesting is these are the feasts of the Lord. And of course, when you deal with the Passover, you're dealing with the event without which nothing and none of what, unleavened bread, pinnacles, trumpets, atonement, feasts or tabernacles, last great day, none of what is pictured by those holy days has any chance of occurring or happening without what the Passover is all about. Because without a Passover and a Savior, no plan of God can be carried out. So the Passover makes that possible. And so you go from the Old Covenant days, Old Testament, into the New Covenant time, the New Testament, you go to that time and you find that, okay, just like they had done the previous years with Christ on that evening, they sat down and they ate an Old Testament, Old Covenant, full Passover meal. When that meal was completely finished, then the disciples were caught off guard.

Because when that meal was completely finished, that was the last time that the Old Testament Passover meal would be required of the followers of Jesus Christ. At that point, and they thought everything was done, he took the bread and he took the wine and he instituted the bread to represent his body, the wine to represent his blood, and from that point on Passover would always be kept with those two symbols. It wouldn't require a meal, but those two symbols. And he instituted the New Testament Passover. And so annually, we continue to keep the Passover, but in the New Covenant, New Testament form that Christ instituted.

And I've always found it very interesting. Christ said, I will build my church. Okay? And it won't die out. I will build my church, but Jesus, wouldn't it make sense that if you had done away with all of those holy days, that are mentioned back there in Leviticus 23, now there are some changes in how they're kept, just like there are changes in how the Passover is kept now. But if you really did away with all of those, and since you did away with all of those, isn't it kind of muddying the waters if you start your New Testament church on a holy day?

Doesn't that give credibility to the holy day? Doesn't that look like you're putting your stamp of approval on the holy day? I mean, couldn't you have picked another day other than the holy day of Pentecost? Read with me Acts 2.1. I mean, if you want it to be clear, Lord, that the holy days are done away with, and they don't matter anymore, then why give credibility to something that's been done away with?

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. That's when He began the New Testament church on Pentecost, on a holy day. He's giving validity to the holy day. And then, what about Paul? Yeah, I know Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles. He could work with Jews, too, but he was the main apostle to the Gentiles. And he goes over to places like Sin City, Greece, called Corinth, to a place where a congregation is raised up, have called out once, who are primarily Gentiles.

Paul, you know, basically 20-something years after the church has begun, and you're going to muddy the waters with folks that don't have the waters muddied already. 1 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 5, verses 7 and 8. Why teach the Gentiles something that doesn't matter anymore? Now, we'll grant you've got to teach about Christ the Passover, but these holy days? 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7. Paul writes to them, to these Gentile converts, Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump as you are unleavened.

Even Christ our Passover sacrificed for us. Okay, that's germane always to the plan of God. But Paul, look what you wrote, therefore let us keep the feast. Can't get around that. Paul, why don't you muddy the waters? And Lord, with you starting your church on Pentecost and not stopping Paul from muddying the waters about those holy days that have gone to the wayside, why in the world would you prophesy what you do in Zechariah 14? Now, yeah, we want you to come back and you tell us in verse 4, Zechariah 14 verse 4, your feet are going to stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives.

And boy, it's going to be wonderful. Verse 9, it says that you're going to be king over all the earth. In that day there will be one Lord and His name won. That's wonderful. But look at what you're pushing. Verse 16, during your millennial reign, when you come back, it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep what?

The Feast of Tabernacles. Hmm. I guess I do kind of remember that you said you'd change not, Malachi 4.6. I guess I do kind of remember Hebrews 13.8 about how that Jesus Christ, that, Lord, You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. I guess Your Holy Days have tremendous purpose and tremendous benefits. And I guess that when you just push all human reasoning aside and properly use the human mind in a logical and real way, especially as helped by Your Spirit, yeah, it does become pretty obvious that all that Passover and the Holy Days and this whole entire cycle, what it's all about, it's filled with hope, it's filled with vision, it's filled with understanding, it's filled with incentive.

And I really do lay all those wonderful things out that we need for thriving and growing and developing because that's what Your plan of salvation for mankind is full of. Hope and vision and answers and incentive.