The Resurrections and the Holy Days

Twenty-four years ago, my wife and I arrived at a new pastoral assignment up in South Dakota, and we met one of the elders, the couple there, the husband and wife. And the elder's wife was so cute. She was just, you know, you ladies are all just so beautiful anyway. This lady was not only beautiful, but she talked beautifully. There's something about her voice that just struck me. And as she was talking, she finished up. I said, would you keep talking? And she said, why? I said, I'd just love to hear that voice of yours. And they really have served in the church for many years, and they've been very honorable and respectable people, both she and her husband. And this last week, she was buried. And it was an untimely death, and it was in a sense a difficult, challenging experience for her and the family. But we were talking with her husband yesterday, and he said she was free of pain the entire time. And that was one of God's blessings to her. And yet, as her widower, husband, now deals with life, he said, you know, I miss her. And he said, one thing I wanted to really point out at her funeral was how honorable she was and how just a great example that she was. Why, he said, are the righteous taken? Why is it people that you really respect and admire sometimes that God takes? He said, the road ahead is going to be difficult.

I have a second cousin here in Phoenix whose husband died a dozen years ago or so. She doesn't understand what we do, and she refers to her husband as having passed on. They had quite an enjoyable, exciting marriage, and she misses him terribly. And she looks forward to the day when she will pass on, and they will be together with each other in heaven. But in the interim, all she has is photographs and stories, and losing her husband is very, very hard.

The point is that death is an enemy. No matter who looks at it which way, no matter how you try to rosy it up, no matter how you try to dress the coffin, as it were, or the gravesite, no matter how big you build the memorial, no matter what concepts you have of the afterlife, death is an enemy. People will do anything to try to foil it, to try to prevent it, to try to put it off. After it happens, they'll try to soften it by not using the word death, but passed away. Try to keep some idea alive. They'll imagine an afterlife. But your body and mine has an expiration date. The Bible says that God alone knows that month, that time, but certainly it is given to all men once to die. And you and I have, as we might say in the vernacular, an expiration date. And that is your body's biggest enemy. The Bible says the last enemy that will be destroyed is death. So death is an enemy. The fall festivals speak in part to the destruction of death. The elimination of this thing that has plagued mankind since the first humans were put on this earth. And it will really plague mankind until the last human is changed.

Death will be destroyed. What people don't understand is that it will be destroyed in phases, if I can use that term. If we ask the question, what will happen to me when I die? I think we can all ask that question. What's going to happen to me when I die? And am I sure about that? We all have our ideas. You can ask anybody on the planet. They've got some idea. But with certainty, from the Word of God, which we believe is absolute truth, what will happen to you and to me when we die? It's through a combination of God's holy scriptures and the observance of His holy days, and really coming to understand them by keeping them, that we can know the answer to that question.

What is the biblical truth about what is called the resurrection? Is there just one? Are there two? Are there more than that? The title of the sermon today is The Resurrections and the Fall Holy Days. These two are inexorably entwined, and while death will happen, there is a promise of life for all. We're going to examine the biblical facts about the coming resurrections, and also their holy day counterparts. Each resurrection and each holy day has a uniqueness, a very definite purpose that's very different from all the others.

None are the same. So let's take a look at the resurrections in view and in light of the fall holy days that we are now entering into, that we are already enjoying. We go back to Hebrews 6 and the first two verses. We find that the resurrection is one of the fundamental beliefs or doctrines that the Church has had from the beginning. Going right back to the giving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D.

Hebrews 6, verse 1, Paul is talking here about spiritual maturity or immaturity in the context, and he says, therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to maturity. Spiritual maturity is what this word means, the perfection. Not laying again the foundation of repentance. Now notice he's going to say six doctrines here. Repentance, which we certainly understand, is necessary.

Repentance from dead works of faith towards God, following the initial repentance that we receive from God. He goes on in verse 2, the doctrine of baptisms. Baptisms for the washing away of our past sins at that point in our life, of the laying on of hands, for the receiving of God's Holy Spirit, which then takes us forward into growing. Or, he says, the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. So the resurrection of the dead is a foundational doctrine that the church knew right from the beginning, and something that you and I need to fully believe in and trust in.

There is no other way to enter the kingdom of God than through a change in our human body, or a decayed body, through a resurrection, into a spirit body. We see over in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 50, the Apostle Paul very clearly explaining this principle to us. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 50.

It's important that we don't just sort of re-pass this. We actually graph something very important. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood, now that's me, and that's you, flesh and blood. We can think of ourselves as very close to God, very godly. We've lived forever as far as we feel, the forever that we've known. We kind of think that, no, we'll probably keep living on, too. We have this sort of forever mentality. But there is a problem here. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

You and I have a problem. We can't be in God's spiritual kingdom by just continuing to live on in our little forever. He says, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. We are going to die. We have an expiration date. At that point, our body will decay. Corruption is what he's referring to. We are going to return back to dust.

And that's sort of heading the wrong way, isn't it? That's not heading to more life or greater life or eternal life. That's heading into a state of decay and decomposition. Job spoke of this in Job chapter 14, the first two verses. Let's take note of Job chapter 14, verse 1. Man who was born of a woman, that would be all of us, is of few days. We only have a brief life here. It seems like it's a long time. Until you begin to consider how old the earth is, how old even your local town is, the founders of it are long gone. And you will only be here a short time.

So we are few days and notice, full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and he fades away. He flees like a shadow and does not continue. Verse 5. Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, referring to God. You have appointed his limits so that he cannot pass. There is a termination that we, in our physical life, that we've been given, the life that God put in us, the Spirit in man, the Holy Spirit.

There is a termination and we cannot pass on our own that termination. In verse 7. For there is hope for a tree when it's cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease. As recently, chain sawing off some trees and came upon some tree growth, and it was from the stump.

I thought, wait a minute, I've been here before. This is in East Texas. And you have to come back and cut, and a few years later, from that stump, grow new trees. So he's saying here, The root may grow old in the earth, and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches, like a plant.

Verse 10. But man, in contrast, dies, and he is laid away. Indeed, he breathes his last, and where is he? David explains, concerning that cessation of life that we will all experience, in one form or another, causes our thinking, our minds, to stop. In Psalm 146, verses 3-4, Psalm 146, verse 3, he says that this mind that God gives us through the spirit of man reacting with our brain stops, and we die.

Man hates the thought of life-stopping, so he invents things that, no, we keep thinking, we keep living. But somehow, we keep going. Somewhere. No, don't let this end. And yet, here's the truth, Psalm 146, verse 3.

Do not put your trust in princes. Don't go around finding people that are noble or important and trying to get them to help you in life. Nor in a son of man, small m, in whom there is no help. All of us. All of us are going to fade. But, verse 4, his spirit departs. He returns to his earth. In that very day, his plans perish. The King James Version and the modern King James Version where it says his plans perish say his thoughts perish. They stop. We just stop thinking. It's a time that the Bible refers to as rest. They will enter into their rest. And that is, as we've read already, a nice thing to happen after one has lived a full life, one has had the challenges and the troubles of this life, one has forged character that hopefully is godly character and is ready for judgment. A time of rest from that is a blessing in many cases, even though it's an enemy that life cannot be continued to be experienced. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verses 5 and 6, that the dead know nothing.

Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and verse 6.

Starting in verse 5, The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, their envy have now perished. All those thoughts. Never more will they have a share in anything done under the sun. After an exciting life, and I would say it's an exciting life, sometimes we don't focus on the positive. We see the glass half empty. But if you reflect on a sunrise, a sunset, a little baby, a little animal, a precious bird, a beautiful vista, a flower, a plant, sometimes just bugs, the sensation of wonderful things to eat and drink, a fellowship of love, just a big old warm hug that lasts for a little while. There are wonderful, wonderful things of being loved and sharing love. This life really is an exciting opportunity that God has given us. And after that, we return to dust. And by ourselves, that's it. We are really stuck. Evolution appeals to human nature's desire to be free from God's laws. And so evolution provides a way of getting rid of God so you can get rid of any laws. Therefore, man is free to do whatever he wants, because there is no God and there is no law. The shortcoming of evolution is there's also nothing, no hope, let's say. There's no hope for anything once you die. And that's a terrible concept in the end, to finally leave or be left without any future whatsoever. The biggest question that faces every human is, is this it? Or in some cases, was this it? There's a question actually in the Bible, very similar to that, Job 14, in verse 14 and 15.

If a man dies, shall he live again? Is there anything more? Is this it? If a man dies, will he live again? That's the question that has, I think, plagued every human that has ever lived and breathed and thought. Is there something else? It says in the Bible that God has put eternity in their hearts. So there is a tendency, even in people who don't know God's plan, to desire more, to desire to live for eternity, to look up at night and see a star and say, maybe those are people that went before me and maybe I'll get to be a star. But it says here, All the days of my hard service I will wait till my change comes.

You shall call and I will answer you. You shall desire the work of your hands.

Here is a glimmer of hope. In all of that termination, of all of that cessation of thought, where it says, there is no more, here we begin to find a glimmer of hope, a coming change, a call, and an answer to that call. Jesus gave us some information and details about the call that is coming to the dead. In John 5, beginning in verse 25, Jesus here tells us that exactly what Job was expecting, you will call and I will answer. Jesus continues with more information about that in John 5, verse 29.

Well, it's beginning in verse 25. Most assuredly I say to you that the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. That's the call. All the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. Hey, there is something after death. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also because He is the Son of Man.

Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all, now this is important for us to remember here in context with the fall Holy Days, all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

So there is going to be life after death for everyone. Again, He said, all who are in the graves. But all humans will come forward, but not all at one time. We get timing of the calls that people will hear from Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. Beginning in verse 22 of 1 Corinthians 15, For as in Adam all die, not some, I am not more special than others, and all are going to cease living. In verse 23 continuing, But each one in his own order. So we find that there is a process here. It doesn't all happen at once. Christ the firstfruits, He was resurrected from the dead first. Afterward, those who are Christ at His coming.

It's very clear here that the next ones to hear His voice will be the ones who are His, and that will take place at His coming. We are celebrating the Feast of Trumpets today, which celebrates the coming of Jesus Christ. And in a sense, we are celebrating our own resurrection. Because the events that take place when Christ returns include the resurrection of those who are His. And there are many the Bible refers to as being saints who will be resurrected as firstfruits at His coming.

Now, is that it? Is that the one resurrection? Many people read this and say, wow, well, that's it. So everybody else is sort of left out. If you didn't get converted in this lifetime, you're done. Because Christ is going to bring those who are His, and that's it. Remember what Jesus said, all who are in the graves will be resurrection. All in the graves are going to hear His voice, and life will be given to them.

Paul gives additional details about this resurrection of the saints. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 13, Brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. It's important that we understand that it's okay to sorrow. But we are not to sorrow as those who have no hope, who don't understand that there will be life again, who think, oh, no, this person is gone, they're lost, that's it, that's the termination.

But rather, to sorrow as those with hope would be the indication here. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. Those individuals will be resurrected when He returns, those who have been called and have been faithful at this time. As we take a look going forward, for this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. And then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord, therefore comfort one another with these words.

So it's interesting here that we have a resurrection to spirit life where we are always with the Lord. I say we, referring to all of those, and we are hopefully part of that group who will live and reign with Him at His return. What is their resurrection like? What is our resurrection to be like if we are part of that? Well, in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul adds some more details.

1 Corinthians 15 beginning in verse 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption. Now that's what you and I face, and there's no way around that. We will die, and our bodies are sown. They're buried, and they will decay. They're sown in corruption. But notice what it says. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. The next body that is received by the firstfruits is going to be a dynamic, spiritual, powerful, eternal body state.

It is sown, verse 44, a natural body into the grave, but it's raised a spiritual body. Now you and I don't know what it's like to be spirit beings. The reason we don't is because we've never been one, we've never seen one, and God doesn't tell us, frankly, what it's like to be a spirit being. There's no chapter or book with sort of the manual. Here's how you do things as a spirit being. We get little glimpses about what God does or what the angels do and kind of get excited and kind of curious, but He doesn't really tell us.

It is also written, verse 45, the first man Adam became a living being, the last man Adam became a life-giving spirit. We have a friend who designed and created us with his father's direction. We have a friend who gave us this wonderful life to enjoy and experience, and we have a friend who wants us to be in the family with him. He wants us to enjoy everything that he and his father enjoy, and so he has become a life-giving spirit to us.

As Paul said, who will deliver me from the body of this death? In the next breath, he says, I thank Jesus Christ, my Lord. This day is about God. And at the end of the model prayer, we were reminded to pray that yours is the kingdom, the whole concept, the whole plan, the whole process. And yours is the power, the power of God by which you and I can work towards becoming counted worthy to be part of that kingdom.

And of course, yours is the glory forever. God gets the glory for everything. And so today we celebrate Jesus Christ. We celebrate his coming. We celebrate the life we have now. We celebrate the life that we will have then and the opportunity to participate with him in helping others have that life and working as the bride of Christ. It's an exciting calling that we have. Paul gives additional details about the resurrection of the saints in 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 4, 13.

Oh, we already did that one. I'm sorry. Let's move forward. Revelation 14 and verse 4. The successful saints from here, those who are resurrected. It says in Revelation 14.4 you don't have to turn there. But breaking into the verse. These were redeemed from among men, being first fruits to God and the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are found without fault before the throne of God.

Now it's interesting to note that this 144,000, which is representing the faithful who are harvested and become the first fruits at Christ's return. These individuals are found without sin, with no deceit, without fault. It's not that they have become perfect in a sense that they have earned their salvation, but they are repentant over comers that get cleaned regularly, daily. The bride of Christ is being cleaned.

We as the church are being cleansed. And these individuals, redeemed from among men, are the first fruits to God and the Lamb. They are the first children, the first harvest. You know, if we look in 1 Corinthians 15, where we have been, in verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherit incorruption. We read something similar that he was saying to the church at Thessalonica. He says in verse 51, I tell you the mystery.

We shall not all sleep. There's a little mystery for us, just to throw in there. Not everyone is going to die. But we shall all be changed. Now I'd like to just kind of file this statement away, because we're going to refer to this later. There will be people alive when the last trumpet sounds.

And God's not going to kill them and then resurrect them. They're just going to be changed, Paul says. There will be a few that don't actually die and get resurrected. They're just changed from their living state into spare life. This will take place in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

So there's the timing of this event. It's at the seventh trumpet. This day speaks to the trumpets of God. In Revelation 10, verse 7, let's notice a transitional event that takes place in the very near future we expect. Revelation 10. You know, Revelation has 22 chapters in it. And right here in Revelation 10, we find what this day pictures already taking place. There's a lot that happens after the resurrection of the first fruits. There's a lot that happens after Jesus Christ comes.

Let's just notice Revelation 10, verse 7. It's important to pluck this out and just not let it be lost. In the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets. Now, if you read over that, you know, he said, yeah, we know, keep going. You miss on the great timetable of life, you know, that if you put the chart up on the wall from the first beginning of life to the end time and the new heavens and new earth, that sentence represents a real big thick black line.

That's a demarcation point between one age and another age, between the six thousand year reign of Satan and man going his own way and what the weekly Sabbath reminds us of and these fall holy days of a change, of a new age, of a new ruler, Jesus Christ coming. And here, right then, this mystery of God would be finished. There is the line. There's the big thick black line, as it were. What an exciting time that we celebrate today. In Chapter 11 and verse 15, it says, then the seventh angel sounded.

We have this demarcation point and, boom, now the trumpet blows. And there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world have become, not are going to become, sometime in the future, they have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

And He shall reign forever and ever. You know, this point in our very near future, we expect, just should bring chills and shivers to our spine to realize what a huge event it's going to be. Of course, world events will be broiling up and really getting large as far as from a human perspective. But here's the exciting time, the exciting thing that we celebrate is the transfer of power, because the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

The Feast of Trumpets celebrates, more than anything, the start of a new rulership, the start of new laws, the start of new life, the start of new ways here on earth. When we pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, that prayer can be prayed in a dual way. First of all, your kingdom come, the kingdom of God is shed abroad in our hearts now. We have a relationship with God. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Master. He is reigning over us. He is our King.

And we should be doing His will in our personal lives, each of us, as His will is being done in heaven, doing the will of the Father. And so that applies to us. But we also pray that in looking forward to your kingdom come to this earth, the Feast of Trumpets pictures the return of Christ and Him taking that government, so that ultimately God's will will be done on earth by all humans. As that thousand-year reign of Christ takes off, more and more begin to do the will of God, we're told in prophecy.

There are additional details. Revelation 19, verse 11, concerning those who are part of this resurrection, those who become the first fruits to God.

Revelation 19, 11 through 14, John here in a vision says, Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. And it describes Jesus Christ your coming and power. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood. His name is called the Word of God. This is a powerful entrance. And we read in verse 14 that the armies in heaven, the group in heaven, heaven being a spiritual dimension, heaven being where the clouds are, the armies in heaven, it says, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now who are these armies? Now we just notice here that they are clothed in fine linen, white and clean. If we look in verse 7 of the same chapter, we can identify this army or these armies. Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready. For to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. So we can see this group has a really exciting future. Not only are they resurrected to spirit, but they join Jesus Christ as the bride, they join him in coming in on the white horses. It's a very exciting time.

If we continue in chapter 20, we move through what the Feast of Atonement in part looks at. The first three verses take out Satan the devil and bind him for a thousand years, and he can't deceive the world anymore. He is the source of sin. That's gotten rid of. The name itself, Atonement, shows that once sin and the cause of sin get removed, there can be a relationship of Atonement possible between God and man. That relationship will then grow over the next thousand years and even beyond that.

So now we come to verse 4. Verse 4 of chapter 20 gives more details about the firstfruits and their resurrection and their roles. I saw thrones and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Judgment was given to the individuals with thrones. And I saw the souls, the lives. A soul is something that is a human being that is alive, living and thinking. You are a soul. You do not have a soul. You are a soul. And so these living people, I saw the living of those who had been beheaded for the witness to Jesus and for the word of God who had not worshipped the beast or his image, not received as mark on their foreheads or in their hands. In other words, they were faithful. And in all things, they were faithful, even when it caused them personal loss. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So this group is really unique, it's special. All they've gone through, all that they have done in their devotion and their faithfulness is rewarded unbelievably at their resurrection and at their service with Jesus Christ. Now, if we read verse 6, it says, blessed, the Greek word there, blessed means, it's more than just blessed, kind of a static word, or a person's kind of blessed. It means, oh how supremely blessed are those who have a part in the first resurrection. Now, that is a unique resurrection. That's never said about any other group. Every resurrection, every holy day is unique, everyone is special. And the angel here is looking at this one and saying, oh how extremely blessed are these who have part in the first resurrection. Now we get a name for it. It is called the first resurrection in the Scripture. It has a name. We get the idea then, if there's a first, there's probably a second. So far we've looked at the first resurrection and those in the first resurrection. Hebrews 11.35 calls it the better resurrection. If you think that all resurrections are the same, why would Paul say better resurrection? Why would the angel in verse 6 here in Revelation 20 say, oh how supremely blessed are these?

So this is quite an event and one that certainly you and I want to be focused on. Alert to our spiritual state and working towards being considered worthy to be in this resurrection.

We now find, in the end of verse 4 and 6, that they're going to reign with Christ for a thousand years. The term the millennium is not a term that the Bible has. You don't turn somewhere and the church is calling it the millennium. We call it the millennium. Millennia just means thousands. Or millennium is singular, it means thousand. So when it says here the thousand years, we call that the millennium. And it's a really good term for it. Capitalize it, put a name on it. In that thousand year reign, then, we can understand by a name better what we're referring to.

The Feast of Tabernacles that we all enjoy going off to visit, going off to, I should say, observe, not visit, but observe, in places that we like to visit, that enjoyable time reminds us of the thousand years of Christ's rule on the earth. I was asking some little grand boys last night over Skype video, and they're saying, now, what does the Feast of Trumpets remind you about? And they said, coming of Jesus Christ, and he's going to reign on the earth. What does atonement remind you about? Get rid of Satan. What does the Feast of Tabernacles remind you about? Everybody is going to obey God. That's what they said. Everybody is going to obey God. And we get rid of all that sin. I said, do you think the world will be a nice place? What will it be like, in fact, what will it be like if everybody obeys God? They thought about that and said, really good! That's going to be great. When people are obeying God, it's really good. When we go to the Feast, what do we say? This is really good. It's synonymous of a time where there's no evil Satan and deception in the world. We have to live among it. We have to live in the world. Not of the world, but we're in the world. That Feast of Tabernacles takes us away to where we're only with those who are not in the world of that mindset. And so, the thousand years is going to be wonderful. Of course, God's going to add some other things to it, like nice tame animals, lots of wonderful crops. Where the reaper is... the person planting seed is overtaking the one trying to get the last harvest out. You've got a real problem there. There's so much food. It's growing so well. It's just wonderful. So, that is an enjoyable time. And when we go off to the Feast of Tabernacles, we are celebrating that thousand-year reign of Christ. Now, what about the rest of all who are in the graves shall hear His voice and come forward to the resurrection of life? What about them? In verse 5 of Revelation 20, it says, But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. Which means the rest of the dead did live again after the thousand years were finished. So, we are now presented with a second resurrection. It's not called that, but we can see that one takes place. It is the second resurrection, and we know that it takes place at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ. We're given some details about that. The first thing we need to realize is that Satan has deceived the whole world, and it's nobody's fault that they're not in the first resurrection. Jesus even spoke, and the disciples have explained, that there is a deception. There is a cloud, as it were. There is a blindness and a deafness that's been given to mankind. But a few have had a calling, a special early calling. A few have had the eyes opened and given a chance now to be part of a first resurrection to assist and aid Christ with future individuals and their callings.

A deceived person, when it says the whole world is deceived, like Satan deceives the whole world in Revelation 12.9, a deceived person doesn't know they're deceived. They think, I'm a good person. I think I know what's right. I think I'm correct in what I think I am doing. He has never sampled being what we would call a saint. He's never had God show him who he really is, help him repent of that, give him the Holy Spirit, accompany with forgiveness, and let him sample godliness. Now that's the thing that you and I are given. We're given an opportunity to sample godliness. How do we feel about that? Those who like it will be in the resurrection. Those who really want to pursue it will be part of a first resurrection. But mankind has not had that opportunity. And so we can't look and say, oh, the world, you guys out there, you should be thinking and doing like the Bible tells you to. They don't get it. Seeing they cannot see. Hearing they cannot understand.

But God is fair. And God's plan, he says in 1 Peter 3 and verse 9, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

So in verse 5, the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished, gives humanity a chance to live. It's briefly described down in verse 11 and 12 of Revelation chapter 20.

Then I saw a great white throne. This is often referred to as the great white throne judgment. Now, unfortunately, I say unfortunately, maybe not unfortunately. You have the biggest resurrection that's ever going to take place of some 60 billion people or who knows how many people have ever lived. Jesus said all who are in their graves are going to come up. This is the biggest resurrection. And yet, there's only one little passage here. One little passage in verse 12. One verse in the Bible, in the New Testament, in Revelation 20 here anyway, that talks about the biggest resurrection of people and the biggest harvest that will ever take place. There's also one holy day called the eighth day, or we refer to it as the last great day. And it's a great day, but right now it is not really expanded upon. There are some scriptures back in Ezekiel and other places that refer to it. But we have to look very carefully then at just one verse here. We'll do that in a minute. So we find this great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was no place found for them. And then, I saw the dead. Now, they were dead, remember, but they heard his voice, and now they're no longer dead. I heard the dead, small and great, standing before God. And books were opened. People get the idea that what you did your first life here on earth, you're now going to get judged for. You get popped up out of the grave, you get lined up, you get the law books out and say, you know what, you are a bad guy. You kicked the cat. Next. You're a good little girl. You petted the cat. You go over there. And this is it. This is your only chance. But that's not the case. That's not the case at all. Because nobody that has not had repentance from God, baptism, the forgiveness of their sin, and God's Holy Spirit has ever sampled godliness and therefore can't really be judged, can they? They haven't tasted the heavenly gift, as it's called in another place. That needs to happen, despite how good or how evil an individual was in their first life. Those who have never had this opportunity will be given it. And so what we find right here is the description in verse 12 of a wonderful event. Dead, small and great, standing before God. Before they didn't know God. God wasn't listening. God wasn't watching. His ears were not open. Now they're before God. And books were opened. What's on your lap, probably, is called a Bible. A Bible just comes from the Greek word biblos, and biblos simply means books. These books have never been opened. It may be the most popular book in the world, but it's been closed. People read it, and seeing they cannot see, and hearing they cannot understand. So these books are now opened. They are called. Their minds are opened. Their eyes are opened. Their ears are opened.

And going on.

And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. Now, whenever a person receives God's Holy Spirit, his or her name is written in the Book of Life. That is very clear from the Scripture. And your name, if you've been baptized and have God's Spirit, your name is actually written in heaven in God's Book of Life. You don't want that name to get blotted out, the Bible says. But it's there. The rest of the world's names are not there, but they will be. And this book is opened, the Book of Life. Now the dead were judged according to their works. Now that the books are opened, now that they're imbued with God's Spirit, now that they can taste and sample his way of life, now they begin to be judged. Do they want it? Do they reject it? Do they try? Are they really trying faithfully? Are they just kind of putting on because they want a reward? Et cetera, et cetera. However, God will judge that. And the dead, who are now alive, were judged according to their works by the things written in the book, by the law of God. They have a similar opportunity, in other words, that the saints have during this time. How long will this period be? The Church sometimes calls this the 100-year period. If we go back to Isaiah 65 and verse 20, you probably have noticed that sometimes in the New Testament a statement will be made that... And this was done so that the prophecy would be fulfilled. And you go back to the Old Testament, and sometimes you just have a statement, maybe one verse or even part of a verse, that's made within the context of something else. And yet, that turns out to be a prophecy that was fulfilled during the time of Christ or during the time of the apostles. So, if we go back here to Isaiah 65 and verse 20, it just may well be that one verse here applies to the Great White Throne Judgment period. Let's read it. It says in Isaiah 65 and verse 20, No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days. You know, people are going to be resurrected at that time, having some just maybe been not even born, or just barely born, or lived a few days, or you know, maybe they had a full life. But here, in those days it says, verse in the middle of the verse, For the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. It would seem, if this verse can be applied to the Great White Throne Judgment, to that event that the eighth day of the feast, the last great day refers to, if it does, then it looks like it's a period of one hundred years, and everybody will live a hundred years, no matter what age they're resurrected at.

Now, that's why the church calls it the hundred year period. Here's a small point. We've read verse 12 there of Revelation chapter 20. It just says, you know, they're judged according to what they've done in their life, and everybody lives a hundred years. Let's go back there real quick. It's an important point here, a small point, I should say. There's no mention of how they become spirit beings. At the end of Revelation chapter 20 and verse 13, it just says, they were judged according to their works and leaves it. Now, you know that those who were judged according to their works and did well are going to receive eternal life. That's the whole point. We just read in Isaiah 65-20 that the sinner who dies a hundred years will be accursed in some way. How individuals at the end of that hundred year period become spirit beings is not stated. It doesn't say they die, and then they're resurrected. It just doesn't say. I think we can assume at the end of the hundred year period they are changed while they're alive. Remember what happened to those who were alive and remained when Jesus Christ came? They were changed. There's no death and then a subsequent resurrection to life for those at the end of the Great White Throne period. That end of the hundred years. And so, probably they are just changed while they're alive.

The important point, though, is the change to spirit is what's extremely vital to avoid what comes next. The prelude to that is found up in verse 6, the second part of Revelation 20, where it says, You think now, blessed and holy is he who has part in the second resurrection as well, who is faithful because, notice, the second death has no power over them. The second death has no power. What comes next is something everybody wants to miss. You and I want to miss it because there is a third resurrection. You and I do not want to be in what is called the third resurrection.

Who remains to be resurrected? Well, we've seen the saints are firstfruits. They are eternal beings with Christ. We've seen a resurrection of physical humans, and at the end of the hundred years, they will be changed into spirit beings to be part of the family of God. The remaining are those who have not qualified to be considered worthy. They are those who have rejected what they have sampled. They have said, I despise what the Holy Spirit has shown me. I have despised the life that God has let me sample. Let's go to Matthew 12, verse 31 and 32. Hear this from Jesus Christ's perspective. The one who has given us and will give them an opportunity to have the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to sample love and joy, peace, and the way of happiness. In Matthew 12, verse 31, Jesus said, Once you sample God's nature, once you sample righteousness and love, and you blaspheme it and say, you really put it down and you blaspheme against it and say, no, that is terrible. That's not something I want. That's a bad way. That's the wrong way. He says, that will not be forgiven them. In Matthew 32, anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, you can say things about Jesus the Christ Himself, and it says, it will be forgiven him. Because you didn't know any better. Before you had God's Holy Spirit, you may have been of a different religion or gotten tired of what's called Christian religions and just spoken out things you didn't understand. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, once you have it, it will not be forgiven him either in this age or in the age to come.

God's kingdom will contain no sin. It will contain no sinners. We see that Satan is the author of sin, and he will be removed.

Sin in humans is removed from them by washing them clean. We have baptism, which is a symbolic washing clean by the blood of Jesus Christ of our sins, and foot washing symbolism, a continuation of washing away and getting rid of sin. In Ephesians 5, verses 25-27, we see from God's perspective here this process of cleaning sin out of his kingdom. There will be no sin in his kingdom. It says, Why did he come and give himself for the church? To get sin out of the kingdom of God, ultimately. It's not ever been in the kingdom of God, but it's going to get sin out of those who will be part of the kingdom of God. Let's let him state this. That he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word. That he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. This is the preferred method for getting sin out of humanity, getting sin out of those who will inherit the kingdom of God. It's offered sincerely. It's offered lovingly. However, in Luke 3, verse 16, there is another way that Jesus speaks of getting sin out. Getting sin out of the universe, getting sin out of all that has existed and keeping it out of his kingdom.

John here, under inspiration, answered these individuals, Luke 3, 16, saying, I indeed baptize you with water. Now that's for the forgiveness of sin. But he who is mightier than I come, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to loose, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit. That's one choice we have. We'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That's the alternate method of removing sin. You can have sin washed away, or you can have it burned away. Verse 17, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and will gather the wheat into the storehouses. So here's your first and second resurrection. The wheat are gathered into the storehouse. But he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. It's referring to the final purging of sin from the universe. In 2 Peter chapter 3 verses 9 through 12, we see this process described. 2 Peter 3 verse 9. Before I said 1 Peter 3, but she said 2 Peter 3. Verse 9, The Lord is not slack concerning of his promise, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's the preferred way. Verse 10, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burnt up. You see, the problem with not being harvested in the first or the second resurrection, being successful and being spirit beings, is that all things physical are going to undergo fire and be burnt up and dissolved and destroyed. Verse 11, Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? We need to get off of planet earth. We need to get away from our physical mortal bodies. We need to be spirit beings, so that, as it says there in Revelation 20 and verse 6, over which the second death will have no power, all that fire will have no power.

There are many scriptures that speak of this. Ezekiel, Matthew, John, Acts, Romans, Corinthians, Thessalonians, Peter, Revelation. Many speak about the coming cleansing of the universe of sin. The vital point is, it is not love to bring sin, which is hurt and pain, into the kingdom of God. Love is joy. Love brings, as a byproduct, joy. And joy and love, as a byproduct, bring harmony. That is what God's kingdom is to be filled with. And God lovingly will remove the cause of pain, of sorrow, of unhappiness, of division, all the things that frustrate God and man right now. These are going to be removed from the kingdom of God for all eternity. And that is love for God to do that. It's love for Him to purge and to burn up all who would bring pain and misery and sin. And that's what God is going to do. And so, the third resurrection is required. We find in Revelation 20, how this will take place. Revelation 20, verse 13. The third resurrection is, The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and the grave were delivered up, they delivered up the dead who were in them, and these were judged, each according to his own works. And death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire, which we've just read about in Peter. And this is the second death. But those in the resurrection, remember, the second death had no power over them. Anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. We go into the next chapter. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. And in the absence of sin, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There will be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. So, brethren, the Bible says that there are three distinct resurrections. Each serves a special purpose. As we observe these fall Holy Days, let's be thankful to God for giving us this life, and very thankful to God also for his plan for humanity to bring us into his family. Let's realize that the Holy Days are coming upon us quickly, but so are the events that these Holy Days represent. The three resurrections are also coming soon, so it begs the question of each of us. What manner of person ought I to be in holy conduct?

Let's each rejoice today and throughout this season as members of the family of God, as we appreciate the meaning of God's Holy Days, and look forward to being resurrected into his kingdom.