The Sabbath - a Holy Convocation

Thank you again, Mr. Henry. We've been continuing on with a series on the Seventh-day Sabbath of God. We've had a couple of series so far, and this will be series number three. I want to review some of the things that we've covered in the past in series one and two. And some of the points that we've covered in the past is that we covered the Old Testament Scriptures, mainly the first session, and then we got into some of the New Testament Scriptures.

We're going to be covering some both Old and New Testament Scriptures as we go forward here in the third of our series. But some of the things we've covered so far was that we saw from Scripture that the Seventh-day Sabbath began all the way back at creation. It was made by God by resting on the Seventh-day of creation.

And it involved Jesus Christ, because as we read in some of the Scriptures, God has created all things through Jesus Christ. So He was there, He was involved with helping to make it, and He knew what the Sabbath was for, why it was designed, that it was made, and that it was made for man. We talked about that. We talked about that as God began to work with His people, that He had to reintroduce the Sabbath to them when they were slaves in Egypt.

The Egyptians had a 10-day week rather than a 7-day week. And so God had to restore not only the weekly cycle, but also which day was it that He had made holy and set apart for special use. So we talked about some of those things. We talked about the fact that the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments.

And of all the things that God inspired in His Word, the Ten Commandments were the only thing that He actually personally spoke, as well as wrote with His own hands. Which shows how important that they were to God, and how important that they were for us. And that the Sabbath was one of those Ten Commandments as the fourth commandment. We talked about in Exodus 31 how the 7-day Sabbath was a sign between God. It shows who the true God is, and it shows also who the people are that He's beginning to work with.

And so it's a sign between Himself and His people, Israel. We talked about the fact that because of Sabbath disobedience, it was one of the reasons why God's people, His nation of Judah and Israel, had to go into captivity. He talked about the fact that not only did they not obey His commandments and His judgments and His statutes, but then God specifically points out that the Sabbath was being profaned, which is part of His commandments, but apparently it was something that was so significant that God wanted to separate that out. And He mentioned the Sabbath specifically. We talked about how the Sabbath was made for man, that it was made for man's benefit.

And Jesus Christ talks about that, I think it's Mark 2, in verse 27 and 28. And that He utilizes a word that means all of mankind. If it was made for the Jew or if it was made for the Hebrew, there were words that existed that He could have utilized to be able to relay that message. But those were not the words that He chose. He chose a word that meant mankind. We talked about how Jesus Christ observed the Sabbath as He walked the face of the earth in the flesh. And then later on, after His death, the disciples continued to observe the Sabbath, including the Apostle Paul.

We talked about the fact that the Sabbath was to be observed all the way through history, and even towards the end of the age, when man's time has come to an end. That Jesus Christ as a prophet said, please pray that you do not have to flee on the Sabbath day. And He referred to that in a time context that was at the end of the age.

We covered Isaiah 66, verses 22 and 23, where it talks about that someday there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth. But at that time, it says, all flesh will come and worship before Me, from one Sabbath to another.

So we see that the Sabbath is still there, even among the new heavens and the new earth. So today, as we begin part 3 of our series here, I'd like to talk to you about the importance of the Sabbath as we journey towards the Kingdom of God. The importance of Sabbath observance as we journey towards the Kingdom of God. Now, you know, as we look at how God has utilized His people over the millennia, and we know that the things that happened to the people in the Old Testament, God's people, the children of Israel, that they have certain lessons for us.

In fact, there's actually a parallel in many ways about the plan that God was utilizing with His people at that time, where He brought them out of slavery, out of the slavery of Egypt, and then they began to journey towards the Promised Land. That when they went through the Red Sea, it talks about the fact that in a sense that they were baptized as they went through the Red Sea.

And we, if we've committed our way to God, we go through a baptism and then we begin our journey, not towards the Promised Land, so to speak, but towards the Kingdom of God, but the parallels are eventually, are really very much there. And that God utilized His annual Sabbaths, as well as the weekly Sabbath, to help us to understand various things as we are on this journey. So let's begin back in Exodus, chapter 5 and verse 1, as we begin to cover some of the importance of Sabbath observance as we journey towards the King Mughan. And we'll also focus very much on a secondary point that the Sabbath is a holy convocation.

It's a holy convocation. Well, let's go to Exodus, chapter 5, and let's notice a few things that God is trying to reveal to us here. As we begin to see that God utilizes His annual and weekly Sabbaths, and begin to bring His people to Himself, to bring them out of slavery, and ultimately to set them free. Exodus 5, verse 1. It says, Thus says the Lord God of Israel. So God is speaking through Moses here, and Moses is probably standing before Pharaoh. And He's telling Pharaoh that this is the Word of the Lord, and this is what He says.

Let My people go. Notice that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness. So God is saying through His servant Moses, He's saying, Pharaoh, I want you to let My people go, that they can come to Me in the wilderness and keep a feast to Me. So God called Israel to come into His presence in the wilderness. And it was a commanded assembly that God is calling here. They were to come, and they were to appear before Him. And it wasn't necessarily out of the goodness of their hearts, so to speak, that they were to assemble.

But God was calling them to assemble for a purpose, for a reason, to come to Him, a commanded assembly. And ultimately, in doing so, God was going to set them free. Let's notice verse number 2. And Pharaoh said, Well, who is this Lord that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? He said, I don't know the Lord, and neither will I let Israel go. So then Moses and Aaron had to respond. And they said in verse 3, The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, they're even asking politely here, Please let us go three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God.

So God is calling them to come and to give a sacrifice. Lest, notice there could be consequences if they don't come, Lest He fall on us with pestilence for the sword. So our God is saying we need to come, otherwise there may be some illness, there may be some plague, or we could possibly be harmed by the sword, if we don't go and hold this feast to Him and do sacrifice. So God told Pharaoh that He was commanding His people to assemble before Him.

And you know, we are in His presence today. We are here as part of a commanded assembly. We're here before God today. And we don't just come here lightly, or just because it's a wonderful blessing. And it is, by the way, a wonderful blessing to be able to come here. Or it's not just because it's something that we do, but we also are here because He's commanded us to be here and to assemble before Him and to keep a feast, in a sense, to Me.

To keep a feast to Me. Let's go over to Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23. And we'll begin in verse 1. I think Leviticus 23 gives reference to the feasts of God in a very strong and very dramatic way. In fact, all of the annual Sabbath and the weekly Sabbath, of course, are covered in this particular chapter. Let's pick up the context here in verse number 1. It says, The Lord spoke to Moses.

So these are God's words and not Moses's. And He said, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be, holy convocations. Holy convocations. So holy means that God is in the midst. You and I can't make anything holy. Only God can and does. And convocation is an assembly that has been convoked or has been called. So this is a called assembly here today.

This is a holy convocation today. We're assembling before God. He says, They're my feasts and you're going to come to Me. So He begins with the very first feast, which is considered a holy convocation.

And we'll notice it's the weekly holy day, the Sabbath. Verse 3, Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. So we see the weekly Sabbath is one of these holy convocations. You shall do no work in it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all of your dwellings. Now, we covered that last time, the fact that we understand the Sabbath is holy time, that we're not supposed to work.

But it says, as it says in the last part of verse 3, that the Sabbath is actually in all of your dwellings, in each of our individual homes. There are certain things that we should be thinking about, that we should be conducting ourselves appropriately, even when we are not within the commanded assembly that also takes place on the Sabbath.

So the Sabbath has much meaning, and one of the things is that we have a commanded assembly, a holy convocation. But it's more than that, as it says in the last part of verse 3, it is also the Sabbath of the Lord in all of your dwellings. Well, let's go on to verse number 4.

These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. So God sets the appointed time. He's the one that decides when the time is holy and when it's not. And He noticed they should be proclaimed at their appointed times. Now, I think most of us understand the concept of an appointment. You know, when you have a doctor's appointment, you go to the doctor, and the doctor is there. He's there. So you assemble together. It's an appointed time. So I think we understand the concept of appointments.

I'd like to talk a little bit more about the holy convocation and what that means.

I've got a couple of articles here that I like to read that come from a couple of the pastors of the United Church of God. First one by Mr. Don Huser. He talks about the topic of holy convocations. He says, a convocation is a commanded or a required assembly. A holy convocation is an assembly that God authorizes and announces and expects His people to attend. It is as God sounds a trumpet to call an assembly. The convocation or assembly is not a suggestion. It is an optional. It is God's command. And then there's another article here by Donald Ward, another pastor of the United Church of God, and he has this to say. God commands us to hold holy convocations on the Sabbath. These days are appointed times for holy assemblies, and God's intent is not for us to keep these days by ourselves. It's not a time to rest at home, as tempting as that may be at certain times. No, the Sabbath and holy days are commanded assemblies. God sets them aside as holy time.

What does it mean to keep a holy assembly? God at various times made many things holy. He made the Sabbath holy. Holy things have God's active presence in them. God set the Sabbath aside, sanctifying it for a special purpose. Jerusalem is referred to as the holy city, because God placed His glory there in the temple in Jerusalem. The Apostle Peter called the church a holy nation, because God's active presence was in each member. When Moses saw the burning bush, God said, don't draw near to this place, take the sandals off your feet, because the place that you are standing is holy ground, because God was there. So when one enters a holy convocation, he is actually coming into God's presence. Go on. Another aspect of the Sabbath commandment that can be affected... Oh, excuse me here. A convocation is an assembly called together by authority.

It's not like a group getting together for a club meeting or some social event, but people are summoned to a convocation much in the same way that a summons is issued in a court of law.

Now, I don't know how many of you are familiar with a court of law, but when there's a case that's being brought before a judge and they bring witnesses, and sometimes they have to summon a witness, and so they send an official letter which summons him to come or her. And in that particular case, you have to come. You have to be able to come or show very, very good reason why you cannot come. But it's very much like a summons when it comes to a convocation. A summons is not an invitation. It is an order from the authorities. The fact that this is a holy convocation shows that the authority doing the summoning is God. God would certainly want us to eagerly assemble before Him with His other children, but whether we're eager or not, He summons us to appear.

Other scriptures show that we should not attend if we're ill or have some type of communicable disease, or there could be an ox in the ditch, or there could be physical disabilities that could prevent our attendance. So, there's always those types of things, but I can tell you that I know that most of you would rather be here every single Sabbath if you've got those physical disabilities.

So, I wanted to talk a little bit about the holy convocation and what God has in mind in communicating to us through the scriptures. So, we're not just here because God says to take a break.

We're here because He said, I want you to come, and I'm calling you to come, to appear before me, and to offer sacrifice, and to keep a feast to me. So, when we come into God's presence, I think we need to keep in mind just how majestic and powerful that God is.

In the past, we may be seeing some of the videos of some of the pictures that have been taken by the Hubble telescope of just how fast the universe is, and how great it is, and how God says, I've created the heavens and the earth, and I spread my tent out in the heavens as a tent to dwell in. I spread out my tent as a place to dwell in, in the heavens.

I don't know how many of you saw this either on the internet or on television, but just recently, they saw a dark spot in space with the Hubble telescope, and they just said, well, we're just going to point the telescope at that dark spot and focus on it, and see if there's anything there. It was just one of the few spots in space that it was just dark. There's a dark spot.

And so, they focused on that, and they took their pictures for a long time. They have the ability to keep it focused, even though it's rotating on that same spot, through technology. You know what they came back with? Has anybody seen or heard this? They came back with seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of galaxies that were out there, just like our own, our own galaxy. And it was just totally, I think it surprised the people that when these pictures came back, it was just so mind-blowing and so awesome at how great and expansive the heavens really are.

And this is the God that we worship that created these things. The title of the sermon, I guess, if you want to put that down at the top of your page, is the Sabbath, a holy convocation. The Sabbath, a holy convocation. We'll talk about a couple of points here, sub-points, is that it is a commanded assembly, which we've touched on already, and that also that God wants us to offer sacrifice. And we'll talk a little bit about that later, about what that means. What are our responsibilities when we appear before God on the Sabbath, on a holy convocation?

When we come before His presence, I'll review some of those responsibilities today. I'd like you to turn with me to Leviticus, chapter 8, and verse 1. Leviticus, chapter 8, and verse 1, we're going to look at three different examples of people of God who came before Him in a commanded assembly, who came before Him in His presence. And we're going to see a few things, maybe some things we can learn from as we read through these Scriptures.

Leviticus, chapter 8, and verse 1, we're going to look at three examples. We're going to first look at the Aaronic priesthood and the consecration of them, and then second, the Levites and that priesthood. And then finally, we're going to look at the entire assembly of God's people, the whole congregation of His people. We're going to see as they came before Him that they offered sacrifice. It's a pretty amazing story. Well, let's pick it up here in verse 1, set a little bit more of the stage here, is that this is where Aaron and his sons are being consecrated at the beginning of the Aaronic priesthood, and they're being presented to God by Moses to be set apart, to be sanctified, and to be consecrated to the office of the priesthood, and to go before God and to offer sacrifices.

And this whole chapter talks about what they had to do in order to prepare to be ready to come before God. And we'll see from this example and a couple more to follow, that you had to do certain things. You had to put on your best garments. You had to change your clothes. You had to clean yourself up. And I think there's some symbolism here that God wants us to understand.

Verse 1 of Leviticus 8, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take Aaron and his sons, because the sons are also going to be part of the priesthood. Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, a bowl, as a sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread. So there were certain things that they had to have with them. And notice verse 3, And gather all the congregation together, so they were all going to assemble as one man, in a sense, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

So at the door of the tabernacle of meeting is where they were going to go to meet God. So Aaron and his sons, and actually the whole congregation was going to go. Verse 4, So Moses did, as the Lord commanded him, and Moses was pretty good about that. He was a wonderful servant of God. He did what God commanded him to do. And I hope that we would do as well, that we would do what God says, and what God commands, and not necessarily what we think is the right thing to do, but what God says. Because sometimes those things do get mixed up.

It says, and the assembly, so we start talking about the assembly, gathered together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they all came. Everyone came. Verse 5, And Moses said to the congregation, This is what the Lord commanded to be done.

So what we're about to read is God's words and not Moses. Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons notice, and he washed them with water. So he cleaned them up. And Moses had the responsibility to present them in a right and proper way before God. In his presence, verse 7, it says, He put a tunic on them. He girded them with a sash. He clothed them with a robe. He put an ephod on him. He girded him with the intricately woven band of the ephod. And he tied the ephod on him. And then he put on a breastplate, the urem and the thumb and the turban. And on the turban was a golden plate. And it goes on and on of all the things that they did. And we could read this whole chapter and eventually see that they offered a sacrifice. That they had to kill the bull, and they had to do it in a certain way, and they had to sprinkle the blood in a certain way, because that's what God said. So it's an incredible, I think, example, and I think some important symbolism to show how we need to be careful when we appear before God.

And that, of course, includes the weekly Sabbath. Let's look at a second example, and over in Numbers, chapter 8 and verse 5. Numbers 8 and verse 5, because we're here in this context.

It says, we've covered now the Aaronic priests, and now we're going to look at the second example of the Levitical priests. It's the dedication of the Levites. Verse 5, it says, So they actually had to go through a ceremony here that would, in their mind, imprint upon themselves, and they were thinking that they needed to be clean before God, when they went into His presence. In verse 8, it says, in verse 9, So now the Levites are going to be presented as a sacrifice before God. In other words, to eventually represent the rest of the children of Israel in the sacrifices that they would eventually make. And we're going to see here that Aaron's going to offer the Levites before the Lord in verse 11. It says, So this whole concept here is fascinating in itself. Later we'll see the whole assembly of God's people are going to be consecrated as a special nation, a peculiar nation of priests to the rest of the nations, to the rest of mankind. But I'm getting ahead of the story a little bit. But getting back to the topic at hand here, as a priest, you didn't necessarily go and perform a sacrifice before God just any way that you wanted, any way that you pleased. You didn't organize or prepare to give a sacrifice in the way that you thought was right, but the way that God commanded. We're going to take a look at that in a moment here. In fact, let's turn over to Leviticus chapter 10 in verse 1. We'll take a look at an example here. As a priest in the temple, you just didn't walk in, offer a sacrifice, and worship God any way that you pleased. Now, we often have a special time on the Sabbath. We have special relationships with each other. We have friendships. We have feasting as we get together, and we have fellowship. But it's just not a social event. It also has some serious things that God wants us to understand. And this is an assembly that God calls for the whole congregation to come. A holy convocation because He is here. He's in our midst. And we're commanded to appear before Him in response to His calling. Well, let's take a look at an example of a priest or priests that made a sacrifice, a profane sacrifice here. Nadab and Abihu, they are sons of Aaron. They took the censer and they put fire in it. Well, to do what? Well, to give a sacrifice, to make an offering. They had a censer and they put fire in it. But what they did was they took this fire from a wrong place. They didn't follow the instructions to take it from a certain place, put it in their censer, and bring it over to the sacrifice. Instead of taking it from the proper place, they just lit their own fire and lit the censer, not according to what God asked them to do. So, they're going to give an offering. They're going to make a sacrifice, but they're going to do it in a way that they want to do it themselves. So, it says they put incense in it and they offered profane, or also some translations say strange fire, before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.

So, we know that God had made it clear to them what He wanted them to do, that they didn't follow what God commanded. They decided to do it in a way that they thought best. They did it their way, not according to God's command. And notice something very astonishing happens in verse 2.

It says, so fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

God was there. His presence was there. They were making this offering in His presence.

And God says, through verse 3, He has to talk to Aaron the Father, who's just lost two of His sons.

So, He speaks to Moses, and Moses said to Aaron, verse 3, this is what the Lord has spoken, saying, by those who come near Me. So, we know that they were in God's presence.

And we're coming near to God today, here at Sabbath Services. He says two things. Number one, I must be regarded as holy. Now, God says, I change not. And He's trying to help us to learn and understand He is holy. And He does expect us to give Him reverence and respect. And He made a pretty harsh example here of a couple of sons of Aaron. He says, I must be regarded as holy, and before all the people, I must be glorified. You know, I heard someone say at Sabbath Services, you know, we're on our best behavior when the minister's here, or when an elder's here.

But you know what, brethren? Jesus Christ is here. And God the Father is here.

Whether the pastor's here, or whether He's not, or whether the elder's here, or whether He's not, God is here. And that's what He says. That's from His Word. That's not my opinion. This is from His Word. And we must conduct ourselves appropriately, in a holy way. And we must offer sacrifice.

And ultimately, as we're going to see in a moment, that sacrifice that we offer is ourselves. That we present ourselves as a living sacrifice.

And we don't present that sacrifice just any way that we please, but the way God's Word instructs us to do. Well, let's take a look at the third example over in Exodus 19 and verse 1. Exodus 19 and verse 1.

We'll see now where the whole assembly comes together again, but this time, the whole congregation of God's people, all of the children of Israel, are going to be consecrated and they are called to come before Him. Let's notice Exodus 19 and verse 1. It says, In the third month, after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, so they'd left slavery, they're three months into their journey. On that same day, they came to the wilderness of Sinai, for they had departed from Rephidim and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, and they camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain.

Verse 3. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, and he said, This is what I want you to say to the house of Jacob, and I want you to tell the children of Israel. You have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on Ingalls' wings, and how I have brought you to Me. I have brought you to Myself. To a special relationship God is saying. Ultimately, He's got wonderful blessings planned in mind for them, the Promised Land, and for you and Me, the Kingdom of God, that is prepared from the foundation of the world.

He says, I have brought you to Myself, verse 4 and verse 5. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine. So here we have a God that's saying, look, I have made everything. I've made the heavens and the earth. I've made you, and all of humanity is part of the work of My hands. And God said, you know, if you're going to look to a God, look to Me. Because there is no other God but Me. And He says, now, if you will obey My voice, and you'll keep this agreement that I'm about to make with you, I will make you a special treasure, My special jewels, in other words.

I'll make you a special treasure to Me above all people, because everything that you see around you, their whole earth is Mine. And notice verse 6, And you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God says, I'm going to make you not only a special people, a special treasure above all people, but I'm going to make you a kingdom of priests. All of you are going to be priests, and you'll be a holy nation. He says through Moses, these are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. So now we begin to see a larger part of the plan of God unfold with these people. First of all, He's consecrated an Aaronic priesthood, then second, a Levitical priesthood, and now third, a whole nation of priests. Why? Why is God doing this to these people? Well, it's to represent Him to the rest of humanity, to the rest of the nations, to the Gentile nations, to the heathen nations, to help them to see what God looks like and what His ways look like when a people will obey them. They're going to represent God to the entire of mankind, to show what God looks like and to show as a light what His ways look like. Well, brethren, the New Testament Church has the same responsibility. Let's notice that in 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. We'll see some of the same language here. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. Referring to God's people after Jesus Christ said, I'm going to build my church. Peter, one of his disciples, writes this. Talking about God's people now in the New Testament. But you are a chosen generation. God says, I chose you. I chose you out of the world. I called you out of the world. And I want you to appear before Me. And I want you to have this relationship. I bore you on Ingalls' wings and I'm bringing you to Me. He says, you are a chosen generation. And notice, a royal priesthood. Now, maybe you and I haven't thought about ourselves as being priests before. Right now. A royal priesthood. And when we come on the Sabbath day, this weekly Holy Day, God says, I want you to come to Me. You are priests and you give a sacrifice. What type of sacrifice does God want us to give on His Holy Sabbath? Well, we'll cover that here. Touch on it in a moment. But that's what priests do. Priests offer sacrifices. He says, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, the same verbiage, the same thoughts that He's talking about with the children of Israel that we just read back in Exodus. He's got these same thoughts. You're a special people to Me. You're a special nation, a royal priesthood. Why? As it says in the latter part of verse 9, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness. Brethren, He came to free the captives. That's what Jesus Christ said back in the book of Isaiah, when He says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. Part of that is to free the captives, to bring liberty. Because we've been in darkness. We've been in the captivity. We've been in the slavery of sin. Just like the children of Israel have been in the slavery of Egypt, which typifies sin. And so He says, I've called you out of darkness and into light. In fact, into some marvelous light. His marvelous light. That word marvelous is a powerful descriptor there. It's marvelous. It's great. It's awesome. It's astounding light.

Well, let's go back to Exodus 19. Back to Exodus 19.

God's people called to be a holy nation.

He's offering them the opportunity to have this relationship with Him, to come to Him.

And He utilizes His feasts as part of that process, and being able to be free from sin and ultimately coming towards freedom and blessings.

Exodus 19.7.

So here God has made this offer to be His special people, to be a light to all nations.

And then it says, So Moses came and He called for the elders of the people, and He laid before them all all the words that the Lord had commanded Him. So Moses just lays it out. So this is what God is saying. This is what He's offering. This is the covenant that He would like to enter into with you, if you are agreeable.

So He lays it all out. Verse 8. Then all the people answered together.

They were all on the same page as one man.

They said together, All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.

So we're willing to enter into this covenant. We're willing to be His priests.

We're willing to be a holy nation.

We're willing to obey Him.

And to be an example to others. Just like we said, for those of us that are baptized, we said the same thing in baptism. All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.

And so this is what the people said. So Moses brought back these words from the people. He's kind of the mediator here. God says to Moses, I want you to tell him what I'm thinking about. He talks to the people, and the people said, we're willing to enter into that. And so take this word back to God. So that's what Moses does. He brings back the words of the people to the Lord. Verse 9.

And the Lord said to Moses, Behold then, I'm going to come in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.

So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

And then the Lord said to Moses, now I want you to go to the people. They're willing to do this. Go to the people and consecrate them, which is another word for sanctify, to consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.

So again, it's a sign of respect that they were going to come into God's presence in this assembly, and they were not just going to come in just any way that they thought or would choose, but they were going to have to be clean.

Verse 11. And let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day, the Lord will come down from Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

So God says, I'm going to come, and I want you to appear before Me.

And again, notice we don't just come before God any way we please, but as He instructs, He says in verse 12, you're going to have to put certain boundaries. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, take heed to yourselves that you don't go too close to the mountain or to touch its base.

Whoever touches the mountain shall die.

And not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through with an arrow. Whether man or beast, he shall not live.

And when the trumpet sounds long, though, then I want you to come near to the mountain. Don't touch it. Become near.

Verse 14, so Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and he sanctified the people, set them apart in a special way, and they washed their clothes. So again, we see that.

And then he said to the people, be ready the third day. Don't come near your wives. Then it shall come to pass on the third day in the morning, that there will be thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God.

So they were going to assemble before His presence.

Well, we can jump to chapter 20, and it talks about the Ten Commandments. God speaks these words when He comes down to the mountain. And of course, verses 8 through 11 talk about the Sabbath itself.

It's a special time, a holy time, for God's people. Something important enough to be one of the Ten Commandments of all the things that God could have chosen to be part of the Ten Commandments the Sabbath, and the fact that it's a holy day was one of those things.

Let's jump to verse 18 of Exodus 20.

Now, all the people witnessed the thunderings and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountains smoking. And when they saw it, they trembled. And they were getting near to the mountain, but now they were starting to backpedal because it was so powerful.

And they said to Moses, verse 19, You speak with us, and we'll hear, but don't let God speak with us, lest we die.

So it was so powerful, they thought that they could possibly lose their life.

And Moses said to the people, Don't fear, for God has come to test you.

You know, God does do that to us. He needs to know whether we're going to obey or whether we're not, or whether we're going to trust Him, or whether we don't or won't.

But he says, Don't fear, for God has come to test you that His fear may be before you.

Now that word fear can also be translated respect or reverence.

You know, God wants us to understand that, yes, He loves us, and He's going to make wonderful promises, and He will deliver on His promises.

But that we have to understand that He is a holy and majestic God, and that He wants us to respect Him and honor Him as a Father, as a spiritual Father.

You know, one of the commandments ties very much into that, in a sense, that God says, I want you to honor your human fathers and mothers, your parents.

And so there's something that flows all the way through the family of God when it comes to respecting our parents, or respecting our spiritual Father.

God says in verse 20, Don't fear, for God has come to test you that His fear or respect may be before you.

And a part of that is that we won't sin, so that we'll obey Him, we'll obey His laws and His commandments for our good.

Verse 21, And the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

And then the Lord said to Moses, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

You shall not make anything to be with Me.

Gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make any of those things for yourselves.

And an altar of earth you shall make for Me. You shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings and your sheep and your oxen in every place where I record My name, I will come to you and I will bless you.

And that's the type of blessing. And you know when you've been blessed by God how good that is.

So we see all of God's people, and that includes you, are part of a royal priesthood that offers sacrifice.

Let's notice Isaiah 56 and verse 6.

Isaiah 56 and verse 6.

We'll see there that God offers some of these blessings, even back in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, not only just the children of Israel, but the foreigners.

Isaiah 56 and verse 6.

Also the sons of the foreigner who would join themselves to the Lord. You know, they were often known as God-fearers.

They had seen and heard about the great things that God had done with the people of Israel, how He brought them out with a high hand out of Egypt. They'd heard about the miracles. These things were well known, and these stories were out there, that this God of Israel is a powerful God. And there were certain foreigners that were not part of the children of Israel, believed that this was the one and only true God.

Also it says, the sons of the foreigner who joined themselves to the Lord to serve Him and to love the name of the Lord and to be His servants.

Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, notice that, the foreigners, and holds fast My covenant, even them I will bring to My holy mountain. Wow! You know, this is something that's back in the book of Isaiah.

I don't think a lot of the Jewish authorities, religious authorities, understood some of these Scriptures.

Verse 7.

Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer, and their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted.

God says, I'm going to accept their offerings and their sacrifices.

Notice, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, not just Israel. God has all humanity in mind.

For His plan.

For them, we cover a lot of Old Testament Scriptures, but let's jump to the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 1.

1 Corinthians 10 and verse 1.

We're going to see that all the things that we've been reading about in the Old Testament were written for you and me.

They were written for our admonition today.

It wasn't just for them.

It was actually for us.

Let's take a notice of that in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 1.

Paul is speaking to our brothers and sisters in Corinth, saying, Moreover, brethren, I don't want you to be unaware. I want you to understand, in other words, I don't want you to be unaware that all of our fathers were under the cloud. They all passed through the sea, were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. We kind of touched on that already.

And notice, they all ate the same spiritual food that you and I are eating.

And it says in verse 4, and they all drank the same spiritual drink that you and I are drinking.

For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them. Whether it was food or drink, this spiritual rock was Christ.

Christ was there. Christ was the one that was with them. Verse 5, But with most of them, God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Now notice verse 6, Now these things have become our examples.

They've become our examples to the attempt that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.

And do not become idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and then they rose up to play.

Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day, 23,000 fell.

Nor let us tempt that spiritual rock, Jesus Christ, as some of them also tempted, and they were destroyed by serpents or snakes.

Verse 10, Nor complain.

You know, that's been something the children of Israel were known as complainers.

Were known as murmurers.

And Paul is telling you and me not to complain as some of them complained.

And there were certain consequences for them. They were destroyed, it says, by the destroyer.

Now, verse 11, Now all of these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition. You know, I don't think they realized that all the things that they were going through were going to serve a purpose later on for some of the humanity that would come and the ages to come, down the road, generations into the future.

That part of the reason that these things happened to them was so that we could learn from their examples.

All of these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition.

Upon whom the end of the ages have come.

Wow! So whatever this admonition is, it's come upon those that would come later, even up to the point of the end of the age. They are written for us, and forward up until the end of the age.

Verse 12, Therefore, let him who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall.

You know, God says that over and over in the Scriptures.

You know, if we think we stand, we're probably on dangerous ground. If we think we stand, that we've got it figured out, that we've got it right, that our opinion of things is exactly right, our understanding of things is exactly right. I think it would be better to think maybe we should be open to a multitude of counsel on various things.

Therefore, let him who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall.

There's an admonition there in verses 11 and 12.

Let's turn over to Isaiah 2 and verse 2. Let's look at an attitude of what the rest of the world will eventually have when they come before God's presence.

Isaiah 2 and verse 2.

This is a Millennial Scripture where God's Kingdom has come to the earth.

God's ways are beginning to flow out in a huge way. His law goes out forth from Zion.

In His Word from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2 and verse 2. It shall come to pass in the latter days, so we know the timeframe here, that the mountain of the Lord's house will be established on the top of the mountains. And mountain is one of the words that God utilizes for kingdom or government.

So we'll see that God's house will be established on top of all the other governments or mountains. And it shall be exalted above the hills. And all nations shall flow to it.

And notice verse 3. Many people shall come and say, Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. They are seeing the change of God's kingdom and how it's beginning to change everything. And they say, I see how good this is.

And I want to know more about the ways of God.

And I want to know more about walking in His paths. Verse 4. And God's going to judge between nations.

And He will rebuke many people. So even in God's kingdom, there will be times that people will have to be chastised. They'll have to be corrected. They'll have to be rebuked.

And He'll have the opportunity to rebuke many people.

But they will beat their swords into plowshares, their spheres into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, and neither shall they learn war anymore.

So they're excited about the things that they see, and they want to know more.

You know the word church?

The word church in Greek is ekklesia.

And it means called out.

Called out ones is what it means.

Called out.

Called out of what?

Called out of what, brethren?

Called to assemble with God. Called into His presence, and called out of the world.

You know, we've been surrounded, and have never known life without being under the jurisdiction of the present ruler of this age, a ruler of darkness where there's no truth in him, there's no light in him.

And we've been influenced by that all of our lives.

And God tells us to come out of that, and come into my presence. Come out of the world, come into my presence.

He convokes us to come, to an assembly, like we're having today.

Let's notice Hebrews 12 and verse 23.

Hebrews 12 and verse 23.

Talking about an assembly.

A called out assembly.

Hebrews 12.23 says that we're the general assembly and the church of the firstborn.

The firstborn. There's a lot just in those few words there. God has called you out of the world today, in this age, to be a part of those that are going to be the firstborn, which is often part of the trumpet's message.

The first resurrection. Blessed in holy is he that's part of the first resurrection.

It's an amazing resurrection to be part of the firstborn.

And God says that we're a general assembly, a group of called out ones, the church, the called out ones of the firstborn.

And so we are called to come into His presence, and when we do so, when we come, according to His command, we do so in a way of respect, in reverence, in fear, and ultimately we offer a sacrifice. So let's notice what that sacrifice is.

It's ultimately our own selves.

Romans 12 and verse 1.

Romans 12 and verse 1.

Paul, speaking to the brethren in Rome, writes the following, I beseech you, so he's pleading with them. He's trying to make a point. He's trying to get through to them and to you and I.

He says, I'm beseeching you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Brethren, as a part of the priesthood, that's what priests do. They offer a sacrifice. And God says, I want you to offer yourselves as a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to God.

And we just don't offer that sacrifice any way that we please, but the way that He commands.

And He tells us, that's your and my reasonable service.

That's reasonable. That's something that God says, what I'm asking you to do is reasonable.

Verse 2. He talks a little bit about how to do that sacrifice.

Don't be conformed to this world, verse 2, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Having the responsibility of a priest is a pretty big responsibility to have.

And of course, when we come before God on the Sabbath and we offer sacrifice, God wants us to offer it in a way that's pleasing to Him.

As we sacrifice ourselves to encourage one another, to edify one another where iron sharpens iron, when we look at God's Scriptures, so what would He have us to do? How can we encourage? How can we help?

Let's turn over to Nehemiah 8 and verse 1.

See an example of God's people gathering together in assembly.

This was not a weekly Sabbath, but an annual one. The context is actually the Feast of Trumpets. It's the seventh month.

Nehemiah 8 and verse 1.

It says, All the people were gathered together as one man.

It's kind of a way to say, and it was men and women that were all together because we'll see that in a moment, but they all together commanded to come together before God and they are there.

As it says, they're all gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the water gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So they're actually being restored.

The nation had gone into a captivity because of their disobedience, and now God is allowing a few of them to come back to the area of Jerusalem.

And so that they can rebuild the temple and begin to worship Him again. And so they're all gathered together as one man. Verse 2, And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation of men and women. So we know that even though it says one man, there were women that were there.

Brought before the congregation of men and women, and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. So this is the Feast of Trumpets.

It says, verse 3, He read from it in the open square that was in front of the water gate from morning until midday.

So it was quite a long time that they were reading before the men and women who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. While they were showing respect to God's Word, weren't they? They were being attentive to it.

Verse 4, and it says, Ezra stood on a platform high above where the people could hear and see. So they didn't have the microphones that we have today and the speakers. So we had to stand up where they could see and hear Him.

Verse 5, and Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people, and when he opened it, all the people stood up.

Wow! They were just so respectful.

They were so impressed that they were going to be able to hear God's Word spoken to them. And you see the respect that they had as they were in the presence of God. It wasn't because of Ezra that they stood up, but because they were standing up in respect to God and His Word that they were about to hear.

Verse 6, and Ezra blessed the people, the great God, and all the people answered and said, Amen, Amen, while lifting up their hands.

And they bowed their heads and they worshiped.

They worshiped God, their Creator, with their faces to the ground.

You know, they took it serious. Now, Israel hadn't always taken things that seriously.

But after they'd been punished and they were coming back, they realized that maybe they should have been taking things more seriously than what they did.

Because sometimes in the past, they wasted an awful lot of time and an awful lot of energy and not obeying God.

And they'd become hard-hearted in many respects. Stiff neck is often how they were described.

And God wants every one of you that are here to be in His Kingdom.

That's His desire. He knows exactly where you fit in the family.

And He wants every single person here to be a part of His Kingdom and a part of His family.

But He knows that not every one of us will be, most likely.

As a prophet from God the Father, you know, He talked about a parable of 10 virgins.

Towards the end of the age, before Jesus Christ, the bridegroom came back to meet the bride, and He talked about a parable of 10 virgins.

But some didn't have enough oil.

And the loss ratio was pretty high.

50%. Half.

God doesn't want 50% not to be a part of the bride.

That's why He gave this prophecy ahead of time so that we could prepare ourselves and be ready.

Even in a perfect government, because God had a perfect government, there was a time when there was no sin at all. No one had ever sinned. Lucifer became the first.

But even under a perfect government of the angelic realm that God had created, how many did He lose?

And it wasn't 50%.

There was a pretty significant number.

A third.

A third of the angelic realm rebelled against God who had a perfect, righteous, and loving government.

You know, even as you look through history, in the area of Turkey where the mail route was in the book of Revelation, the seven different churches on that mail route were all in the area of Turkey, there are no churches there today. There are no people of God that are there today that we know of.

It's mostly a Muslim country now at this time. Secular Muslim country, but the religion is mainly Islamic.

Where are they today?

You know, how many of you were at the Feast of Tabernacles in Wisconsin Dells in 1972? There were 14,000 people that were there.

They were there to worship God, came together as a command of assembly to honor and obey Him.

And now within the United Church of God, we don't even have 14,000, and that was one feast site.

We were all transparent to God, and God's our judge. No, I can't judge anyone. He's the one that's the judge. We all come before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ.

But where are all of those people?

Where are they today? I don't know.

And even in the millennium, you know, after a thousand years of peace, and it says at the end of the thousand years that our enemy is released just for a short time.

And what happens?

What happens in a very short time?

Well, you have a rebellion, it says, of the number of the sand of the sea.

It just wasn't a handful of people that rebelled against God and His Kingdom and His government after a thousand years of peace.

It says an innumerable multitude rebelled.

Brethren, we come here every seven days, commanded assembly, a holy convocation, to offer ourselves as a sacrifice.

To God.

And it's a wonderful time.

It's a tremendous blessing, isn't it? To come here and to hear God's Word expounded.

And we don't really want it to go to waste. We don't really want to take it for granted.

We don't want to fritter away the time. But we really want to rejoice before and with God.

And offer sacrifices that He describes.

One last Scripture here.

Actually, two more, and then we'll finish up. Nehemiah 8, we're here.

Let's go to verse 8. I guess I got sidetracked.

It says, They read distinctly from the book in the law of God, and He gave the sense, and He helped them to understand the reading.

And Nehemiah, who was governor, and Ezra the priest and the scribe, and all the Levites who taught the people and said to the people, This day is holy to the Lord, your God. Don't mourn or weep.

Because the people were crying.

They were thinking about maybe some of their sins and the things that they'd done wrong. But God says, you know what? This day is holy. Don't mourn. Don't weep.

Because the people wept when they heard the words of the law, and He said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet. I mean, it is a feast day.

Today is a feast day.

And send portions to those to whom nothing is prepared. Share with those that don't have enough so that they can rejoice as well.

Share your blessings or my blessings with others.

So that they can enjoy, and they can feast as well.

This day is holy to the Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

That's ultimately what God says when we come to the Feast Tabernacle to rejoice. When we come here, we rejoice.

For all the things that our God is doing for us.

Verse 11.

So the Levites quieted the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy. Don't be grieved.

And all the people went their way to eat and to drink, and they did send portions, and they rejoiced greatly because they understood the words that were declared to them.

Brother, they didn't rejoice greatly because they were eating and drinking. It says they rejoiced greatly because they understood God's Word.

That's the core.

That's the heart and the core of what God desires.

And so we come here that He could pour out His living water on us.

The bread of life on us.

We could eat and drink. That same spiritual rock.

That was the main point.

Why they rejoiced, and that's why we're here.

One last Scripture, brethren.

It's in Hebrews.

Hebrews, I believe it's chapter 10, verse 25.

Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 25.

1st verse 24, we'll pick up the context. Let us consider one another. Why? To do what? To stir up love and good works. Part of that sacrifice that we make.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some. So some had already begun to not assemble.

But the Scripture is clear. Don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together, even though it is the manner of some. But notice, exhorting one another.

And so much more exhorting as you see the day of approaching.

Now, I don't have time to turn to some of the Scriptures that talk about that. At the end of the age, there are certain attitudes that are going to be prevalent. Men will be lovers of themselves. This is kind of a sign we're at the end of the age.

That they are lovers of themselves. That they are lovers of money. That they slander one another. There are several things that are listed.

But God says when we come together and we offer this sacrifice that we exhort, we encourage each other.

And that's what He would have us to do.

And so much more so as you see the day approaching. Because when our enemy realizes he has a short time and he pulls out all the stops, there's going to be some real challenges, some real tests that are coming.

And God wants us to be ready.

To be ready.

Brother, we're here today to appear before God in one of His feasts.

His weekly feasts. He's called us into His presence. He summoned us to come.

We appear before Him.

And we need to come.

We need to come as He commanded.

We need to assemble in His presence.

And we need to bring a sacrifice.

And ultimately, that sacrifice as priests of the Holy Nation is ourselves.