So Great a Cloud of Witnesses

Well, good afternoon, everyone. We've come to the last, last service. I want to thank the choir for that very beautiful piece. That's one of my favorite songs that a choir does. Mr. Martin came over and he said he forgot a couple people. He wanted to thank the song leaders for the great song services that we've had during the feast and the pianists as well, who spent a lot of time preparing for the feast. And one other person he left out that I'm going to remember and mention is Stan and Penny. Stan and Penny Martin, I think, have done a tremendous job in the feast in keeping us everywhere we need to do and making everything happen. So thank you.

Well, brethren, it has been a privilege and an honor to keep the feast with you this year. We have so much enjoyed the time here in Jekyll Island. It's a time that we've been able to spend with you and meet some of the new people that we've met here. We are all family and wherever we go, you know, we are family and it's always a comfort to be at the feast or even visiting churches because we are all one and we have a ways to go before we become one the way that God wants us to become one.

But we are on our way there. We are on our way there and it's been a privilege to be here with you. You know, we've been here for eight days now. We have heard wonderful messages. We've pictured the time of Jesus Christ. I hope we've felt some of the fellowship camaraderie and inspiration. And inspiration of God and the Spirit of God as we've been here.

You know, we've pictured the time of the reign of Jesus Christ when all people will be able to enjoy what we are enjoying. And that is truth and unity and harmony and a hope and a hope for the future. You know, on this eighth day, Mr. McNeely very eloquently described what the white throne judgment was and the hope for all of mankind that we picture on this day. And as we prepare after this service to leave here, there's a scripture that comes to mind that I wanted to start with here.

And that's back in Hebrews 12. Mr. McNeely this morning read Hebrews, the last few verses of Hebrews 11. But in Hebrews 12, verse 1, it paints a picture of where we are. And I know as we celebrate the feast, as we come before God, as we follow His commands and do His will, I know He looks down and He's pleased to see us doing those things.

I know Jesus Christ is. I know the hosts in heaven are. And you know, as you read the scriptures, as we lead up to the time of Jesus Christ's return, they're just waiting for Jesus Christ's return. And they're waiting. They're waiting. And all the men, women who have died before us who died in Christ, you have the beautiful symbolism of their prayers ascending before heaven and asking how much longer, how much longer before Jesus Christ returns.

In Hebrews 12, verse 1, following all the description of the men and women who went before us and who have died in Christ, it says, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. You know, we are. There are a great many witnesses watching us. There are many who are wanting us to succeed, complete the race, finish the training that God has put us through so that Jesus Christ can return, and we are ready to do what He wants us to do.

We are at about the men and women, you know, who sacrificed their lives, who suffered horrible, painful deaths, and deaths that we can only imagine as you read through Hebrews 11. Back in Hebrews 11 and verse 16, it says, That all those who went before us who died in Christ, they desired a better that is a heavenly country. And therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

He wasn't ashamed of them. We don't want God to be ashamed of us either. He has called on us and He has given us a tremendous opportunity, and He wants us to succeed. He gives us all the tools that we need to succeed, but so much of it is up to us to choose to do what He wants us to do. None of us want God to be ashamed of us or to forsake the calling that we've left here, or that we've had in our life at the time that we've understood while we were here.

So as we are here on this eighth day, and as we prepare to go back home and into our everyday lives, work and school and the neighborhoods and everything that we will endure, remember that there are very many hosts in Heaven. There are many people who have died before waiting for the return of Jesus Christ. We are waiting for the return of Jesus Christ, too, and we need to ready ourselves for the time that Christ is going to return, and that what God has called us to can come about.

You know, the safe day, we talk about the white throne judgment, we talk about the second resurrection, and those are things that will happen at the conclusion of the millennium of the 7000-year period that mankind is on earth. But God has called us to much more than just to serving Him in the millennium, to just being there during the white throne judgment period. There is a time beyond that. He has called us to eternity.

There's a scripture back in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9 that speaks to that. You know, as I was growing up, there were several scriptures that my father would repeat to us often, and this is one of his favorite verses that we had drummed into us as I was growing up. And as I've gotten older, I understand and I appreciate it more and more.

In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9, it says, It says, as it is written, I has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has repaired for those who love Him. Hasn't even entered to His heart. I hasn't seen, ear hasn't heard. We haven't even thought about it. We don't even have the capacity to know what God has prepared for us. You know, we picture the millennium.

We have verses about the millennium. We've had a sermon on the prophetic snapshots, and we can kind of picture a time when the world will be in hope. When the world will be in harmony with God again, and the desert will bloom as the rose, and mankind will live in peace under Jesus Christ's reign. We can picture, and we have scriptures that talk about the white throne judgment of the resurrection of the dead, the second resurrection, and even our resurrection and the first resurrection.

Those are things that our eyes haven't seen them yet, but our ears have heard, we can fathom them. Christ says, and God says in the Bible, there are things that we haven't even thought of. Things that we haven't even thought of and can't even think with the limited physical mind that we have. And this eighth day pictures all those things, everything that happens after the seventh thousand year period, the white throne judgment, the second resurrection, and for eternity beyond that.

You know, back in Leviticus 23, I know that Mr. McNeely read that verse, and in Leviticus 23, when he was talking about the Feast of Tabernacles, it only mentions the eighth day. There's no description of what the eighth day represents, it's just as, and on the eighth day, you shall have a holy convocation. And we have to use the Bible to interpret a little bit, what does this eighth day mean, because God doesn't give us what it means, what does it picture?

The picture is the rest of eternity for us. But let's go back and let's look at the eighth day, because there's much more that God has called us to than we sometimes think about. And in the Scripture, we do see the eighth day mentioned a few times in Scripture, and we can learn something from that.

Let's go all the way back to the book of Genesis, right there at the beginning. And look at the first time we see the eighth day mentioned. In Genesis 17, we have God working with Abram, and you remember Abram. You know, he was faithful to God. Whatever God asked him to do, he did. Wherever God asked him to go, he went. He was even willing to give up his own son. That's how much he put God first. Nothing was going to stand between him and his obedience to God, and to do what God had asked him to do.

And in Genesis 17, in verse 10, we find God giving him the covenant of circumcision. Now there was going to be a sign, a physical sign, between Abraham and his descendants and God. And that covenant, that sign on the males was going to be a permanent thing on them for the rest of their life. In Genesis 17, verse 10, it says, Now those of you who have had male sons born to you, you've probably had them circumcised, and they were going to be circumcised on the eighth day.

Now those of you who have had male sons born to you, you've probably had them circumcised, and like us, the doctor just wanted to do it right there after he was born. It's like, no, we're waiting until the eighth day to have him circumcised. And there's physical reasons that we have our children wait until the eighth day.

You know, physiology tells us that their vitamin K level is higher, their healing is much better on that day. There's physical reasons to do that, as God would do. But beyond that, there's a spiritual lesson that God was teaching here. For the first seven days of that young man, that baby's life, he was uncircumcised. He waited for that completion of that first week to cycle before he would be circumcised.

And then he would be circumcised for the rest of his life. For the first seven days, he wasn't. A complete cycle. But then on the eighth day, and for the rest of his life, he was circumcised and in a covenant with God. Now, that can tell us something about it. You know, we know we have a seven-day week, and seven-day weeks can translate into seven thousand years, a day as a thousand years to God. But for the first week, that child was uncircumcised. But then he was circumcised. There was a period in our lives, a period of life when we were unclean.

Now, we were not circumcised and hearted as we are in New Covenant times. But when we were circumcised for the rest of our life, we're in covenant with God. We have to remember who we are. Remember what we've committed to. Remember the great cloud of witnesses that are there, that have gone before us, that are waiting for the revealing of the sons of God, as it says in Romans 8. The eighth day.

Pictures of sort of a new beginning. The old has passed away. The seven before that is gone. And now there's a new beginning. On the eighth day, that child was circumcised and in the covenant for the rest of his life. When we're baptized, for the rest of our lives, we're committed to God. You know, it's interesting as you read through Genesis 17. It's in this very same chapter that God changes the name of Abraham and Sarah. He tells Abram, you're no longer going to be called Abraham.

Your new name is Abraham. And Sarah, she's not going to be Sarai anymore. She's going to be Sarah. At the time that they were beginning, the new covenant, the symbol of the covenant there, their names were changed. And we look forward to a time when God gives us new names, as we complete our time on earth and as He welcomes us into His kingdom and into His family.

And we're born into His family as spirit beings at that time when we've completed our race. And we've completed our training here, and we're ready. Ready, and God knows we are ready to do exactly what He wants us to do for the rest of eternity. Let's go forward a couple books to Leviticus. In Leviticus 8, Leviticus 8, we have God giving instructions about the tabernacle that was going to be built. He gave specific instructions for the priests that were going to be working in that tabernacle.

In Leviticus 8, we find a period of consecration for the priests that were going to serve in that temple. In Leviticus 8, in verse 33, after God gives Aaron and his sons several instructions here how they should dress, how they should wash, the sacrifices for atonement that need to come upon them as they need to have their sins symbolically covered by those sacrifices, not forgiven because it's Jesus Christ who died that our sins could be forgiven.

But then in verse 33, after they go all through all these things, it says, you shall not go outside the door of the tabernacle of meeting for seven days until the days of your consecration are ended.

For seven days, He will consecrate you. Go through all these things and then you're going to stay there for seven days. There's a time that you have to complete that process. You're not done just when you've gone through all these little things that you do. You stay there for seven days. As He has done this day, so the Lord has commanded to do to make atonement for you. Stay at the door of the tabernacle of meeting day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the eternal so that you may not die. That important to God.

You stay there and you complete that time. Don't think five days is enough. Don't take seven to six days is enough. Seven days is what I told you to do. You complete the training. You endure to the end. You don't think there's other things that have to go on. You stay there. And if you don't, you will die. Same thing for us.

We need to complete the training that God has given us to do. Or death is in our future. So Aaron and his sons, to their credit, they did all the things that God had commanded by the hand of Moses. In chapter 9, verse 1, they came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. They completed that time of consecration. They completed that time that was part of their training.

And then on the eighth day, Moses said, okay, the time is done. Come forward. Come forward. Sacrifice. Be ready for service. And down in verse 23 of chapter 9 says Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle of Meeting and they came out and they blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all of the people.

God was pleased with what they had done. They had completed their time. They had completed those seven days and all those things that they needed to do in preparation to be priests and to be qualified to serve as priests in God's Tabernacle and Temple. And then they were there to serve for the rest of the time. On the eighth day, they had a new beginning. Their time had been done and now they were ready to serve God. When the 7000 years are completed, the harvests, both the harvests, the spring harvest with the first fruits and the fall harvest of the much greater number of people who will be resurrected in the second resurrection, when the time for the physical earth is done, God says the earth will burn up and then there will be the rest of eternity.

Everyone that has lived on this earth that has had the time has had the opportunity to know Christ and make their choices, make their decisions, and they will either be with God or they will have rejected Him. They will either burn up with the earth or they will go forward to a time of eternity where they will serve Him. But they will have been readied. They will have been made ready by God if they follow Him and if they commit to Him. Forward into a more millennial time in Ezekiel 43.

You'll remember from Ezekiel 40-48, describes the millennial temple. Different than the temple that God instructed Moses to build, the tabernacle in the wilderness, different than the Solomon, the temple that Solomon built. A temple that is well described there in Ezekiel 43. You find a period of consecration for the altar where sacrifices will be made.

Where sacrifices will be made in Ezekiel 43. In verse 25. And you remember the millennial temple that has so many things going on with it. The most notable that always is an inspiration to me is the waters that come forth from the temple that heal. Heal the waters of the earth. Heal the nations. Because God's time will be a time of healing for all people and it will emanate from that temple and the teachings that go from there and the waters that fill the earth as well.

But in Isaiah, I'm sorry, not Isaiah, Ezekiel 43 and verse 25, it says, every day for seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering. Prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish. For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it and so consecrate it. And when these days are over, it shall be on the eighth day and thereafter that the priest shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar. And I will accept you, says the eternal God.

Even the altar was going to be purified for seven days, made ready for seven days, and then on the eighth day when everything had been done according to God's will. And thereafter then God would be pleased with it and He would accept those offerings. So the eighth day when we see it in Scripture, when we realize that God is preparing us to be kings and priests, He's working with us, preparing us for the time when Jesus Christ returns, for the period of the Second Resurrection and the White Throne Judgment, but also for the time beyond that.

And doubtless there will be some training and things that we learn during the millennium and during the White Throne Judgment and then beyond. He has something in mind for all of us, so when the seven thousand years of mankind's time on this physical earth is done, there will be a new time, eternity, for the rest of the time, for mankind, or not mankind, for what God's will is.

Now we don't know what that is. We don't know what that is. Eye hasn't seen it. Ear hasn't heard it. It hasn't even entered in to the hearts of man what God has prepared for those that love Him, that really yield to Him, that really take this seriously, that really pay attention to everything that He says and take it to heart and do all the detail of life and give their hearts to Him, give their lives to Him. It's a future that we can't even imagine and describe because we don't know how to, except that it's eternity.

That even boggles our minds when we think about it. But that's what God has called us to. Everything is so fantastic, we can't even describe it. Do we believe it? Do we want it? Does that excite us? Does it make us wonder what does God have in mind? The millennium itself is going to be a tremendous and a fantastic time to see what happens. The white throne judgment is going to be a wonderful time when we see people resurrected, when we are working with them and helping them to understand God's way of life.

And then when we see what the Bible does tell us, the little snippets that we do see of what happens after the 7,000 years. Now what goes on beyond that? Let's go back to Revelation 21. We'll echo some of the words that the choir sang here before I came up. Because God does talk a little bit about this time beyond the 7,000 years, after the time of the millennium when the Satan must be loosed for a while, when the rest of mankind is made alive, when they have an opportunity to choose, like you and I do, between life and death.

In chapter 21 and verse 1, we find the time after that time. Revelation 21, verse 1 says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. They're gone. That 7,000 years is done. The purpose for it is over. 7,000 years, mankind, firstfruits, and all the rest have been prepared. And God has found those who were willing to follow Him.

And He has a mind and He has a purpose for that He has trained them to do. That's all gone, and now the rest of eternity begins. 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, John, 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.

God Himself will be with them and be their God, living on the new earth with the men who have been purified and prepared and made ready for this time. And 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. And then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Everything now is new. The old has passed away. That seven thousand years is done. Now is the time for the rest of eternity. And He said to John, Right, for these words are true and faithful.

And John says, He said to me, It's done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to Him who thirsts. To those who want, through those who can see, through those who desire what God has planned, and who allow Him to put that vision into your mind, or that desire that doesn't even have a complete vision after the time of the Second Resurrection and the white throne judgment, do we believe God? Do we have faith? Do we want to?

Do we thirst for those waters? Because Christ said, If you do, come, come, and you can drink of the water of life freely. Same thing He said back at the Feast of Tabernacles when He was on earth in John 7, verse 37. And He's given all of us that invitation. Come and drink freely.

Let's drop down to chapter 22, and verse 1. He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there will be no more curse, the curse that Adam and Eve brought upon the earth and Satan, or the serpent, when they sinned against God and cast the earth into the situation that we've lived under for the last six thousand years.

There will be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servant shall serve Him. They will see His face. Something that we're not going to see in this lifetime, but in the eighth day, in the eighth day, when we're spirit beings, they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their forehead. No longer your name, though we all have, as people see us now, but a new name that God has given us. Just like He gave to Abraham and Sarah, as they were entering into that covenant to follow Him forever and ever.

There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun. For the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. That's a long time. They shall reign forever and ever. They shall reign forever and ever. Eternity. He says they don't need the sun anymore. We need the sun today. We need the warmth that comes from that. We need the powers of the sun that help the earth to grow and produce what it produces. We need the sun then. We have a new earth. God will be the light. We can speculate a little bit.

Because you know the Bible says the earth, the earth, the physical earth that we live on today that God has a purpose for, that He's working with and mankind that's on it. It'll be burned up. It'll be burned up when the new heaven and new earth are when the time that His purpose has expired. But you know we look up into the skies and we see stars. We see other planets that are up there.

Now with the power of telescopes, you know, scientists tell us that there's many more galaxies than we are even aware of. We don't know what God has in mind for planets that hold fascination. Planets like Saturn with its ring around it. Planets like Venus. Will they be burned up at the time?

Will the whole galaxy be burned up? Or is it the earth? And a new heaven and new earth? What does God have in mind? Why is there this vast universe with all these things that are out there? We don't know.

Maybe no purpose at all. Eye hasn't seen. Ear hasn't heard. It hasn't even entered into our hearts what God will have us do. But He has a purpose. He has a purpose beyond today. He has a purpose beyond the millennium. He has a purpose for us and a job for us beyond the white throne judgment and beyond into the eighth day and for eternity. That's what He has called us all to.

At that time, there won't be any need for the sun. There won't be any day or night. We won't have those things. It will be a totally different place that we are residing in at that time. And He says they will reign forever and ever. And then He says to me, These words are faithful and true.

They're truth. Count on them. Rely on them. These words are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. The things which must shortly take place in the book of Revelation we see so many things that must shortly take place. Whatever God's definition of shortly is. Perhaps very, very quickly. Perhaps a little longer than we might think.

But He says in verse 7, Behold, I am coming quickly. I'm coming quickly. Blessed is He who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Keep the words of the prophecy of this book. Pay attention to it. He goes on to say down in verse 13, After He repeats, I am coming quickly again.

And I am the elf and the omega. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and they may enter through the gates into the city. Do we want? Does what God has painted the little bit He's given us, does it peak our curiosity? Does it inspire us? Does it motivate us? Does it make Him believe?

Does it make us believe Him more and have faith in Him more? It should create in us a motivation to get closer to God. To see that that's where future is, that's where eternity is, it's not tied up into this world, it's not tied up into our jobs, our bank accounts, the stock market. Even our physical families, it's tied up with God. That's where the future is. That's where hope is. It's nothing in this world. Not that we should discount anything that, but if we aren't relying on God, if we aren't looking to God, we're missing the boat.

We're missing the boat, and we're not understanding what God has called us to. And as we leave here at the feast, as we leave a time that I hope that you have felt the presence of God, that you feel His presence here on Jekyll Island and among the people that you've been with. And we go back to our everyday lives tomorrow, and it'll be different. Even for those that are staying on Jekyll Island, it'll be different with so many people having left than it is right now. But don't lose, don't lose the sight of what you've experienced here.

Don't forget what you've experienced here. Don't forget the messages. Don't forget the hope. Don't forget the inspiration. Keep it in front of you. Keep the lessons in front of you. And as we go, we have to be even more diligently learning what God wants and adhering to it diligently, carefully keeping His commands, as it says over and over in Deuteronomy, carefully paying attention to Him, carefully doing His commands, and not just patting ourselves on the back and thinking, that's good enough.

God will be very happy with us. This great cloud of witnesses will be happy with us when we do and we get closer and closer to Him and look and act and react and think more and more like Jesus Christ.

The perfection and the standard that He has set for us. That's the standard we must adhere to. That's what we must do. And God has given us His Spirit. He's given us His truth and His words that we can do that. You know, He wants us to succeed. He wants every single one of us to be there.

He's not willing that any should perish. And as we're sitting in this room on this last day, those who have stuck around until the end of the feast, He looks down and He's pleased. And He wants us to endure to the end. And there is going to be challenges between us and enduring to the end. We can get through them all.

We can survive them all. We can be there with Jesus Christ, but only if we have faith in Him, only if we have learned, and only if we are giving our lives to Him, only if we are letting His Holy Spirit lead us and guide us and help us to be prepared for the times between now and the return of Jesus Christ. That we're preparing our hearts, preparing our minds, that nothing would stand between Him and us. Let's go back to Hebrews 12. You know, if you read through Hebrews 12 and 13, as the author here in Hebrews gives us a beautiful picture in Hebrews 11 at the beginning of chapter 12 of the great cloud of witnesses who are watching us, who want us to succeed, and who are wanting the return of Jesus Christ, He gives us certain things that we can pay attention to.

What we need to do. As the author goes on here, we read chapter, we read verse 1, and He says in verse 1, We need to lay aside every weight, the thing that holds us back from following God. I don't know what that thing, for each of us, that thing, that weight that would hold us back from giving our lives totally to God, we need to identify what that is, and we need to lay it aside. We need to have God first and only God first. Nothing that would come between us and Him.

Nothing coming between what His will for us is, that we are where He wants us to be, when He wants us to be, doing what He wants us to do. Letting our minds be trained with Him. Letting aside the sin, continual repentance, continual purifying. I should have turned to 1 John 3, verse 3. The hope that we have in us. God is going to purify, purify the earth, purify the heavens. They're going to be washed away with fire and a new heaven and new earth.

And if we have that hope, it says everyone that has that hope purifies Himself. Everyone that has that hope purifies Himself. He isn't happy with the status quo. Not happy with the way He is today. Notice that there's things that we have to do and things that we have to change. And God will let us see what those are. But if we have that hope, it's a continual process of repentance, overcoming, and becoming more like Christ.

And He says in verse 1, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Finish the race. There's no prize for going 75% of the way or 90% of the way. The prize is for those who endure to the end. Verse 2, He gives us the clue, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. If we think we're going to do it ourselves, if we rely on ourselves, if we lean on our own understanding and think, you know, I'm pretty good, I'm pretty good, God, it's pretty happy with me.

It's Jesus who began our faith and who is going to finish it. We must follow Him, and we must realize we are still, no matter how long we've been in the church, very imperfect human beings. We have a lot to overcome, to become like Jesus Christ. Maybe we do many of the things different than we did 5, 10, 15, 50 years ago when we came to the church.

That should be. We should be bearing fruits. And we bear fruits right until the time we die. Maybe not exactly the same fruits as we were in our 20s and 30s, but we bear different fruits until the time we die. Run with endurance, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him. He endured much more than you and I have. Maybe much more than you and I, God will require of us before the time that Christ returns.

He did it for the joy set before Him. That joy is what we're talking about. The joy of God's way on earth, the millennium, the why-thrown judgment, the harvest of all men. And then the time beyond that. For the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and He has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. That's what He did. And He says, you too, you look to Christ. You rely on Him. You have that same joy set before you. You keep it in mind. When you're feeling down and depressed, remember the joy that God has set before us.

Remember the times at Jekyll Island in 2018 and the other feasts that you've been to where you felt His Spirit, where you felt the energy, where you felt that you want to get closer to God. And do it. Go back to that and engage God's Spirit and ask Him to put that Spirit in you and put that joy before you. But between now and then, the author here goes on in verse 5 and he says, God sees you and me as children. It says that in Romans 8. He sees us today as His children.

He's given us the Holy Spirit as a down payment, if you will, earnest money for what He plans to do with us. We can give the Spirit back. He's not going to take it back as long as we're using it, but we can give it back if we grieve it and we sin against it and we count it as worthless. I hope none of us would do that. You have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons.

You have supervised the chastening of the Lord. Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him, for whom the Eternal loves He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives. There will be times when we hear things about ourselves that we just don't like.

None of us want to be told, you messed that up. You've got a problem in this area. You may be too much of this or too much of that, and they aren't the good things that we want to hear. We will learn those things. We will hear those things along the way. God can chasten us through the things and the events in our lives. Some of the trials that come upon us may be things where God is trying to get our attention and say, there are times that you have to pay attention to what is going on.

It may come through other people who say, you just aren't handling this the way that you should. God says, don't get discouraged. Don't let that upset you. Don't let that throw you away and go run away to someplace else, because that's not the answer.

Running away from God and running away from correction is never the answer. That's the opposite of what God has called us to. He wants us always to be ready to hear and to repent and to acknowledge what it is that we do. Compare it to the Bible, and if someone says something to us, compare it to the Bible and honestly look at ourselves and say, yeah, I haven't done that.

I need to be more like Jesus Christ was. So he says on the way to eternity, there will come those times that we have to endure some chastening. Down in verse 11, he tells us what the benefit of those chastening is. No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

We're in a training period. God's getting us ready. And not every part of training is a pat on the back. There's a lot of pats on the back. There's a lot of encouragement. There's a lot of exhortation. But along the way, there's some good swift kicks, too, and some things we may not want to hear. It's all part of the training. And he says, therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees. Make straight paths for your feet so that is what is lame, may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

Stand strong through it all. Don't get mad. Don't go away. Don't run someplace else. God has called you to the place that He wants you to be. You follow Him. You follow Him. And you stick with Him. And you keep your eyes on what He has called you to. And don't let something that gets you angry. The very next verse talks about pursuing peace with all people. Pursue peace with all people. You know, if someone says something against us or if we have something against someone, it can kind of be easy to just have a little bit of issue with them.

And we've all been there. Not one of us has had ever a time in our lives or has never had a time in our life where we haven't been at odds with someone. We don't like what they do. Maybe we've in many cases we've misunderstood what they've done and kind of reviewed it through our own lenses rather than taking time first to understand what other people are doing and realizing we don't have all the story most of the time.

Pursue peace with all people. You know, that's a tall order. God is looking for oneness. He's not looking for oneness with 90% of the people. He wants all of us to be at one with one another. And there's sometimes that it's going to take our reconciliation. And there's going to have to be some talking that goes on. And maybe some things that are pointed out on both cases that you need to work on.

But God isn't okay if we just say, I'm never going to talk to that person again. That's okay. I'm just going to kind of ignore them and forget they even exist and God will be okay with that. If I just never talk to them, if I run away someplace else, that will be okay. It's not okay. God's about reconciliation. Jesus Christ is about reconciliation. We're about forgiveness.

Or God is about forgiveness. He's about reconciliation, too. But it takes two to reconcile. We all have to be responsible for that. He says, pursue peace with all people and holiness. And notice what he says, without which no one will see the Lord. Without which no one will see the Lord.

Is it important to him? It's important. It's important to him. And sometimes it can be painful. But he wants us to work things out with one another. He wants us to be at peace. He wants us to understand. He wants us to develop those skills, if you will, that we're going to be teaching in the millennium.

There are going to be people that live over into the millennium that have a lot of issues with each other. They may have a lot of issues with God. There will be people who come up in the second resurrection who have a lot of issues with what's going on in their life. They have to make peace with those things. Verse 15 says, be careful. Be careful lest anyone falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble.

And by this not a few, but many become defiled. Many. It's so easy to develop an attitude against someone else. It's so easy to let that happen. We can't let that happen as Christians. We can't let that happen. And as it may happen for a while, we have to go back and we have to heal those things. God wants us using His Holy Spirit to heal those situations and to make peace and that we are at one with one another.

And as the author here talks about this great cloud of witnesses that's waiting for us, that's watching what we're doing, but seeing how we're doing. And including that number as God and Jesus Christ. And the angels in heaven waiting for His return. Let them get ready. Let them understand. Let them. Let them make use of their time. Let them let the Holy Spirit be there. The humility that must be there. Because it takes humility. It takes humility and it takes God's Spirit to bring people back together again.

So He says, be aware of that. Down in verse 22, He tells us what our training ground is. We're all in the world. It wasn't Jesus Christ's will that we would be taken out of the world because we learn so much by being in the world. Working with people who are of a different mindset. Being next door to people with a different mindset. Going to school with people of a different mindset. And the character and the strength that we develop by saying no and being able to stand up for what we believe in. Character that we couldn't develop if we weren't in the world and facing the things that we did.

In verse 22, He says, you, speaking to you and me and all the Christians who have come that God has called, you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.

Do you read that? He's called us. He's called us to this great assembly, to the church of the firstborn, the body of Jesus Christ, the church that He started. That's our training ground. That's where we need to be and there's so much we learn by being in church, by participating in church, by being there at church, a commanded assembly that God gives us every Sabbath day and on all the holy days.

To be there, there's things He wants us to learn. There's things we can't learn if we're there just part-time or if we're floating from place to place. Go, He says, I've called you to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven. God looks at you and me and He says, I've got you registered. You're a son. You've got choices to make. You've got decisions to make, but I want you there.

You can take yourself off of that registry. You can take yourself off of that book of life. Don't do it. That isn't what He wants us to do. He wants us to succeed. He wants us to be there, to do what He wants us to do what we are to do.

He wants us to become men and women who are made perfect. Made perfect. Made blameless. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself. Everyone who has this hope makes sure that He's working toward perfection. We want to attend it. We want to achieve that in this physical lifetime. But when God resurrects us or we're changed into Spirit beings, we will crystallize that perfection because He will have seen what the characters we built during that time. What our will and what our mindset is that we are always moving forward there.

We are always willing to become more like Him. We're always willing to sacrifice our own interests, our own desires, our own whatever it is to become more like Him. Just man made perfect. That's what God is looking for. That's what He has called you and me for. I'm not going to turn back to Hebrews 10. Let me see what time we have. Hebrews 10, let's go back to 19, verse 19. Speaking of the Church of the Firstborn, it's instructive verses here in verse 19 of Hebrews 10 as He's talking about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice and now we have access to God's throne through the prayers that we heard so much about this morning and I hope we all remember to pray the way we were admonished this morning.

Hebrews 10, 19, therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil, that is His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.

Encourage each other. When you see someone not there for a few weeks, call them, email them, text them, send them a card, where are you? You're part of the Church of the Firstborn. You've been called to an innumerable company of angels who are watching you, witnesses watching you, don't lose sight of what God has called you to. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching.

So much more as you see the day approaching. And I hope we see the day approaching as you watch news and events in the world. We don't know when that day will be, but we can see it approaching. Let's go back over. Let's go back forward here in Hebrews, because he continues some of what we need to work on as we go home and as we continue our training period with God.

In chapter 13, verse 1, it says, let brotherly love continue. That's agape. That's the agape love we talk about. That's looking out for the needs of others. That's doing things that please others. It adds so much to our relationship. It adds so much to the church. It adds so much to our marriages. If we just practice those things, and if we're not practicing those things, and if we're not practicing agape, even when it might be difficult to, I don't want to do that for that person, but I will.

I will. Because I know that Christ has done that for me. And there's been a lot of times in my life and yours as well that we've been very undeserving of God's attention and what He's given us. We can certainly give that to others and develop that capacity. Let brotherly love continue. Don't forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some have unwittingly entertained angels.

As God sends those opportunities our way to see what is in your heart, what is it that you will do? Is there anything you'll withhold from me? Your time? Anything? Remember the prisoners as if changed with them, those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also.

Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed end defiled, but fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. Marriage is honorable in ways in a world that have become so standard in morality that living together is just commonplace today. That is not of God. And young people, I hope you never, ever find yourself thinking, it's okay, just because the world says it's okay. That the same sex stuff that's going on, that it's not okay, it's not in accord with God, those are not going to be traits or leniency that God says, okay, I understood the society you worked, you lived in.

That you might have had that in your mind. God says no. You be married. Sex was created for a purpose. And don't you fall prey to what the world says about those things. Don't condemn them, don't hate them, but don't you fall into that and you know what the truth is. Let your conduct, verse 5, be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. Just appreciate what God has given us.

He gives us all our needs. He tells us in Matthew 6, don't worry about any of those things. I'll give you food to eat, I'll give you clothes to wear, I'll give you a place to live. Be content with what I've given you. And don't compare and say, how come they have more than me? Don't worry about that. God gives us trials and all sorts of things. Now, in my congregation I've been saying, you know, we learn a lot through trials and they can be difficult, our health trials and our financial trials and our relationship trials.

It's a trial during good times as well. It's a trial during good times as well. And during good times, we have to be diligent to remember God and to stay close to Him and not let ourselves begin to coast in thinking everything is okay.

We learn a lot during those times as well. Let's drop down to let's drop down to verse 7. Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the Word of God to you, whose faith follow considering the outcome of their conduct? You know Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Christ. You know, if you're going to follow someone, make sure that they're teaching you the Word of God and living the Word of God. Look at the results of their lives as well, because the fruits should be there. And if there's a mismatch between what you see in their lives and what they're saying, there's a problem.

Verse 9 Don't be carried about with various and strange doctrines. Now that is certainly a verse for all ages, but certainly today. We can go online and we can find any kind of various and strange doctrines. And many, you know, I'll sadly say, I've seen over the years, people who get carried away by strange doctrines. They read something and it kind of peaks their interest. It tickles a fancy in them, like, oh, I've got this knowledge. Look at this. It's so important. And it's sometimes not. But it's the type of thing that leads them away from the truth and they become so involved in what someone else says that isn't even doing the things of God.

Don't be carried about by those things. Keep your eyes in the Bible. Keep your eyes in the Word of God. Follow Him. There's plenty to do. You can read the Bible over and over and over and over and over again and you will never learn at all.

You will never have a time that you read the Bible that you don't learn something new about yourself, about life, about what God's plan is. Just like every time we keep the Holy Days we learn something new about God's plan. We understand it a little more. That's why He has us. So keep your eyes in the Bible. Keep your eyes in literature that talks about the same thing and prove it in the Bible.

And as it says in 1 Thessalonians, hold fast. Hold fast to those things that you have shown are true. Verse 14, we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Just like what you read about and what Mr. McNewy read about in Hebrews 11, all those people who have gone before us, they didn't receive the promises. They sought a better country. They sought a different city than they lived in. They didn't have their roots and all of their stock in this world, but they put all their faith in the future that God has called them to.

Looking to the time that Jesus Christ returned, paying attention to those things, letting that guide and letting their thoughts and their actions and reactions be filtered through that. Looking and declaring that they look for another city. Verse 15, therefore by him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Never offer a prayer without giving thanks to God. If ever you're dying, if ever you're discouraged, be thankful to Him.

He's given us so much more. We can't measure it in the physical things of life. We can't even measure how much God has given us by the spiritual things because what we know, we can't put a price on. But we know that it's so much better than if we had no idea what His truth is and who He was and what He has called us for. It's beyond anything. Always be thankful to Him. Always pray to Him. Always be grateful and let that gratitude draw you closer to Him and be yielded to Him. Don't forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.

And then He says in verse 17, Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. And, you know, I take that as every minister does. You know, we look out for the people in our congregations.

We love them as families. We want them to do well. And it hurts when we see things happening that we can't control. You know, I've told my own children, if I could do it for you, I would.

I would sacrifice my life so that you could be in the Kingdom. If you would just, if you would just listen, if you would just obey, if you would just follow God, I'd willingly give it up so you could. And I think ministers do feel that way. But we can't do it for you. You have to do it. We can encourage and we can help. And as it says, and we will give account, we have to tell you the truth, and sometimes the truth isn't great, it's not pleasant, but it's being given so that you can grow and so you can be there.

And I hope you always understand that as someone approaches you. It's not because they're mad, it's not because they're upset, it's because they want you to be in the Kingdom, with all their minds and all their heart as well. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. Understand what God has called us to. You know, here in Jekyll Island for the last seven, now eight days, it has been great.

It has been great to work with all of you, to be among all of you. And I know tomorrow morning I'm going to miss. I'm going to miss coming here to this convention center. I'm going to miss seeing all of your faces. I'm going to miss the smiles. I'm going to miss the handshakes. I'm going to miss the opportunity to be here, to hear messages. But there's a time coming. There's a time coming when we will be with God and we will, that time, we'll come when we're ready. We have to remember as we go from here. Remember the messages that we've heard.

Remember the things that you've felt. Remember the camarader. Remember the fellowship. Remember the dedication that I hope you've felt because you've heard some very, very fine messages here at the feast. Don't forget those. Take your notes and recount those and remember them. Remember what you feel. Remember the joy. And remember some of the things that we've learned from the feast because, you know, as we look around and we think, yeah, there's a lot of things we've learned about ourselves.

Some good, some not so good. Some things that we can go back and we can work on. But keep the joy of the kingdom of God in front of you. Do that just as Jesus Christ did. Remember that He is looking to complete our training. He's the author and finisher of our faith. He wants to complete us. He wants us to be ready and to make us ready for the time of His return so that we can enjoy eternity with Him.

The millennium, the Second Resurrection, the white throne judgment, and all those times that I has not seen nor heard nor has it entered into the hearts of man that are beyond that. Don't lose any of those things. Let me close. I don't think there's any better words that I could say than what the author of Hebrews 13 said.

Let me close with verses 20 and 21 and as we go, I look forward to seeing you again. Have a very safe trip home. Verse 20, now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.