Prepare Now to Really Rejoice at God’s Feast Days

Howdy, y'all! You guys will answer to anything, won't you? Now that's good. I wanted to try that. It worked for Chevy, so I thought, why not? It's good to be back here. It's nice to have my wife back, for sure. In fact, do you get excited about things? Are you enthused about many things or just a few things? Or are you enthused about nothing? No things. Now, I'm very enthusiastic about my wife being back home with me from being gone over a month in Alaska. In fact, I was so enthused and excited that I got carried away and shaved off this beard of mine.

I'm also very excited and enthused about our two-year-old grandson. His name is Xander. And Barbara got to spend a whole month with him and our daughter, Jamie, and she had a wonderful time away. But she was glad to be back, too. And Barbara and I had some good face time with Xander this week after she returned, and he really is the cutest little grandchild in the world. No offense to anyone else out there. I know that every little grandchild's cute to the grandparents and to the parents, so it's okay to say that. Now, Barbara and I are also pretty excited about the blessing of our new home, as Mr. Wright mentioned. In fact, we took possession last night. We closed yesterday. And so the big move is this weekend, so we're really excited about that, of course. In fact, I carried my wife over the threshold last night, and we kissed. And it was pretty cool. So I was pretty excited about that. So was she. I think she was. She better be. I'm also very enthusiastic and excited about the upcoming Holy Day season. The Feast of Trumpets is now less than one month away. The Day of Atonement is just ten days after that, of course, and then we're off to keep the Feast of Tabernacles in the last great day or the eighth-day festival. Now, the next full moon you see will mean that we're only one month away from the very beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles. So I'd really love to see those full moons as we draw nearer to the Feast. Now, Barbara and I are going to go to the Bahamas in the Caribbean Islands with a number of deaf and hard-of-hearing members, and also several from the DFW area. Mr. Wright and his wife Linda will be going, and quite a few of their families. So very excited about spending the Feast with them. It's going to be really neat. So I'm looking forward to all that, and pretty enthused about that as well. So what is your enthusiasm level for the upcoming Holy Days? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, how enthusiastic are you at this point? Where would you say you are right now? Are you really going to be able to rejoice at the Feast this year? I mean really rejoice at the Feast. Brother, now is the time to prepare if you want to really rejoice at the Feast this year. If you want to get the most out of the Feast and give the most at the Feast, now is the time to really start thinking about it. About a month ago, I talked about God's Holy Days. Are they still holy? And I went through many scriptures, I believe, proving that indeed they are still holy, and God does expect us to keep them. But today I want to talk about rejoicing at the Feast and getting ourselves prepared to keep the Feast. Now the word rejoice is used 192 times, 192 times in 183 verses in the Bible. So God does say a lot about rejoicing. The most commonly used Hebrew word translated rejoice is Strong's 8055. I'm sure you have all those memorized. It's Samok, Psalmok. It is a primitive root which means to brighten up. It means to be or to make blithe or glissom, to be full of glee, to cheer up, to be glad, to be joyful, to make merry. And there are a whole bunch of other Hebrew words that are related to this primitive root word, Psalmok. They mean essentially the same thing.

One means to make mirth, to be cheerful. Another one is another primitive root, it's root, it's ronon. It means to properly to creak or to emit a stridulous sound. In other words, to shout for joy is what it's talking about. To rejoice is to shout for joy, to cry out, to be joyful, to greatly rejoice, to sing aloud, and to triumph. So we're going to triumph at the feast this year as we rejoice in keeping the feasts. Another word means literally to jump for joy. Have you ever jumped for joy? I have.

There have been times when I've jumped for joy and I'm looking forward to doing some more jumping at the feast. There's another word that means to spin around. It says, under the influence of any violent emotion, to spin around actually be affected in that way. Kind of like dancing, you might say. Spinning around, you've probably done that before as you were excited about something. To be glad, to be joyful, to rejoice. Now, there's some Greek words as well that are very similar to the Hebrew words that we've just covered. And I've got all the Hebrew words here if you actually want to see them, but I really didn't want to bog you down. And I can't pronounce them anyway. Now, one of the most used words in the Greek is the word kairo. It's a primary verb. It means to be full of cheer that is calmly happy or well off. It means to be glad, to greet, or to wish someone Godspeed. Again, to be joyful. Another one means to congratulate. When we rejoice, we congratulate one another. Happy and excited about some good fortune of someone else. And another Greek word means, again, to jump for joy. That's a gali'a'alu. That's a hard one. It means to be exceedingly glad with exceeding joy, to greatly rejoice. Another word, again, it means to make merry and to be in a good frame of mind. To be in a good frame of mind. This is all a part of rejoicing at the feast. Brethren, you need to get your minds right so that you will be able to really, truly rejoice at the feast this year. And as Chevi Volchev was saying in the sermonette, we're busy people. And it's real easy to let some of that joy slip away, and Satan will try to crowd that out. So don't allow that to happen, but you be determined to rejoice at the feast this year and start preparing now, because there are things that you can do, and we'll talk about some of those as we go along through the sermon. Now, the word enthusiasm is similar to rejoice in a way. It's derived from two Greek words, en, meaning in, and theos, which means God. So enthusiasm basically means God in you. God in you. So to be enthusiastic means to be energized. It means to be inspired by God. We all need to go to the feast, inspired by God. We need to go there energized. Another biblical term that's very closely related to enthusiasm is the word fervent, which comes from the Greek word zeo, meaning to boil with heat, to be hot. So you all need to be hot for the feast this year. You need to be zealous. Still, another word closely related to enthusiasm is the word translated earnestly, which again means to be hot or to be furious. We're told to earnestly contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to us. We do need to do that at the feast. We need to keep these days earnestly. It means to blaze up or to be kindled. We need to be kindled. We need to stir up the Spirit of God in us so that we might keep the feast in a way that is pleasing to God. That's the whole purpose, isn't it? To go up and worship the King, to show Him how much we love Him and how grateful we are to be here, and that He's called us out of this world, that He's given us a much better way of life.

In Romans 12, let's go there. We'll take a look at a few verses here that talk about being enthusiastic about God's ways. The Apostle Paul was certainly one who was very enthusiastic about God's ways.

He was very faithful in preaching and teaching the Word of God. In Romans 12, verse 9, he says, "...let love be without hypocrisy." Christ hated hypocrisy. Paul hated hypocrisy, and all of God's true servants hate hypocrisy in themselves and in others. He says, "...apure what is evil and cling to what is good." "...apure that which is evil and cling to that which is good, and be kindly affectionate to one another, with brotherly love in honor, giving preference to one another." "...not lagging in diligence." We're supposed to be very diligent, not lagging in diligence, but fervent in spirit. Hot in the spirit, serving the Lord. Mr. Volcheff talked about that as well in the sermonette. Basically, whatever our hand finds to do, we need to do it with our might. We need to rejoice in hope, as it says in verse 12. "...patient in tribulation and continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints and being given to hospitality." That's what God expects of his people. So we have to be enthusiastic about God's ways. We have to be fervent in serving God. In Galatians 4, verse 18, the apostle Paul talks about the great need to be zealous in doing that which is right and good. Galatians 4, verse 18. Paul says, "...but it is good to be zealous in a good thing always." God wants us to be zealous. He doesn't want us to be bumps on logs who don't do anything of any value, that don't get excited. No, we do need to be stirred up, brethren. He says, "...and not only when I am present with you..." I guess some people had a tendency to get close to Paul so that they would look good and so that he would think better of them. But that's hypocrisy, isn't it? We should always be that way. We should always be fervent in serving God. Brethren, we are instructed to never allow ourselves to be weary in well-doing. But it's very easy to become weary in well-doing because life is hard, life is difficult, so it's easy to become weary in well-doing. So we have to fight against that. And we have to be fervent and hot against that apathetic attitude. If we're going to rejoice at the feast days, if we're going to be enthusiastic and zealous about God's holy days, it's very important that we begin thinking about observing these days right now.

You know, we're just a little over a month away from observing these days. So it's very, very important that we begin to concentrate more of our time on preparing for God's holy days. And frankly, the Sabbath is one of God's holy days, too, isn't it? In fact, you're here because you know that. And you are preparing spiritually when you come here every Sabbath.

But the annual holy days are somewhat special. They only come once a year. The Sabbath comes every week. And of course, that makes it special in itself, doesn't it?

We are to observe and to rejoice in observing these wonderful holy days, which includes the Sabbath. This is a day of rejoicing. So everything I'm saying about the annual holy days applies probably doubly to the weekly Sabbath. We need to come here full of joy. We need to have our minds right when we come here. And we need to really fellowship and rejoice with one another and learn to be more and more fervent as time gets more and more difficult in this world.

So it is important that we prepare ourselves physically, mentally, and most importantly, spiritually, to observe and to rejoice in, again, keeping these wonderful holy days of God.

So will you have the meaning of the feast days uppermost in your minds this year as you observe the feast? Or are you going to treat the feast too much like a vacation and not enough like the holy days of God? Let's go to Leviticus 23. It tells us very clearly that these are indeed very, very special days that God has sanctified, that God has set apart. They are appointed times. We have an appointment to keep these days with God, and He does not take these days lightly at all.

Let's see this appointment that was made many, many thousands of years ago. Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23. verse 1, You keep it faithfully, you keep it to the Lord. Verse 4, These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. And then He talks about the Passover. He talks about the days of eleven bread. He talks about the feasts of firstfruits or Pentecost.

And then in verse 23, the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, in the seventh month, On the first day of the month you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation of commanded assembly. And you shall do no customary work on it, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal.

That is the Feast of Trumpets. In less than a month we'll be gathering together to keep this appointed time the Feast of Trumpets. And the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It's talking about fasting on that day. And apparently some of us need to prepare physically to fast, because if we drink a lot of coffee, we don't have such a great day. So we need to start thinking about that and prepare for keeping the day of atonement. We are to afflict ourselves. We are to offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the day of atonement. To make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And a month ago, when I went through that sermon about God's holy days are still holy, we went into the New Testament. We showed that these days are still to be kept. Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He has not done away with his law. He has not done away with his feast days. He said, think not that I came to destroy the law. Now these days are certainly in effect, and we already observed them. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no matter of work. It shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations and all of your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls. So we are to afflict our souls and to fast on that day. In verse 33, the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, the fifteenth day of this seventh month, shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days to the Eternal. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it, and for seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, another commanded assembly, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. And these are the feasts of the Eternal, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering again made by fire to the Eternal, a burnt offering, a grain offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything on its day, and besides the Sabbath of the Eternal, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your free will offerings which you give to the Lord. And also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days. On the first day there will be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest.

And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, the willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. And you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year, and it shall be a statute forever in your generations, and you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

You shall dwell in booths or temporary dwellings or tabernacles made for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. When God brought them out of Egypt, they dwelled in tents, temporary dwellings, because they were on their way to the Promised Land. And, brethren, we are all living in temporary dwellings now.

In fact, this physical flesh is a temporary dwelling as well. And there are many, many analogies that can be made in regard to tabernacles and what God is doing. I'm sure we'll cover some of those during the feast this year.

But these are temporary dwellings, and we'll go to the feast, and we'll keep the feast in temporary dwellings. Now, if you want to camp out, you're certainly welcome to do that. Some people do like to camp out at the feast. We don't believe that that's necessary. You don't have to live in a tent. You can stay in a temporary dwelling called a condo, or a motel room, or a house even. Because it's all temporary. You don't get to stay there. You have to come back home.

You have to come back to Dallas. I'm not going to get to stay in the Bahamas. I'm going to have to come back, which is fine. I like it here. So we're going to stay in temporary dwellings, but it is reflective of this temporary time now as we await God's kingdom to be established forever and ever and ever. So it's something to keep in mind. It's a wonderful time. In Deuteronomy 12, it shows the proper way to worship God because this is all about worshiping God.

That's why we should be hot. That's why we should be fervent. That's why we need to jump for joy because God has shown us how to worship Him, and how to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Deuteronomy 12. As we know, Satan has deceived the whole world. People are committing idolatry continually and have for nearly 6,000 years of human history. In Deuteronomy 12, it talks about how people will worship in pagan ways, not worshiping the true God.

It talks about some of that in the first few verses here. Verse 4, You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things. We're not to follow the way of the heathen. We're not to learn the way of the heathen who bow down before trees and idols and such things. God wants us to bow before Him and worship Him. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things, but you shall seek the place where the Eternal your God chooses out of all your tribes to put His name for His dwelling place, and there you shall go. And there you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your voweled offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and your flocks.

And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice. There's that word. You shall rejoice. You shall be stirred up. You shall be hot. You shall be fervent. You shall jump for joy in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

You shall not at all do as we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. God wants us to stop doing what is right in our eyes. He wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. For as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you, the Promised Land that God is giving them.

We have not yet attained the Promised Land either, but we are going into the Promised Land. And when we go up to keep the feast, again it's symbolic of the time when we will have a foretaste of eternity during that thousand-year millennial reign of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, and we will have opportunity to rule and to reign with Him. You know, God is gracious. He's calling us now to be among the very first to be a part of His kingdom.

This is a high and a holy calling, and we should never take it for granted.

In Zechariah chapter 14, well, let's read verse 18. Before we go to Zechariah, let's go back to Deuteronomy 12. Notice in verse 12 of Deuteronomy 12, You shall rejoice before the Lord your God. You and your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levite who is within your gates, since He has no portion or inheritance with you. In verse 18, But you must eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses. Talking about bringing a tithe of your grain. Notice verse 17. We keep a tithe so that we can rejoice in observing God's feast. It's wonderful to have a full tent of your income to observe God's holy days. Now that's a wonderful blessing to realize that and to keep that tithe faithfully and be able to go to the feast knowing you really don't have to worry a whole lot about money. Because God has blessed you and you're going up to keep the feast and you're going to do it in a way that's pleasing to God. So verse 18, You must eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses. You and your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, and the Levi who is within your gates. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all to which you put your hands. God wants us to go rejoicing to the feast. So let's try to not worry so much about all the physical things that are going to get in the way in the next six weeks. Because it's going to happen. But don't lose sight of the fact that in six weeks and less for the Feast of Trumpets, of course, less than a month, we're going to keep these days and we're going to have our priorities proper and straight and right before God. Now, in Zechariah, let's go back there now, Zechariah 14.

Zechariah 14, it clearly shows that the Feast of Tabernacles will be observed during the Millennial reign of Christ.

In Zechariah 14, verse 16, It shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, and the book of Revelation talks about these nations that will come up and fight, the battle of Armageddon, which came up against Jerusalem, they shall go up from year to year, those who survive, and many, many will not survive, but those who survive will come up, they will come up from year to year to worship the King. That's why we're going to keep the Feast this year, it's to go up and worship the King. Because Christ is certainly on His throne. He's at the very right hand of God on His throne.

And we're going to go up and keep the Feast of Tabernacles, as it says here, during the Millennial reign of Christ. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, on them there will be no reign. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no reign.

They shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. So God's truth is going to go out from Zion, from Jerusalem, and it will go from east to west, from north to south, and everyone will come to know the Lord, and they will come to know God's Holy Days. They will come up to keep the Feast.

Now, brethren, we know the Feast of Trumpets pictures the return of Christ. The seventh trumpet will sound. Christ will return. The saints will be glorified at that time. Those long dead, or very recently dead, will be resurrected to eternal life.

Those saints who are alive shall be changed in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.

The Feast of Trumpets is a call to action for each and every one of us. It is a blowing of trumpets to call an important assembly.

The blowing of trumpets was used as a call to battle, as a call to war. Now, this world faces some very frightening, earth-shaking, cataclysmic events before Christ returns. And before Satan is bound, this world will rise up to fight Christ at His return.

Christ is coming back at the sound of the trumpet, and we're going to observe the Feast of Trumpets. We're going to talk about that on that day. But we need to get our minds right now so that we'll come to the Feast of Trumpets more prepared to learn and to draw ever closer to God.

That's something to get excited about. It's something to rejoice in. Now, the Day of Atonement pictures the binding of the great adversary, Satan the Devil. What a day of rejoicing that's going to be. I'm going to jump for joy when Satan is bound. How many of you will jump along with me? Let's all jump for joy when Satan is bound, because Satan is deceiving the whole world right now.

He's creating havoc in our lives and in our families.

So I'm looking forward to rejoicing when he is bound.

We should all, again, be zealous for that day.

We're going to be drawn closer to God because we're going to be at one with him.

We're going to learn what it means to be closer to God when Satan is out of the way and no longer in the picture for a thousand years.

We'll learn more fully what it means to become like God, to see him as he truly is.

The Feast of Tabernacles reminds us of God's deliverance of Israel and their entrance into the Promised Land.

The Feast reminds us that this physical life is just temporary and that a much, much better day is coming.

Christ is coming back.

The Feast is a time of fall harvest, and we all have a work to do in helping harvest all those that God is calling and choosing now at this time.

So I hope you'll help Mr. Volchev in doing what we can do to send the good news out in this Dallas-Fort Worth area in Sherman as well.

Again, we are the first roots of God's spiritual harvest. We have a mission to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God, to make disciples other first-roots of all nations as God is calling them.

That is our commission to preach the gospel. We should, frankly, be consumed with the meaning of these days and keeping these days properly.

It is okay to have feast fever. In fact, I strongly recommend that you catch it and that you catch it soon.

Thank you for a moment. What happens when people go to other conventions?

Now, when I say other conventions, I know the Feast of Tabernacles is much more than a convention, but it is a time when we convene together.

It is an appointed time when we convene together by God's command. So it's the most important convention on earth.

When I tell people I'm going somewhere, I don't just tell them I'm going to a convention, though. I tell them I'm going to keep the feasts of God.

And I'm happy to do that because, frankly, why shouldn't we? We're going to keep the feasts of God.

That's why we're going. It's not a shackly convention or herbal life or any other type of convention like that.

But, you know, those types of conventions, people get pretty excited, don't they? Have you ever been to any of those kinds of conventions?

I used to have a fundraising business before I was hired into the full-time ministry, and I would go to these conventions for fundraising.

And there was a lot of excitement because new products would be developed and they would be introduced at these conventions.

And dollar signs would come into our minds, and we would think, oh, I'm going to make some money on this new product.

And so people would get really excited about it, and there was a lot of buzzing going on throughout the convention.

And we were consumed, frankly, with the purpose of that convention.

How much more should we be consumed with the purpose of God's festivals?

How much more excited should we be? It's not about making money. It's something far, far more important than the mammon of this world.

It's about worshipping our God and learning His ways.

So we need to be much, much more zealous than we would be to go to some convention to make money.

Far more important that we keep God's feasts, and we do it zealously with great excitement.

You know, they immerse themselves at those conventions, don't they? I mean, 24 hours a day, practically. I guess they take a little time to sleep, but they're probably dreaming about what's going to happen the next day at a lot of those conventions.

That's the kind of zeal we need to have, but even more so a spiritual zeal to keep God's feasts.

We want to learn more about God.

Much preparation is going into the messages that the ministers are working on now. We've already begun, and some have begun several weeks ago, to prepare feast sermons and sermonettes.

And we would ask that you pray. If you haven't been praying for us, now's the time to start.

I would solicit your prayers for the message. I've got two messages at the feast.

I know Mr. Wright will be speaking there as well in the Bahamas. So we would appreciate your prayers, because we need God's help.

And I know that God hears your prayers, so please pray for us, and pray for all those who will be speaking at the feast.

That we all might be energized by the messages that are given.

If some messages fall short, maybe it's because we haven't really prayed for the people that are giving these messages as much as we need to. And maybe they're not doing their part either. I don't know. But we all need to rise to the occasion.

It's a wonderful occasion. We need to rise to that occasion.

Now, the last great day, or the eighth day feast, it pictures the great white throne judgment period, when billions of people will be resurrected and will come to life, and they will have an opportunity to really know God for the very, very first time.

Now, I'm looking forward to that time. I've mentioned that I have an 87-year-old father that lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

I really don't think my father has come to know the true God.

I'm excited about the time when he'll come out of the grave, and I'll be there to teach him and say, Dad, this is what we were talking about. This is why we kept the Sabbath. This is why we kept the feast days.

That's going to be extremely exciting. I'm hot for that day. I'm looking forward to that time.

And how many of you have loved ones that haven't been called at this time? And they need to know God's truth.

They need to be called and have their minds open, but some won't be called until the Great White Throne Judgment period.

And then billions will come to know the truth of God.

That's going to be very, very exciting. So on the last great day, we'll talk about that.

It's an awesome time.

So are you planning to make this feast a spiritual feast? Have you thought about it?

How much thought have you given it? How much have you prayed about it? It's not too early to start praying.

That's what this message is all about. We've got some time to focus more and prepare ourselves properly for God's holy days, these annual holy days.

So pray for the success of the feast around the world.

Pray that God will stay the hand of Satan the devil and the natural forces in this world so that we won't have hurricanes.

That become problems, especially for those in the Bahamas.

But in other such places like Port of Aerta and...

Oh, I don't know where all the feecites are that there may be hurricanes, but there will be plenty of feecites around that could possibly be affected. Panama City could be affected. Jekyll Island could be affected.

So let's pray that God is there to protect us. And there's been so many miracles where God has sent the hurricanes packing.

He hasn't allowed them near his feecites.

So let's pray fervently that God will do that for each and every one of us and for all the people around the world.

Brethren, how can you expect God to be with us and bless us during the feast if we're not actively communicating with Him already?

About the feast and what it means and what it pictures.

Communication is a two-way street.

Now, at services, God will be talking to you. I believe God's talking to all of us today.

But you also need to talk back in prayer. Also, study the Bible where God can talk to you through His Word.

Look up many Scriptures that talk about the Holy Days. If you don't know what to study right now, if you're not into some big study, some Bible study, then why not study into the feast days? All of the feast days. What they picture and what they mean. It'll keep you busy until the feast comes.

Because there's quite a lot that you can study about. There's many books that have been written on the subject. Certainly the Bible has many, many Scriptures that relate. We've got booklets that you could read.

What about at the feast? Are you determined to pray every day at the feast and to pray fervently at the feast? Are you determined to read your Bibles at least a little bit, a couple of chapters every day, so that you'll be closer to God, so you'll get more out of the messages, so you'll be more in tune with God? You know, I like to pray outside whenever possible, and some of the most meaningful times I've had in prayer were at the feast. I remember in Italy, at Il Chaco, up in the mountains, we stayed in a bungalow. And it was a pretty primitive, it was almost like a tabernacle. It was the closest thing to a tabernacle I think we've ever stayed in at the feast.

In fact, when you went into the bathroom, it was really tiny, and the shower was right there. I mean, the shower was right there. You came in, the toilet was there, and the shower was right there. It was all one unit. It was different. But I remember they had all these really cool, all this brush, and there was trails through the brush, and it was a great, you know, it was just acres and acres of trails and brush, and I'd go out there and pray every morning. It was wonderful. Look for ways to draw nearer to God at the feast.

In Nehemiah chapter 8, let's go there for a moment. Notice that they read from the book each day, the book of the law, as they were observing God's feast. You know, they hadn't been keeping the feast. They were in captivity. They had gone astray, and God punished them. And they went into captivity. And then in Nehemiah chapter 8, let's read verses 17 and 18. Nehemiah chapter 8, verses 17. Again, they began to keep the feast. It says in verse 17, so the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths.

They made tabernacles, temporary dwellings, and they sat under the booths. For since the days of Joshua, the son of Nun, until that day the children of Israel had not done so. They had gone astray for many, many years.

And there was very great gladness, tremendous joy, tremendous rejoicing. Also, day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days. And on the eighth day, there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner, just as we keep it today.

The eighth day festival, and on the first day, there are high days. And then we keep it for eight days, but we have special days at the beginning and at the end. And they read from the book of the law of God each and every day of the feast. And we will be doing that, and you'll be hearing sermons about that throughout the feast. How about your own spiritual life now? Are you reading and studying God's Word daily right now? Are you preparing for the Sabbath every week by praying and reading the Bible every day? That helps you be prepared when you come here on the Sabbath to get the most out of the messages that are given.

If you don't pray or you don't read your Bible throughout the week, you're not going to get near as much out of the messages. The sermon isn't sermon, so it's what you put into it, you get back from it. You have to apply yourself, and then God will bless you. We reap what we sow. Are you planning to attend all services and be attentive during the services?

Are you planning right now to go to all the services? Hopefully you'll be there because that's the most important thing during the feast is to attend the services. Unless you're sick, what's more important than being there at each and every one of the services that God has for us? Plan now to be there each and every service. In Ezra 3 and 3 verse 4, you don't need to go there, but it talks about how they had daily burnt offerings.

These burnt offerings are symbolic of worship. It happened every day, and so we need to be there every day worshiping God during these opportunities to learn more about God. And also, during the feast, have you thought about emulating as closely as possible what you think life is going to be like in the world tomorrow, during the millennial reign of Christ? In other words, let's strive to be perfect during the feast. Let's really draw near to God and strive to be perfect for eight days. Let's really guard our minds. Let's be vigilant. Let's be careful. Let's draw nearer to God as He will draw near to us.

Let's come out of the world in a spiritual sense. We're leaving this area here. We're coming out of the world. We're going to God's feast days. So let's keep them spiritually, and let's not indulge in things that would separate us from God, things that would be inappropriate. Too much drinking is inappropriate. We're supposed to be moderate at the feast.

We're not supposed to drink to excess. God says drunkards will not be in God's kingdom. I've heard stories where people go to excess during the feast days. So I don't care if you're in Puerto Vallarta, where they serve you drinks every day. I mean, they're free there. I think they're watered down to some degree. But you have to be very careful that you don't go overboard at the feast. That's not the kind of rejoicing that God wants to see.

It's okay to have a little drink, but let's be moderate. Let's be careful. Let's set a good example for one another. Let's not do anything that would be inappropriate. Be on guard for wrong types of movies as well. I mean, I don't ever watch movies during the feast or very, very seldom. If you're going to watch something, though, make sure it's conducive to helping you grow spiritually.

Again, we are to be a spiritual people, a called-out people. We're to be different. We're to be holy. We're to become holy even as God is holy.

So if we're keeping these days properly, we should be growing spiritually closer to God each and every day during the feast. The feast should rejuvenate us spiritually and prepare us to go out and do the work that God has called us to do with greater power and with greater faith. So we should all come back from the feast, rejuvenated, and ready to get to work.

Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 14 and ask ourselves, are we going to use our festival tithes in an appropriate manner? Deuteronomy chapter 14, first of all, hopefully you kept your festival tithe faithfully throughout the year.

It really isn't enough just to set aside enough money to keep the feast. You're supposed to keep the festival tithe.

Let's notice Deuteronomy chapter 14.

Deuteronomy chapter 14 verse 23.

And you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to make his name abide.

The tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. We're going up to worship God and to learn to fear him properly, to have proper respect for him, not to take him for granted, but to truly see him as he is. And if the journey is too long for you so that you're not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money. So it wasn't just to be kept in Jerusalem, but if you lived a long ways from Jerusalem, you could keep it in other places that God appointed, and God uses his church to determine these places where we keep the feast days.

Then you shall exchange it for money, and take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. Now, I'm not going to be taking a lot of potatoes to the Bahamas.

I'm going to have the money, and I'll buy the potatoes when I get there.

And the steaks, the filet mignon, which I can't afford very much other times, but during the feast, it's a nice treat.

And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires. A better translation is what your heart rightly desires, because God expects us to be certainly appropriate in worshipping him. Whatever your heart rightly desires, for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar, drink. Whatever your heart desires. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. We are to rejoice at God's feasts.

We're supposed to keep the festival tithe, and then we're supposed to use the festival tithe to observe the feast in a manner that God designed.

That way we learn more about the proper way to worship God and to rejoice in the feast.

Remember, the Feast of Tabernacles is certainly not some type of substitute for Christmas.

It isn't wrong to get your children a feast gift. That's fine.

But we don't want our children to get the gimmes and think of the feast in that way. It's okay to give them some things to make it special for them, but the most special thing you can do is spend time with your children at the feast and teach them God's ways at the feast and show them the way to live and the way to go.

Another question you might ask yourself, are you going to remember the poor and the lonely at the feast this year?

There will be some people who are poorer. Maybe they don't have jobs. They're retired. They don't have much money to spend at the feast.

Are you going to remember them and go out of your way to perhaps take them out to eat and show them that you care, that you love them, and that you want them to have a wonderful feast and to enjoy some things that you can enjoy?

And if they're lonely, if they don't have family, then bring them into your family.

Adopt them. And if several people adopt them, they're going to have a wonderful feast. And you're not going to hear a story about someone who was neglected at the feast.

No one paid any attention to them. That's not God's way. We're family.

We need to look out for each other. We need to love each other, care for each other.

So will you determine to make this feast a family feast?

Make it a family feast. And children shouldn't just want to spend time with kids.

It's okay to spend time with kids, and you need some of that time at the feast.

And parents should make sure that your kids do have some time with other children of their age and so forth at the feast.

But let's draw closer to each other as family as well, the parents to the children and the children to the parents.

Again, let's remember what the feast is all about.

It's a family feast.

Are you going to teach your children about the feast? I mentioned that already. Help them with their feast activity books. We'll have some booklets that will come out. We've ordered those. They'll be coming here before the feast.

So don't neglect to look at those booklets and to use the parents' guide and to help your children to understand the feast days better.

In Deuteronomy 6, it shows that there will be a golden opportunity to instruct your children at the feast.

Deuteronomy 6, verse 4.

Well, let's read verse 3 because it certainly goes along with what we're talking about here.

Therefore, hear O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey going into the promised land.

Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all your soul, with all of your strength.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children.

And you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. Now, it's talking about every day as we go throughout our lives, this is what God expects us to do for our children. Certainly at the feast, as we go through the feast, we need to keep this in mind as well to teach our children diligently why we observe these days.

Just little things. You don't have to say... I'm not advocating that you sit down for eight hours each day at the feast and go through the Bible.

That's not what I'm saying. Kids need to have a feast that they will enjoy, and you have to have balance when you go throughout the feast. It needs to be a delight for them as well. And that's why you need to spend time with them doing fun things.

I've heard of some parents who have taken their children to a beach site and never taken their kids to the beach.

That's not the way it should happen. Spend time with your kids, do things they like to do. Ask your children what they want to do. It doesn't mean you have to do everything they want you to do all day long, but make sure that you show them how wonderful it is to keep God's feast days.

So don't neglect the golden opportunity to spend time with your kids and instruct your children.

If they like to ride go-karts, then go on a go-kart with them.

If they like to do miniature golf, take the miniature golfing. Do things that they'll enjoy. If they like to go take walks early mornings, that's what I would do with my kids a lot. I would get up early, and they were oftentimes up early when they were younger. It seems like they slept later as they got older. But I would take them on walks, and I remember staying at the Country Squire Inn in Eugene, Oregon many years ago.

There was a pond right there by the hotel, and they had these really mean geese.

So I vividly remember these geese. My daughter, she was only a couple years old at the time. Jamie was pretty scared of these geese, but I would protect her. She didn't have to worry. She enjoyed it. It was kind of exciting. Do special things with your children. Also, be especially courteous during the feast. Be more loving than normal.

Don't be so selfish during the feast. Also, determine to make sure that this feast will be a feast of fellowship. Show yourselves friendly at the feast. Meet someone new each day.

That was a past youth lesson assignment where the kids would meet someone new each day. You might ask your children to do that as well. Exude warmth and friendliness this year at the feast. You're a warm person, right? Right? Exude that. Be warm. Be friendly. Put yourself out there. Develop friendships that will last for a lifetime. Children need to fellowship, too. We need to remember that. Also, kids, remember, your parents need to fellowship, so don't try to pull them away too soon from services.

You don't have to rush out right at the Amen. Give them some time to spend with new people that they're beginning to meet. Give them some time to fellowship as well. So let's not be so selfish, any of us, at the feast. Let's be, again, considerate and generous. Let's be big tippers at the feast.

Let's not be Scrooges. That's not God's way. I'm not saying give them everything, but a decent tip. Don't be miserly. It's not God's way. Treat everyone with respect when you're out there, no matter who they are.

The people that serve you, treat them with respect and appreciate them.

Let's be a light to the world. Matthew 5, verse 14. Christ talks about being a light. He is the ultimate light to the world, but we are also to follow His example. And we are to be lights to the world as well.

Remember, giving a sermon about Christ as the light of the world at the feast one year. Matthew 5, verse 14. Christ actually says to His people, to His disciples, You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. And He gives light to all who are in the house. So let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven. Again, that's what the feast is all about. Worshiping God and bringing glory to Him.

So be a light to the world. Leave a good impression. People shouldn't say, whoo, I'm glad that they're gone when we leave. I know it was challenging when we would go to the Dells, and 15,000 of us would show up. And the Ozarks, we would drop a lot of money because they liked that. But the long lines and waiting and all of that that went along with it.

Some of you have been there. You were at the Ozarks. You were there at the Feast of Tabernacles in the Dells and in the Poconos. So you know what that's all about, but we need to leave a good example when we leave. So use good manners in the restaurants. Don't be overly demanding. Don't be overly demanding at the feast. In fact, don't be that demanding at all.

Not that you should play down and lay dead. I'm not saying that. I mean, don't necessarily let people take too much advantage of you. But even then, there's a time when we should allow people to take advantage of us. To some degree, we have to use wisdom and balance. So are you going to plan to make this an exciting, stimulating, physical feast as well? Yes, it's to be a spiritual feast, but it should also be physically stimulating. Let's go to Isaiah 25.

And in this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the leaves, of fat things that are full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the leaves. It's talking about quality wines. It's talking about quality foods, steaks.

You know, those types of things, God wants us to enjoy these things. God wants us to go out there to rejoice. Let's read verse 7, And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering, cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. Satan is the one that is spread of veil. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.

The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth. For the Lord has spoken, the Eternal has spoken, and it will be said in that day, Behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him, and He will save us. We do need to wait on God, and He will save us.

This is the Eternal. We have waited for Him. We will be glad, and we will rejoice. We will rejoice in His salvation. God is going to save all of us. Here it shows that we are to enjoy those fat things that God has in store for us at the feast. So we want to be active during the feast, but we certainly don't want to overdo it. We want to do things again in the proper moderation so that we don't burn ourselves out and get sick the first two or three days into the feast.

If we eat too much, if we eat too many sweet things, then we could end up sick very quickly. So again, there has to be balance and moderation. You might want to take a possible side trip this year. Think about that. My wife and I went to Natchez, Mississippi once on the way to Biloxi, I think it was.

Or it was on the way back, I think we went to Natchez. We really enjoyed that side trip. It was wonderful. Go to the zoo, maybe. If you're in Escondido, the San Diego Zoo isn't far away. It's a beautiful zoo. If you're in Florida somewhere near Disneyland or Epcot, maybe you could go there. Try some new experiences. Maybe you want to go bungee jumping this year at the feast.

Or maybe you want to go jet skiing. I remember jet skiing in Biloxi one year. I got there a little late and I didn't hear all the instructions. So I was out tooling around on my jet ski, first time I think I ever drove one. I was way, way out there, much further than I was supposed to be going. And then the thing died on me. And sun was setting. And I was beginning to think, dun-ta, dun-ta, dun-ta. As my legs were hanging over the edge of the jet ski and I pulled them up, hoping there were no sharks out there.

I was rescued. I did make it back in, but that was an exciting time. Try some new things. Go parasailing, perhaps. My wife will never go parasailing again. I enjoyed it. She didn't. She got sick up there. So she probably won't try that again, but do some things that are fun and exciting. You might want to really go to some really nice restaurants.

I remember at Biloxi they had a restaurant called the French Connection. Best Mesquite flavored steaks I've ever eaten in my life. I don't know if I was just hungry or what, but I still remember the taste of that steak. That was like 20 years ago. So enjoy nature, too, if you like nature. I do. I don't do a lot of fishing at the feast, but I usually try to go fishing sometime if there's a good spot to go. I caught some of the biggest fish ever at the feast. A couple of years ago at Puerto Vallarta, I was with a group that we all together called a 7-foot sailfish.

That was the most beautiful fish I've ever seen. Just beautiful radiant colors. I caught a 4-foot barracuda in the Bahamas once. So I'm looking forward to trying my hand at that again. 8-pound walleye at the Dells. That's a big walleye. My wife caught a 12-pound rainbow trout in Alaska after the feast one year. We caught some silver salmon that were really nice as well. The feast can be a wonderful time physically as well to enjoy.

I've been blessed to go to so many feast sites. You could probably tell me the same thing. I've been to Squall Valley, Salt Lake City, the Dells, the Ozarks, Saratoga Springs, Hawaii, England, the Bahamas, Biloxi, St. Pete, Tucson, Italy, Mediterranean Cruise, Hawaii, Maui a couple of times, Jekyll Island, Branson, Missouri. It's pretty good, too. I love the feast no matter where it is.

Dayton, Ohio. I had a few feasts in Dayton, Ohio. They were wonderful feasts. It isn't so important, the physical location, what's important is worshiping the king and being there for the right reasons. There's many other feast sites I've been to. I've enjoyed every single one of them. What type of feast are you going to have this year? Prepare yourselves now to have wonderfully inspiring and rejuvenating feasts of God, or prepare to enjoy these feasts. God has appointed and prepared these days for you.

He's done it. He's planned it. He tells us how to do it. Prepare now to rejoice at all of His holy days, beginning with the Feast of Trumpets. The annual feasts of God were also made for man, just as the Sabbath has been made for man. Prepare to give the most and prepare to gain the most from the feasts of God this year. Remember, these are God's feasts, and you are going up to worship the king.