Preparing for the Meeting

Brethren, can you remember the first time you went for an interview for a job? How did you feel? Nervous? Little tense? Always maybe looking at, am I prepared properly? Am I dressed properly? Am I got all the answers that I want? A pre-answer? Imagine that that interview was for a big corporation, and you had to talk to the top executive of that big corporation. I mean, let's say it was IBM, Microsoft, or General Motors, or General Electric, or whatever it is, I think, and you had to talk to the CEO himself. You had to go and talk to him.

How would you feel? Well, let's open an eye on the example. What is it? The new president-elect would have called you to an interview with the possibility of you being a member of his cabinet, and you are being interviewed, and you are going to be, let's put it this way, checked and tested to see whether you would be one of the members of his cabinet.

Would you feel qualified for the job? Would you feel that maybe you should have prepared yourself a little better? Maybe you should have had some more training? Brethren, do you and do we recognize that we have an appointment with our boss soon in the future? We have an interview, an appointment, in which we'll be part of a selection process for an appointment to a position. And who's our boss? It's Jesus Christ. He's our Lord and His Father, God. And He's planning to hire you and I, quote unquote, into His, quote unquote, corporation company called the Kingdom of God.

And to be part of His cabinet, part of the leaders of His government. And He has specifically selected you, chosen you, and called you to come to that meeting. He obviously knows us quite well. He knows what we lack, and He knows what sort of training we need. And so He's calling us to a meeting to provide us some training opportunities to meet for the training, soon. So, brethren, today, we want to look at an appointment we have with God. And our God expects us to prepare for that appointment, for that interview, and as well as our to-act duty, the actual interview or the training meeting.

Well, let's look a little bit about what people say, what the experts say, about preparing for me, for an interview. Our first thing they say is, be on time. We need to be early, so that we are there on time, to be ready for the interview. It also tells us, people that you interview, selection of people, say, let's be positive. Have a positive attitude to make others feel comfortable, you know, be positive. Don't make negative comments. Relax.

Make eye contact with people. When you talk, when you interview, make eye contact. Look at them in the eye. Establish a rapport. Remember to listen. Reflect before answering a difficult question. So you go for this job interview, you go there, you want to create a good image. So you want to do these sort of things.

And you don't want to ask questions, but you're going to cause a reflex. For instance, is relocation required? Well, it kind of says, well, you don't want to go too far away from your home. You're not prepared to do certain things. Or you say, in the first interview or the first time, you've got too many questions, but I want to take some days off. The kind of things, maybe you do, ladies. You see, those things about days off are talking about terms and conditions of employment.

That usually comes later. Up front, it's not necessarily what we bring up, and they say, bring it up. We need to show that we want a job. Really, that we decide. Maybe we know a little bit about the company. We investigate about a bit of the company, what they do, and then for you, you show an interest. I mean, if you read, for instance, the old biography of Mr. Armstrong, he has, I mean, quotes there in one point where he went for a job interview, and this person kind of didn't want to hire him.

And he said, what do you mean you don't want to hire him? You don't know what you're going to lose! Look at what I added value I'm going to give to your company. And I ended up hiring him, because he had this positive, and he wanted to do the job, and he showed how he added value. He was very positive. And also avoiding make-up body language, you know. Imagine going for a job interview, and you're biting your lip. What is this? Or maybe you sit back as if you've tingled the castle, you're reading charge, you know. Or you sit in your view, reading like this, you know, with your arms like this.

It kind of gives you a close, negative impression. So you want to look at positive things. And then, obviously, at the end of the interview, you reiterate the interest for the job, and the position, and the qualifications. And you send another thanks. If it was an interview with the email, send an email, say thank you, and then afterwards, at the end you also ask them, when should you hear from an answer?

They say, well, maybe two weeks' time, okay, fine. Then at the end, before that, you send them a letter of thank you, but at the end of two weeks, you follow up because it shows interest, that you're interested in the job. Follow up, how's it going? So those are just certain things that people say when you go for a job, they don't physical things. But let's look at the interview or the appointment we have with God. And to look at that, let's start by looking at Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23. We're going to read first verses 1 and 2.

Pointed place or a meeting. And so, it's saying that the appointed meetings, at the appointed time of the Lord, which you should proclaim to be all the complications, these are God's appointed feasts or appointed times or appointed meetings. And if you look, for instance, in Numbers 1 verse 1, we're not going to turn there, but if you make that as a note, Moses met with God at Oindah, Tabernacle of Meeting. So they had a place where they were to meet. So God met with Moses and the leadership in the specific Tabernacle of Meeting. So, God has a place, very points, for us to meet with Him at a specific time, at a specific place. A meeting with Him. And the purpose of it, where we go to these different festivals, these feasts, these festivals, is to learn more about God and His purpose for us. So it's to learn more about the job description for our jobs to be, more about our job description, so we can fulfill it more correctly. And before, what He wants us to do. So we don't intend for this piece of Tabernacles just to go and play or to go and re-creation. Sure, it's time to have those things as well. But our first goal is not to go on a tour. Like I heard of somebody, they said, Oh well, we went to the piece of Tabernacles to Jerusalem, and we went on tours in Jerusalem, but there was no church there. But He says, well, we kept the peace, because there's a lot of people that keep the peace in Jerusalem. You keep going to Jerusalem during the period of the peace, it's the piece of Tabernacles, so it's just a big party. But that's not what God wants. But those people said, no, we kept the peace. But that's not the appointed time, the appointed place, the way God wants us to keep the peace. You see, we go there to meet with our boss, God, our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, to learn more of Him and for Him to learn more of us. So it's an interviewing process, in a sense. It's a learning process for the future job that we will learn. It is an interview for a job, in a sense, and it is an educational meeting. Also, reading in verse 2 of Leviticus 23, it says, Which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. The word convocation means to call together, to bring people together. To convocate is to actually get together. It's a meeting. So He sets the time, and it's actually a meeting to get together with different people to be together. At the same time, then He tells us to be there. It is required for us to be there. It is a requirement. It's a commanded assembly, in other words. It's like the HR department calls you and says, This is the time that, for instance, so-and-so wants to meet you, a bullcake. So whatever it is. And He says, No, I want bullcakes to change the time. He says, Well, this is the time I can see you. You be there. God is giving us this is the time. I can now change the time and decide to be there at the different time. I cannot decide, Well, I'm not going to do it, but I'm going to keep it at home. You see, it's not a complication. Now, obviously, there are some people that are too help or whatever it is. They may not be able to go, and God understands. God knows the heart. That's a different story. But it's a it's a complication. And so, as we look at God's feasts and we are in Leviticus 23, from verse 3, talks about the Sabbath, and from verse 4, talks about the annual feasts. So whether we're talking about the Sabbath or any other feast, which is a holy congregation, which is a feast of the Lord, God's feasts.

The principle is the same, but I'm going to focus today on the Feast of Tabernacles. I'm going to focus on today on the Feast of Tabernacles, because what we sang about the Feast applies to all the feasts, even the Sabbath. And so, let's look at a few points, additional points, about the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is a shadow of something to come. As I said, so all the other feasts as well, they are shadows of things to come. Turn with me to Colossians 2, verses 16 and 17.

Colossians 2 verses 16 and 17.

So let no one judge you. Let no body tell you how to do certain things.

But the Church of God, that's what it says. Let no body tell you how to do certain things, but the Church of God, in other words, the body of Christ. So let's read that. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, so how you need for donkeys, for regarding one of the festivals, for a new moon, all the Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come. They are shadows of things to come. So let no one judge you of those things which are shadows of things to come, but the body of Christ. Let no one judge you, but the body of Christ judges you. The Church of God judges you. The word substance, you may read in a margin, it's actually a Greek word called soma, which means body. And the word is in italics, which is not in the original. And so, a better translation is, let no man judge you, but the body of Christ. It will protect the body of Christ, judge you, tell you how to do certain things, but the body of Christ. So, they are shadow of things to come. What is a feast of tabernacles of shadow of? Turn with me to Exodus 23. Exodus 23 verse 14 to 16. Exodus 23.

Exodus 23, 14 to 16. And three times, you shall keep a feast to mean in the year.

Now, some people say, oh, there's only three specific times. Well, it's three seasons, because right at the beginning it says, you shall keep the feast of 11 bread. And you know the feast of 11 bread, there are two holy days alone on the feast of 11 bread. So, there's actually two times alone on the feast of 11 bread. So, it's actually when it says three times, it actually talking about three periods of the year, three seasons of the year. So, three times you shall keep a feast to mean in the year. The first time, the first season, is the feast of 11 bread. You shall eat 11 bread for seven days, as I have commanded you at a time appointed in Mount of Abib. For in which you came out of Egypt, none shall appear before me empty. The second time is the feast of the field. And the third time, the feast of ingattering. It's the season of the feast of peppernecks. At the end of the year, there was a dinner of summer, the beginning of autumn, we had the feast of peppernecks. When you're gathering the fruit of your labels from the field. So, it's the time of the harvest of the ingattering, the feast of ingattering, that you bring that big harvest, and therefore the feast of peppernecks, which is tied to the meaning of the ingattering of the big harvest at the end of summer. What does that connect to? What spiritual symbolism has that got? Turn with me into Revelation 14. Revelation 14, verse 14 and 15. Revelation 14.

Then I looked and behold a white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like the son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle, because he was going to harvest the earth, the ingattering. And then another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him, who sat on the cloud, thrust in your sickle and ring. For the time has come for you to read, for the harvest of the earth is right. So he sat on the cloud, thrusting the sickle on the earth, and the earth was reached. And that's the first resurrection, and what follows that after? So the feast of peppernecks represents the ingattering, the collecting, the harvesting time, with God's harvest, with the resurrection, and everything that follows that after. And that season, that time of the year of ingattering, which includes trumpets, a tournament, the feast of peppernecks, and eighth day, in other words, fourth holy day, is pictured by the feast of peppernecks, which is the feast of ingattering, which is a shadow of something to come. It is a shadow of something to come. If I look, for instance, at this little glass here, and there's some light, and I can see a shadow, yeah, of this glass. A faint shadow, but I see a shadow. Even if I put my hand here, I can see a shadow down there on the paper. Now, the shadow is not the reality. The shadow only gives me an idea of what the glass looks like, or what my hand looks like. An idea, a very faint idea, but only an idea. It's not the reality. The reality is the world tomorrow, and ultimately the kingdom of God. But the feast is a shadow of that world tomorrow, and ultimately the kingdom of God. It's only a small, for instance, example that gives us a full taste of what the world tomorrow will be like. So it features the world tomorrow, it features the millennium, when God will set up His government on this earth, and the saints will reign with Him. So turn with me to Revelation 20, so just a few pages ahead, in verse 4-6. Revelation 20, verse 4-6.

And they live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. And obviously they live eternally, and they reign with Christ for a thousand years, but we can see in other scriptures they will reign forever. But there's a place to reign for a thousand years, then certain things will happen, they will reign eternally. But it's like a first stage, and then certain other things will happen, as we can read in the rest of the chapter. But they're going to reign with Christ. The rest of the dead did not live again until after the thousand years were finished. And first is the first resurrection, so the resurrection is the first resurrection, which means His second is the first, is the second, because the others were not resurrected until after the thousand years.

And then it continues, Last and holy is He who has fought in first resurrection. Why? Because we read elsewhere it's a better resurrection. Why is it better? Because it will not be a resurrection to physical, it will be a resurrection to spiritual. Why? Because they will not die ever again, they will not be subject to the second death. That's what it is. All but such, the second death, has no power, because they will be spilled things. But they shall be priests of God and of His Christ. They will be hired, they will be selected, they will be trained and qualified as the, let's call it, members of the cabinet, members of that ruling government, kings under the king, and lords, or priests under the Lord of Lords. They will be selected and they would have been qualified and they will be trained. And the feast is an opportunity to have and receive additional training, concentrated additional training for eight days to be in the kingdom of God. So, when we go to the feast, brethren, the feast actually is a training opportunity to teach us about our job to be. Our job is to assist Jesus Christ in bringing many sons and daughters to glory. And the feast will give us that opportunity, that unique training, to those He has called, to those He has selected, and to those that He has called to come to that congregation. And as I said, if it was Vulgaks calling you to come to a meeting, or if it was the president of the nation, would you just say, Oh well, I'll just say it around to my sandals and I won't go? He probably won't.

So, when it's God doing it, what should be the obvious answer? Our job, brethren, is to help extend salvation to mankind. Now, mankind today, the religions today, they say, Oh well, we've got to go and do this and save the world. That's not your job today. It's Christ's job when it comes to establish the kingdom of God on earth to save the world. It's not our job today. Our job today is to prepare ourselves to be ready. They qualify to rule the cross.

So, when we go to the feast, we are carrying a fortress of the world tomorrow. It's a time that God will rule, that will produce peace and joy and happiness to the world. And we experience that fortress at the feast. Why? Why? Suddenly, we get that injection of encouragement, of motivation, that just motivates us for another year, an extra injection for a whole year. And that's why God appoints that for a whole eight days. Something else that when we come for this bold, quote unquote interview, it says the following. Turn with me to Leviticus 23. Back to Leviticus 23, where we were a moment ago.

Leviticus 23.

Leviticus 23, starting in verse 33. Just going to read a little bit about the feast, and then we'll get to the actual point that I want to highlight here. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel, saying, there's a team stay of the seventh month, which this year happens to be on the first of October. On the 15th day of the seventh month shall be a feast of tabernacles for seven days, from the first to the seventh. In fact, it begins at sunset, the night before, right, so it is the 30th, I think it is the day, or the 31st, I think the second was the 30th, 31 days, but anyway, it's the day before the first time.

It begins at sunset, and it's the tradition in the church to have a service that very evening, off to sunset. So it says, on the first day there shall be a holy congregation. Here it was, it's a holy day.

It's a holy day. You shall be no, shall be no work, customly work on it. So it's a Sabbath, in a sense. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. So you dare, you're doing an offering, as we heard in the sermon, an offering of righteousness, of practicing, of obeying, being there, being present, and listening to the instruction that is given to us day by day, every day, good in the peace.

You shall be no, customly work on it. For seven days you shall offer the offering made by fire to the Lord. And on the eighth day, which will be this year, the 8th of October, you shall have a holy congregation, again a Sabbath. And you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.

It is the sake of assembly. So there's a special meeting on that day as well. You shall do no customly work on it. So it is a Sabbath. These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy congregations, to offer an offering, etc.

And then it goes on. Turn it down. Verse 39. Also, 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 shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest.

So this is one of the three times, but you can see there's a number of days in this time. This is the third time, the time of being gathered. But there are different days and different things you have to do. It's not just one specific day. So it's a season, it's a period. And then he says, verse 40, And then for us to rejoice, and he shall keep the feast.

Verse 41. Shall keep it as a feast of the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statue forever in your generations. Forever. A statue forever. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. And the point I wanted to emphasize is, you shall dwell in booths for seven days. When you come in to the feast, we are to dwell in booths for seven days.

A booth is a temporary dwelling. It's something that is not a permanent living abode. Depending on people's living conditions and depending on society, maybe something different. Nowadays, in our modern age, what people do, they stay maybe in somebody else's house, or they stay in an hotel or something, but it's a temporary living abode. It's typically not their house. It's not where they normally live. So for those seven days, they typically leave their home and do their people swap homes or something like that, or go into somebody else's house or something like that.

But it's a temporary living condition, environment. Now, it continues there, and it says, We shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are making their lives shall dwell in booths. Then your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.

In fact, they dwelled in booths when I met the land of Egypt for forty years, if you remember correctly. They were in the desert for forty years. Why? Why were they in the desert for forty years?

You see, they could have gone to the promised land earlier, and not been in the desert for that long. Why? Because when the spies were sent to the promised land, the bulk of them didn't want to go. Only two said, Yes, let's go. And God was so upset, He said, Alright, you don't want to go, then you're going to have been in the wilderness for another forty years. And if we say, Well, I'm an independent, now do my own thing independently. I'm not going to go to the place that God has chosen. Be careful! Be careful! We don't pray with God. We don't pray with God. And therefore, there is a spiritual example in that as well, because they were self-journers. They were self-journers. And look at Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. We're going to read, starting in verse 8 to 10, and then 13 to 16. Hebrews 11. And it says, By faith Abramov made, when he was called to go out of the place which he would receive as inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going. So he went out, and then he started. So journeyed. He started going around as not a native of the land. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as is in a foreign country, dwelling in tents, in tabernacles, in a temporary dwelling. With Isaac and Jacob, the hairs were thin of the same promise. For he waited for the sitting which has foundations, which boulder and makest God. He waited for the New Jerusalem. That's what it says. He said, Oh, you already understood about the New Jerusalem. Because that's the city, that has foundation, which boulder and makest God. That's the New Jerusalem. That comes off of the millennium. He was looking already beyond the millennium to the new earth and new heaven to the New Jerusalem. Abraham was looking for that. God revealed to those people a lot of things that we don't even know. And then he had to rebuild them and put them in the Bible for us.

But he revealed them by word of mouth, and it was not written down. Then later on he redid it and was written down so that we had it. So let's go on. Verse 13. These all died in fight, not having received the promises, but having seen them a quarrel with the sure of them, and braced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. But that's why we live in temporary dwellings at the feast, because it teaches us the lesson that this is now temporary. This is not our eternal home. Our eternal home is to come. For one, this physical body is temporary. So the fact that we're not going to have this body believe it, those of us that have different health issues, we can only thank God for that. And He's going to give us a brand new, spanking, new model, eternal, healthy. It's a great news. Our body is temporary. This life is temporary. That's why we go there and remind us we're going to be in temporary dwellings. This physical existence is only temporary, because we are looking to the promised land, which is a new body and new heavenicity, which is going to be in the Kingdom of God, eternity forever. That's what we're looking for. And that's why we go to the feast in temporary dwellings. And so, brethren, we've seen a few points here about the feast so far. That it is an appointment set up by God. That we're going to be at that appointment at the time and place that it chooses. We have seen that it is a shadow of things to come. It points to things to come. And we've seen that one of the lessons that it teaches us as an example is that verse today is temporary. And we go there and learn in temporary dwellings. But there are other lessons that God wants us to learn at the feast. Because we do go there to learn about Him and also for Him to learn about us and to learn about our heart and how we appear at the feast. And how we conduct ourselves at the feast. And a lot of things like that is going to learn from us. Let's look at a few things that we learn from the feast and God learns from us. First one that I want to bring to attention is in Deuteronomy 12. Deuteronomy 12.

We're going to read verse 17 through 19. Deuteronomy 12, 17 through 19.

You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or of your wine or your oil or of the firstborn of the herd of your flock or of any of your offerings which you vow or your pre-will offerings or of the him offering of your hand. But you must eat it. You must eat the tithe before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses.

Now, the tithe we read elsewhere. And this is what typically the world looks at, the tithe. And it's quite correct. It's to give to God. It's not for you to eat or for me to eat.

So what is the talking now that you make? You must eat the tithe. It's talking about a second time. Because the first time it goes to God, to do God's work. It's God's. You can read that in other scriptures. Not going now through tithing and covering all the scriptures related to it. Maybe it's an interesting study for you to do. But this is a second time. It's a digital tithe that you save for yourself. It's not God's, it's for yourself. It's a savings plan that you institute for yourself. In the church you call it a second time. Or some people call it the festival time. It's the same thing. It's just a tithe, a tent. But it's not the first because the first belongs to God. This one belongs to you. Because you, up to Egypt, says verse 18, you must eat the tithe before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses.

And so it is for the festivals. And if we say that sort of money, we have basically a tenth of the year's income to spend basically in a week. And therefore you are able to rejoice. Because then it continues in 6. It says verse 18, in the place which the Lord your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite, so it's a family time.

You and your family get together and the Levite, who is within your gates, and you shall rejoice. How can you rejoice if you have not sited the second tithe? If you haven't sited the second tithe, you can't rejoice because you don't have it. But you've sited it, you will be able to rejoice and pull the Lord your God in all to which you put your hands. So God is looking at your heart.

Nobody knows if you've sited the second tithe or not. See, you and God, how much you have there at the feast, and you and God, nobody knows. But God knows your heart. God knows my heart, and God knows us. So God is learning about us. Verse 19. Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

So don't forsake others, and the United States also talks about the poor and the widows and things like that. So don't forsake those. They were not able. They are in financial conditions that they don't have. Help them out. And quite often we see people at the feast that come and say, Well, I see you striving, and that's a bit of money. Just take it. And they give you a little envelope.

They put it on your chair, and you don't know where you can talk. And there it is. Suddenly you have something like that. That is a blessing. It's a way of giving for some. And for those that don't have, it's an instruction that God has to help others, those that have a need. So it is a blessing for us to be able to help others.

So we ought to rejoice at the feast. That's one instruction that we have. Let's look at another instruction that we have. And that's in the Deuteronomy 14, verse 22 and 23. Deuteronomy 14, that's just one page ahead of 2 in your Bible. Verse 22 and 23. And it says, We shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that in the field produces here by here. There it was, all the income, the growth, the growth, the income, the growth, the increase of your grain that the field produces here by here. And you shall eat.

It's not the first time, of course, because the first time you give to God. So it's the second time. You shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to make his answer by the tithe of your grain and of your new wine and your new wine and your oil of the first born of your hearse and of your flock. So whatever is the means of income that you have, that's why. So what? For what reason?

For what purpose? And you have the reason why you do it. That you might learn to fear the Lord your God for us. You do it so that you learn to fear the Lord your God for us. So there's many things that when you go to the peace that we learn. We learn to respect and show God respect. And we learn to peace, but often we very near with the services are, and you've got a lot of bread in there together. And so it's an opportunity to show respect to God and to serve, get there for services. Some people have to travel and maybe they've got to plan their travels to get there on time.

Slides, whatever, and maybe long distances, they've decided to go. Because God has chosen many different places around that gives you a choice of different places that you can go. So you can plan your trip and to arrive there on time and safely because you don't want to be late for the interview with God.

You don't want to make God wait for you. Also, you show respect for God by attending services. Well, some people go to the feast and they have a wonderful time, the night people, and they're just too tired the next morning to go to services. So they're just sleeping late and don't go to the services. Now imagine if you had an interview with Bill Gates and he said, well, I'm too tired, I have to stay and I'm sleeping and I've decided not to come.

You see, it's not Bill Gates, it's God. And people say, oh, well, God understands. Well, God understands. Yes, it does. But God also knows your heart. And God understands. Maybe you should have gotten to bed earlier. And you need to learn to fear always. You've got to the feast to learn to fear, to respect, to respect, to show respect. Also, we respect God because we got in the feast and we got all these things and fellowship and you do all these things and you don't have time to pray about the study.

Whoa, another red flag! The boss is interviewing you for this future job position and now that you have a little more abundance because he saves this money and you have this abundance, oh, well, you don't have time to pray about the study. Who is your God? Who is our God? So again, it's a time to learn to fear the Lord your God because he sees how we conduct ourselves at the feast. So as we prepare ourselves to go to the feast, which is a few weeks ahead, practically a month to go, and a little bit more maybe, but it's about a month to go, it gives us time to start meditating and pray again and ask God to help us preparing adequately for the feast.

Also, when we go to the feast, there's another lesson here in verse 23. It says, in the place where he chooses to make his name abide.

So where does God choose? You see, it teaches following instructions. Because God chooses this place. And he says, oh, well, I'm going to go elsewhere. I'm going to stay there. Well, God is testing your heart. You see, it's not our prerogator to decide where to keep the feast. It's God's throughout. And he's decided for us. And he knows our hearts. And he knows our possibilities. He knows what we can do and what it comes to.

And if there's some reason, some way, that some people are just struggling financially and just they've tried their best and they didn't have enough, then the church has other bread that have donated. Let's call it tortilla to help out other bread than they ever need. And therefore, there's a process.

And as the elder, as the minister, there is a process and there is a little bit of help. It's not a rainy day, a bulk, it's not as much as if you had saved, but it is something to help because other brethren have sent in what they call an excess second time. At the end of the year, the brethren may have not used all their second time.

And what they do with it, they send it to the church, they put it into a kitty. So for the following year, when brethren have a need, there's some to help out. And also because they can use enough to book halls and pay deposits and things like that. But there is a need. It's a way of helping one another. There is a genuine need. And that obviously, talk to your local, talk to me, talk to the pastor, if you're in another church area, and talk to the local pastor and address that.

But the point is, we are learning to fear God. We are learning to fear God. And we're learning to follow those instructions. To do it. You know, we get some people that say, so well, I'll do my own thing. And then again, it says, are you prepared to take instructions? Are you prepared to submit? Are you prepared to submit? Our future job in the Kingdom will involve receiving orders from Jesus Christ. As King, Kings, and as the King of Kings, we will receive orders from the King of Kings.

And when he tells us to do this, we better not say, oh, well, I think I should do something else because I've got my own idea. And he's testing us through his priests, through his Sabbaths, through his holy days. How we respond to that? Are we prepared to take orders from him? So some people say, yeah, I take orders, but I only take orders from Jesus Christ. Not from the minister. Well, maybe God is going to get to two ministers, and maybe there's a problem there, too.

And God is testing the orders. Oh, but my minister's got certain faults, of course. He's a human being. Really human beings, really, are faults. That doesn't justify whatever. So brethren, we'll always be under authority. How high you may be, you'll always be under authority. Even his cross is under the authority of God the Father. And we will always be under the authority of those that Christ will put over us.

Because definitely we're not going to take the job of the twelve apostles or whatever it is that are directly under Christ. So we're going to be under somebody else. And before we're going to be under some of others, God's appointed ministers or leaders or people that he appointed to the other us. So we'll always be subject to authority. And therefore, the priests and God's only guides are an opportunity for us to be tested. So maybe there's somebody, there is a deacon, that is pulling authority into a point, who's going to sit in what chairs? And you go to the priest and he says, I'm going to sit in this chair.

And the deacon comes and says, now, please, would you kindly just go and sit on that chair? Because that chair is reserved for children. You don't tell me where to go. Would you think you are? Well, God knows the heart. And God is singing. Yes, maybe he's only a deacon. So what? What's wrong with going from this chair to that chair? But you know what? I'm not exaggerating. It does happen. It does happen. So when people are put into certain positions, even though they may not be perfect, listen to those instructions. Just listen. People start, is looking at how you and I react.

But, you see, we won't just be under authority, we'll also be in authority. We'll also rule. So, just like we learn lessons, lessons of submission, of humility, which is very important, which is the one that I've just covered, but we'll also be learning lessons of duty. Ruling lessons. How do we rule? At the priest. Read, for me, in verse with me, verse 26 and 27. It says, verse 26, You shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, so you have your second time, and you've got extra money that you normally would have, and for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep or for wine or this, will simply drink.

Yeah, you can have the whiskey, not in abuse. If your health allows, if you're in good health, you can have some of this. Obviously, it's in moderation. Obviously, moderation. But your heart desires, have a little, and your health allows it. Yeah, then do it. In moderation, of course. For whatever your heart desires, and you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice.

You and your household, which means you and your family, and you shall not forsake the Divine, which is within your grave, for He has no part or inheritance with you. So what do we have? Your God wants to see how we use our money as an example. Now, you have this liberty to use it in whatever your heart desires.

Are you going to abuse it? That is a form of rulership. You're ruling and having self-control in certain things. That is a form of rulership. And the very first point of rulership is, how can you control yourself? God has given you a certain freedom now. How do you use that freedom?

That is something that God is watching. You can also read in other scriptures. Where Christ says, anybody wants to be a ruler amongst yourselves, let him first be a servant. So, at the feast, there are many opportunities to serve at a brethren. Many opportunities to serve. And so, if you want to rule, you rule to serve. Christ is a servant leader. In other words, he leads to serve mankind for our best. Because he wants us to be the kingdom, he wants to serve for us. He came to serve. And he's serving still in other methods and ways.

But he's serving us by atoning our sins and forgiving us. That's a service to us. And there are different things that we can do as a service to our people. And so, when we go to the feast, we can demonstrate to God that we are capable to rule. How? By serving. By serving. And again, as we see in verse 26, it's for you and for your family. It's for your family. Do things with the family, things with the children, a family of activities, time for the family. You want to do something to make something special for them. You can buy them gifts.

You can do something very special. I remember with all our children, when they were small, they always, always, and they still remember today, they always looked forward to the feast. And we made it special for them. Every day, whenever they woke up, they had a little gift at the foot of the individual's. And they looked every day forward for that little thing. It could be a tiny little thing. A tiny little thing. Could be a little envelope with a little bit of feast money.

Could be whatever. But they always looked forward to it. And for them, it was a joy. And so they made them, at least, a time of great joy for the children. After the feast, they went to school, and the people started saying, how we got Christmas?

And they would say, for our longest Christmas, one day, and we'd be able to get gifts. We'd get them for eight nights. So they kind of looked back, and therefore, we made it special for them. And therefore, they looked forward to the feast. And they never desired something else, because we made it special. And therefore, it's family time. Make it special for the rest of the family, if you have family in the church.

If you don't, you do have family in the church, which are your brothers and sisters. And you can make something special to somebody that maybe has a need around you. Maybe give them a little card. Maybe just wish them a nice... Maybe give them a little flower, or whatever. Make something special for you, other brothers and sisters in the feast. Because it is a family time.

So, pray. As we look forward to the feast, it's around home. It was only a few weeks ago. And I use this example as the feast, but it applies for the Sabbath, and for every day. God is really looking at us. We do have appointments with God. And so, as we go to the feast to meet with our boss, rather Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, we have an appointment with them.

And during this appointment, we need to learn some lessons. And He also learns lessons from us. We understand there is a shadow of things to come. We understand that it's a temporary wellings, because there's something better in the future. But we go there to learn and to have a great desire of our future job in the kingdom of God. We also have a desire to make it a family event.

And we also want to show God that we agree with His great plan of salvation by our offerings of righteousness. In other words, doing what He wants us to do, what He commands us to do, and in what is pleasing in His sight.