Rejoice by Learning

I'm very thankful to have the technology and the volunteers who do that kind of special music. Not only is it excellent music, and a fisight where we have too few people to actually have a choir, we will have live special music. We do have some very talented people here, but not enough people to have a choir. It's great to have that to fall back on, so very much appreciated. It's been quite a year, and it's prophesied to get a lot more exciting in the future. So buckle up, we're not done.

So what should our reaction be to everything that we've seen so far going on in the news, in our world, directly affecting our lives?

The same thing we always were supposed to be doing. Our calling hasn't changed.

Our mission hasn't changed, and nothing that happens in this world will ever change. Why you were called. We are here to celebrate something that happens after the troubles of this world. That's why we have hope, and that's why we got off of work, and we got off of school, and we took a lot of flack for it, in some cases, and we saved our money diligently.

When other people think we're crazy, and they go on nice vacations, and we come and we sit in church for eight days, because our calling hasn't changed. And there's not a single thing that has happened this year that can affect why we are here and what we are doing.

We are here to celebrate a time of total restoration, total victory over Satan, as we just celebrated at the Day of Atonement, and the restoration of all things. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 2, Isaiah says, Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it.

Wouldn't happen today if all nations were flowing towards Jerusalem today. It would be World War III. Verse 3, And many people shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. People will be saying, Let's go! I can't wait! The feast is coming! Just like we did this year. He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. Oh, what a glorious day! We are commanded to do that and have that feeling now.

We are learning these lessons now. As the times get darker and darker, we're not to lose that focus. We're to keep that focus now, because we're going to be the ones to help them go to the mountain of the Lord and learn His ways and walk in His ways. Big brother and big sister. That's who we are.

God commanded Moses in Deuteronomy 16, verse 13, something that is our perspective at the Feast of Tabernacles, no matter what happens in the world. This is our perspective this year in 2021 at the Feast of Tabernacles, not just in New Braunfels, all around the world. In fact, anybody who's keeping the feast, this is the original command, and it hasn't changed.

Deuteronomy 16, verse 13, you shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days when you have gathered from the threshing floor and from the wine press, and you shall rejoice. But there's COVID and Afghanistan and the border crisis, and no, your calling hasn't changed. You shall rejoice. What is there to rejoice in?

The kingdom of God? There is nothing that can happen in this world, including your and my death, that could take that hope away. There is nothing that has happened this past year, and nothing that can possibly happen in the future that can take this hope away. And we rejoice. And you shall rejoice in your feast. You and your son and your daughter—hey, what's stressing you out right now?

You just had a long trip to New Braunfels, Texas. What I love, you know, affectionately call the Texas Alps. Our little hill countries here with our little tiny rolling hills and our live oak trees. Swaltering heat. It's an early feast. Sorry to you northerners who made it here. We love the heat in Texas, but I know you're melting. But what is stressing you out right now?

Let all of that go. Forget about it right now. For these eight days, we are here to rejoice what comes next. Does that mean the problems of today aren't real? No, not at all. They're real. Oh, and, you know, they will shake us to the core, but they what they will not do, they will not take away our hope.

What is stressing you out right now? Don't let that affect your family. Celebrate this feast of tabernacles and make sure your sons and your daughters, your manservants, your maidservants, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates, make sure everybody rejoices. That's the original command of the Feast of Tabernacles. What is our focus at the feast this year? It is to rejoice, but the question is, how exactly do we rejoice? Because if there's 300 people in a room, there's 400 different ideas on how to rejoice.

This is a feast where we can practice what we hear preached week in and week out at Sabbath services. This is a feast where we can practice the words we learn in the Bible. This is a time to practice an outgoing concern for other people, for love. A time when we can be all-inclusive and actually know what that really means, to make sure that each one of us has a wonderful feast. As we are here in New Braunfels, a wonderful part of Texas, where there are really many, many things to enjoy, we have this beautiful hall. It's one of the nicest halls that we've ever had for a feast of tabernacles. It's practical. It's easy to get to. It's very well air-conditioned, which is very good in the Texas heat. We are blessed to be able to keep this feast. And like ancient Israel, who traveled to Jerusalem every year, we have a sense of coming up to the mountain of the Lord. That's what we're doing here. Continuing on in Deuteronomy chapter 6, the very first command on keeping the Feast of Tabernacles 16, I'm sorry, Deuteronomy 16 verse 15, seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in a place where he chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you.

He will bless you for making the journey, for coming and rejoicing in all your produce, in all your work of your hands, so that you shall surely rejoice. He's actually involved in helping you rejoice. This whole thing is his idea. Of course he's going to help you rejoice.

You know, we suffer some, not all of us, but some of us suffer tribulation for keeping the Feast, for keeping the Sabbath week after week. I remember I was a young sales rep for an insurance company, and our boss was a very frightful woman. She fired her own sister. She had, we were pretty sure she sharpened her axe every morning, and she called me, and she told me one day, I need you to go to this event on Saturday. I said, I can't. That's a religious day for me. I can't do that. She said, look here, looking me straight in the eye. I'm Catholic, and I have to go work on Sundays, and Sundays is my religious day. And I looked her in the eye. I said, I'm not Catholic.

And God took care of me. Lo and behold, she didn't fire me. God is in this with you, with us, and He will bless us as we keep the Feast. The Feast. God works things out on our behalf, and the Feast pictures a time that we have long anticipated, that isn't here, that we long for. Peter describes this time in the book of Acts, Acts 3, verse 18. Acts 3, verse 18. This is why we come and rejoice. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all of His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Why? That the times of refreshing may come. It's not just a time of personal refreshing, although baptism, repentance, and baptism do that very thing. Don't they? They give you internal strength. They change your thinking, and you move away from a self-centered thinking to an other-centered thinking. And that is refreshing, yes. But there's more to this times of refreshing than just personal refreshing. We're looking forward to a time when we are all, as Peter says, from the presence of the Lord. When we are in the presence of Jesus Christ, we look forward to that time in the future. But God gives us a little taste of that every year at the Feast of Tabernacles. Just a taste to come and be refreshed. And if you've kept the feast as long as I have kept the feast, and I'm looking around at some pretty gray heads, you've kept the feast as long, if not longer, than I have. You know that you just blink a couple of times, snap your finger, and the feast is over. It happens that quick. Take advantage of these seven days, and you will be refreshed. Take advantage. Verse 20. Take advantage. Verse 20.

And nothing that's going to happen in 2022 is going to change that.

Nothing is going to take that perspective away. Without raising your hands, consider this. How many of you need to be refreshed after last year? I could use some, for sure. We all do. I know I do. Imagine the rest of the world that doesn't yet have this hope.

Imagine how much they need to be refreshed. What about the people of Afghanistan right now? You know, there are other troubled spots in the world. We just, they don't make our news cycle. You have to dig deep to find it, but they're all over. What about them? Oh, yes. They need to be refreshed, too.

I gained a perspective that was different from the perspective I grew up with when I lived in a third world country for a year. Fantastic. I learned what I'd always read in the Bible, that all people are pretty much the same. It's true. When you go to a wedding in an Arab country, they play music, they eat, they dance. Imagine that. They laugh a lot. Old ladies sit around and point and giggle, just like here. When somebody dies, they cry. We're all the same. But I'll tell you what's not the same. How most of the people in this world live, there is a need for Jesus Christ to return. The whole world needs to be refreshed. And we're looking forward to that time, a time when God completes His work. That work starts with you and me. And we need to come to the feast and take a breath. Just take a breath for a moment and say, yep, my job hasn't changed. My calling hasn't changed. COVID hasn't changed it. Troubled times in politics hasn't changed it. My calling is that the work of God needs to be completed in me. Romans chapter 8 and verse 19, the Apostle Paul explains, Romans 8 and verse 19, for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for you, for the revealing of the sons of God God. That means we got some work to do. It is our time to grow up, if you will, a time to overcome the human nature inside. And that is a joyous thing as well. Uncomfortable at times? Yeah, sure, of course. But the outcome is joyous. So don't begrudgingly walk through your conversion. Run through it. Move as fast as you can and hit that finish line. When mankind walked away from the Garden of Eden, mankind has suffered ever since. We were called to be part of the change, part of that solution. Verse 20, we're still in Romans 8. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. Hope! We come to the Feast of Tabernacles to be reminded and regain hope. To look forward to a time when the bondage of this world is lifted. Still in Romans 8, verse 21. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption. No more decay, no more breakdown of the body, no more aches and pains. That's corruption. Technically, corruption is decay when we die. But we get corruption along the way, don't we? As we get older, the bondage of corruption into what? The glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs until now. Not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we, ourselves, groan within ourselves. What's causing that groaning? It's not just anticipation of the coming kingdom, although that does cause groaning. What is the groaning? It's the growth that's taking place inside us. Change is uncomfortable, but the outcome is joyful. We, even we, ourselves, groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. That's why we come to the Feast of Tabernacles. We leave home, job, school. We come to a place like New Braunfels, Texas, which most people on planet earth have never heard of, to remember and celebrate that we are groaning inside ourselves because a better day is coming. To be released from the bondage of this world, of which our carnal nature, our human nature, is part of that bondage. We are here to overcome selfish human nature, and collectively, that is what causes all of the suffering.

The Jews, one time, celebrated this restoration. They were captured, and they were in bondage to the Babylonians. Granted, they deserved their punishment, but they groaned within themselves. And then they were set free, and they kept the Feast of Tabernacles. And that gives us a great example of how we, in 2021, should keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And what it can do for... Let's go to Nehemiah chapter 8. What the Feast of Tabernacles can do. Nehemiah chapter 8 and verse 1. This is after they've all gathered back. They're all assembled. Men and women together, by the way. That whole separation of men and women didn't happen until later. They were sitting in the audience, just like we're sitting now. Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 1. Now, all people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Watergate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women, and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Now, this was not Tabernacles, but this was the beginning of the fall holy days. And then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Watergate from the morning until midday, before the men and women, and those who could understand, and the ears of all the people, were attentive to the book of the Law.

How do you rejoice at the feast? Certainly eat lots of good food. And drink good drink, not too much. But that's not it. That's not enough. And be attentive to the book of, and that word is Torah, which means teaching, not law. Be attentive to the teaching. We're not just here to have a good time. We're here to be attentive to God's opinion. Why? So that we can run through our conversion, not grudgingly walk and complain through it. We're not here just to learn some rules. We're here to learn the heart of the matter. We're here to learn God's opinion and how to have that opinion. How that opinion can be my opinion, your opinion. God's heart implanted in us. Verse 13, now in the second day, the heads and the fathers of the houses of all the people with the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra and the scribe in order to understand the words of the Torah, the teaching. They came back. They wanted more. And that's the way we ought to be. That's God's intent for the feast, to learn his way and be very glad about it. And we are. That's why we're here. We are glad about it. And we do want to learn it. Don't let any stressors at the feast take your attention off of that. That is how we rejoice at the feast. That we might hear God's opinion one more day. And then go have a good time and eat good food and drink good drink. Learning the Word of God. Learning how to build up and not destroy. What does that mean for you and me personally at the feast this year? We have the opportunity to gain a little bit more to learn and practice what we've been taught so that we, as Paul says, are lacking nothing when it comes to the love of God in our character. So let's go to Paul's instructions and just read through this. And notice the theme. The Fall Festival and even Feast of Tabernacles specific theme that Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians starting in chapter 4. We read this at funerals, but we don't often read it at the feast. 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 1. Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort you in the Lord that you should abound more and more. What does he mean, abound? He means grow up. 2 Just as you receive from us how you ought to walk and please God, for you know what commandments we gave through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification. Do you know what that means? 3 That God has looked at you and said, I am taking you and I am setting you apart. You are special. Why? Because of something you did? Nope. Because he chose you. Because he picked you. I feel really special because he didn't pick me. He picked my parents.

And I got grandfathered in, if you will, through the promise.

I'll take it. That's awesome.

Verse 2. For you know what commandments we gave through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification. You're very special. That you should abstain from sexual immorality. Well, that's the way some people rejoice. It only leads to heartache. God does not tolerate that. But you could put any lust in there. Paul is talking to the congregation at Thessalonica, but it could be too much alcohol. You know, it could be too much of anything that would be a lust. You could fit that in there. And this passage would still work. And notice God's opinion of how to rejoice properly. You are sanctified. You're special. So act special at the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 4. That each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification. Your body, he often calls a vessel of clay. And that's literally what we are. When we die, we turn back into dirt, don't we? So he's calling us this pot of clay here, and he's saying, it's a very special pot. And you need to keep it in a very special place. And don't get it dirty. A vessel of sanctification and honor, not passion, not in passion of lust. Like the Gentiles who do not know God. Oh, there's a way the world rejoices, and that's got nothing to do with the Feast of Tabernacles. And that's not why we're here. Verse 6. No one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter. He's talking about sexual immorality, but it could be any fulfilling of the lust. Because the Lord is an Avenger of all such. So that word, all such, he's including all things that might be considered dirty, if you will. Unbecoming of a Christian. As we also forewarned you and testified, verse 7, For God did not call us to uncleanness, but holiness.

Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us his Holy Spirit, but concerning brotherly love. And this is a very encouraging part of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. You have no need that I should write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. This year at the Feast, make sure you're taking care of other people. Invite them along. Pay for their meal if they need it. Be inclusive. Have that brotherly love.

Verse 10, And indeed you do so towards all the brethren who are in Macedonia, but we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more. In other words, don't just rest on your laurels with the same old habits that you've always done. Do more. Go further. Verse 11, That you may also aspire to lead a quiet life. This Feast of Tabernacles, let's be a shining light, not a blasting trumpet. A shining light doesn't really make a lot of noise, but does show the way, doesn't it? If I turned all the lights off in this room and lit a candle and held it up, every eye in the room would see that little flicker of light.

And that's what we are.

Leading a quiet life means not fighting every political battle on Facebook, not mouthing off, not fighting every injustice, but seeking peace and pursuing it. Lead a quiet life. That's who we are. That's our calling. And 2021 didn't change our calling. And 2022 won't change it either. And he goes on, not just a quiet life, but he also says, to mind your own business.

We've got enough to do. You and I have enough on our plate to fix, to change. That we don't need to distract ourselves from the internal change that we're going through by trying to change somebody else. They might need help, and you can offer help. When, what did Jesus say? You pull the plank out of your own eye.

Mind your own business and work with your own hands as we have commanded you. Verse 12, that you may walk properly towards those who are outside. Your example at the Feast of Tabernacles matters. It also matters everywhere you go.

And he finishes that part of the passage with, that you may lack nothing. And that's why we're here. We're here to gain a little bit more so that eventually we lack nothing. What a great day that will be. What a great day that'll be. We're here to learn and practice what we've already learned, and learn some more, and put that into practice. Where we're lacking nothing when it comes to the love of God and our character. Let's jump down now. Turn the page. Chapter 5, verse 1. But concerning the times and the seasons. Oh, there's a lot going on in the times and the seasons, aren't there? There's change in the air. Concerning times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write you. You see the news as well as I do. That's why our rows are distanced from each other, and we're having a sign seating, and there's a mask-only room. You know what's going on, Paul says.

Verse 2, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. We're watching, aren't we? And wondering, is it soon, or is this just one of those downfalls we have to go through before the end?

For when they say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. Oh, we know the times, but that doesn't change our calling. So how are we supposed to react to this? Verse 4, but you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You're not unaware. You have a light inside you, you have a hope inside you, and you are here to be reminded of that. And this world is not going to get you, as long as you stay close to God. That's why we're here, isn't it? Verse 5, you were all sons of light and sons of the day.

We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night, and neither of those people are paying attention. If you are asleep or you are drunk, physically or spiritually, you don't know what's going on. When you're in the day, you can see or look around and see what's going on. And that's who you are. And we come here to be refreshed and remember that we are children of the light.

But let us, verse 8, who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation. And that hope surpasses even the fear of death. Because we're all going to die. Everybody dies someday, but we're going to be resurrected firstfruits, spirit beings. So nothing can take that hope away.

For God, verse 9, did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. We grow in faith and love, and we regain that perspective of hope of salvation here at the Feast of Tabernacles. We opened with instruction that we should come to the feast and rejoice. Now Paul wraps things up. Let's drop down to verse 16. He says, rejoice! Imagine that. Rejoice! Even knowing the signs of the times that he just talked about, yep. Even knowing what's going on in the world, what do we do? Rejoice.

We're not shaken.

We're not deterred.

Pray without ceasing in everything. Give thanks, for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Those are the teachings. Those are the instructions that we learned from Isaiah, that we learned from Nehemiah, and now in 1st Thessalonians. There's a thread throughout the Bible that says, listen to God.

Do not despise prophecies. Verse 21, test all things. Hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved, blameless, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who calls you who calls you as faithful, who also will do it. So let's be good examples in New Braunfels this year. Let's come and learn every day, and if you can't come, tune in on Zoom. Don't neglect the services at the face of tabernacles. You know, it's very difficult now for restaurants to hire waitstaff. Nobody wants to go back to work. It's hard to get waitstaff, so you might experience delays at the restaurant. Let your light shine. Be patient. Give extra tips. If you give 15 percent normally, give 20. It's my suggestion. If you give 20, give 25. Let your light shine. Somebody's steak might come out cold, because the waitstaff is so overworked right now. It's okay. I eat cold steak on salad all the time. It doesn't hurt us a bit. Be a good example. Be patient. Make sure your kids have a great time. Look around. Make sure everybody else has a great time. And priority number one is make sure you and they learn from God the hope that we have. After the tribulation and into the beginning of the reign of Jesus Christ, people are going to be glad to hear what you're hearing right now, but you get to hear it first. They're going to be glad to hear it. We should be glad to hear it now. The Feast of Tabernacles is a time to rejoice, a time to hope, a time to look forward to the kingdom of God, and we grow in that hope when we learn the Word of God. So let's put our learning caps on, and let's rejoice.