Time to Gather

Next week, as I mentioned, is the Feast of Trumpets. Sometimes it can fade in the background to the Feast of Tabernacles. When we are planning for the Feast of Tabernacles, our attention is, how are we going to get there? Where are we going to stay? We've got to pack. We've got to do all these things. The Feast of Trumpets comes upon us. It's a one-day festival. It's right here in the area that we're in. We can sometimes maybe a little bit overlook what the meaning of it is. But the Feast of Trumpets is a key holy day in God's plan. I mean, it is, I often refer to it as the gateway to eternity. Because there is so much that the Feast of Trumpets represents and pictures in God's plan. We talk about it every year, and sometimes we focus on the trumpets, which we absolutely should. We focus on the return of Jesus Christ. We focus on the resurrection of the firstfruits. All those things that happened in that day, pictured by that day, that set the stage for the rest of eternity. But there's more to the Feast of Trumpets about that as well. So today I want to talk about one aspect that we don't often talk about in reference to the Feast of Trumpets. We'll talk about some other things next week. But if you turn with me back to Leviticus 23, as we look forward to the Feast of Trumpets next week, just see the very brief command God gives concerning this day. Leviticus 23 and verse 24.

Leviticus 23 and verse 24, it says, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, and that is next Sabbath, September 19th, in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial, a blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the eternal. So that's what we'll be doing next week.

It's a very short description of what we do on the Feast of Trumpets when God says it's a memorial of the blowing of trumpets. But you know when we look at where trumpets are blasted in the Bible and where they're sounded, there's an awfully lot that goes on with them. You know, as we've been going through the book of Revelation in the Bible studies, we see the six trumpets that we've gone through, the seventh one we're coming up on, and the seven vials that's associated with that.

We see the magnitude of what God does through those trumpet blasts. And in Israel's history, of course, when God was giving this command, He gave it to the children of Israel, His physical nation, and the physical trumpets had a bearing in their life as well. It wasn't like today where they could turn on the TV and see what was going on and what danger was out there.

They had to listen to the trumpets, and those trumpets were used in many ways. Let's go to Numbers 10. Numbers 10. And in verse 1 of Numbers 10, it says, The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, Make two silver trumpets for yourself, Make them of hammered work, and you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. Then he goes through several verses, and then he gets down to verse 9, which we typically think of when we think of the trumpet blasts.

When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Sound the trumpet. God will hear you. He knows that you're looking to Him to deliver, and not your own power and might, and He'll deliver you. Verse 10. Also in the day of your gladness.

We know the trumpets would sound on every holy day it says here. The new moons, as they observe those in the old times, as they mark the calendar. Today we turn the calendar over, but they marked the calendar of God as the new moons would appear, and each month would pass by.

The trumpet would sound, and it was a days of gladness. So you had a trumpet that was used for times of alarm. We've talked about that a lot. You have a trumpet that would sound on days of gladness, and it would be all the holy days, because the holy days are times to rejoice in God's plan, and to rejoice before Him when we come together before Him.

Trumpets would blow at other times as well, and you know, you can think about some of those things. But if you look at 1 chapter 10, you see that the first eight verses here talk about another purpose of the trumpets that we might just sort of not talk about as much.

Let's go back to verse 3. When they blow, both of the trumpets, God says, all the congregations shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Now we know at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, God dwelt with Israel, the physical people in the tabernacle, later in the temples that were constructed there.

In those days, He dwelt with them in that house of God. Today, He's building a temple in us spiritually. But He says, when you hear both of those trumpets, all the congregations shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

Come and meet with God. Come to where He says to be. And it's not just some of the congregation, all of the congregation. But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you, Moses. So God says, when you hear these, you've got to have your ears in tune. When is it time to gather together the whole congregation or just the leaders? And when you sound the advance, because sometimes they would, of course we know, move from place to place.

When you sound the advance the second time, the camps that lie on the south side, etc., etc., down to verse 7. And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets, and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations. So one of the purposes of the trumpets is to gather. Gather the people together, all the congregation together, all the children of Israel. And sometimes just the leaders of Israel. And God had a purpose in mind when He would say, gather people together.

And when you hear this trumpet, then I expect my people to gather before me. Over the last six months, we have lived in an unusual time for all of us. We've had this pandemic that has descended upon the land here and all of us, and it's caused us to live our lives in a different way. But as you've heard me say before, it has been a blessing in a number of ways, because it's given us time to sit back and look at who we are, what we do.

It came right before the spring holy days and interrupted everything that we normally do during the spring holy days. We were so used to things being done, all of our time that we've been baptized, how Passover ran, how the days of Unleavened Bread did, how the nights have been much observed. This year it was all different. And the spring holy days, when we look at them, they really are more about us individually.

Yes, us as a church. But Passover is about our personal commitment to God. And each year we come before God and we have examined ourselves. And the church, we should be examining ourselves too, but let me just keep it in the individual. We examined ourselves this year. I think we played a little bit more attention to how we examined ourselves. It wasn't going to be just we showed up by 7.30 or 8 o'clock, whenever sunset was, and ran through a ceremony that was all designed for us.

This year we had to think about what we were doing. We had to make the plans. We had to think about those symbols. At least I hope we all thought about the symbols of what we were doing. And we were able to be together by Zoom, a way to gather together, the way God had designed in this time, that that was in a way to assemble ourselves together. It would have been very difficult to not have any way to gather together, but we were all individually there.

We had to plan our own night to be much observed. And I hope that we spent a little bit more time thinking, what does that mean? What does it mean when God says, this is a night of watching? Is it not just a time to just sit down and have a big dinner together and have a celebration? But it has meaning behind it. The Days of Unleavened Bread, of course, it pictures, you know, before that we put sin out of our lives, and then we are putting, eating the bread of life. Eating the unleavened bread, you know, that leads to eternal life, and putting that into our minds.

And all of that was done independently, too, without Sabbath, without Holy Day services. All on ours, no one else could see what we were doing, only God could see what we were doing. He saw where our hearts were, and hopefully we saw where our hearts were. And those days took on meaning for us, because every time we go through a Holy Day, we should be learning something about it. If we don't learn anything more, I don't care how long we've been in the church, about the Holy Day and how it fits into God's plan and the depth of it, then we're not keeping it the way that God wants us to.

But when we come to the fall Holy Days, we find that they're marked by people coming together. You have the Feast of Trumpets, and you have Jesus Christ returning to earth, but you have a resurrection of the firstfruits, and you have people coming together. We have verses like, Jesus Christ sounds the trumpet, or the trumpet is sounded, and people are gathered from all ends of the earth. We have, even in the Old Testament, we have God gathering people together, and all the other things that we talk about on the Feast of Trumpets, because it is a time where the fulfillment of God's plan is.

The time for individual growth and getting ready for God's plan is now. That when the day of trumpets comes, when Jesus Christ returns, and the fulfillment of that day is at hand, boy, as we read in the Bible, it's a little too late if we start thinking about it at that time. That's when the door is shut. That's when the door is shut, and God says, you know, too late.

Too late. You know, five virgins. The time for developing our talents and multiplying those as God gives us, that's all done. The time is done when Jesus Christ returns. Now it's about gathering the saints. Now it's about getting the people together. Now it's about the kingdom coming, and all the things that it talks about at that time. So it's fitting as we come to the Feast of Trumpets that we would look at that and say, you know, maybe, and I'll say just maybe, but I'm just saying that for the thing, maybe, just maybe, it's time for God's people to gather together again.

All the congregation. And so in our local congregations here, we have the opportunity to do that. If you, you know, without having to have any conversations about masks or any conversations about anything, the Feast of Trumpets, you know, may be the time when the sumpart is sounding, it's time for us to be back together. And it's time for people to gather before God. Well, let's look, you know, let's look at a few things because gathering, God gathering His people together is there throughout the Bible. And it's always associated with joy. It's always associated with celebration.

It's always associated with God as a very pleasant time. He looks forward to the time where His people are gathered together before Him. You know, I'm going to turn over to Hebrews 10, 24 and 25, verses that we read very often, but they so perfectly fit into this Holy Day. And before I, you know, you all know what Hebrews 10 verses 24 and 25 have, and I keep coming back to them a lot because they are so, so important in our lives, in our Christian lives. We cannot underscore what God has in so many areas, but the sound of a trumpet and meaning for us to gather is something very, very important to God.

Let me just read. Let's begin with verse 19 of Hebrews 10. Read through the context of these verses. Again, whenever an author says, therefore, you know, it's talking about, okay, in summation, after everything I've said here about Jesus Christ being our sacrifice, everything that I've talked about, therefore, rather than 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 and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Verse 23. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Those are some important words, too, right? Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. No doubt, no fear, looking to God for deliverance because He's the only one who can deliver us. He's the only one who can provide for us. He's the only way we're going to see, be there with the return of Jesus Christ is when we have complete trust in Him, no matter what the situation He calls us through.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. He can bring us to any trial or any situation that we find ourselves in. Verse 24. And let us consider. Notice the author here. Some believe it's Paul. Let us consider one another. There's something about people together, right? It's not all just about us. There's no just me and God. There's us and God.

There's you and me, part of a body, part of what God is working with, part of the family that He's developing. We're one part of it. Let us consider one another. Why? In order to stir up love and good works. How could we ever develop agape if we weren't with one another? If we were sitting home by ourselves all the time, we wouldn't develop agape. You've got to be with people to do that. And that's the first fruit of the Holy Spirit.

What God wants in us is to develop that agape, that deep, outgoing concern that we would sacrifice ourselves and our comfort and our comfort and whatever for their well-being. To think of them just like God has thought about us. He's created us. Mankind has rejected Him. But they love us so much that indeed Jesus Christ was willing to sacrifice His life for us.

Let us consider one another in order to stir up love to what we're supposed to be working on. It'll be those people that have stirred up the love, those people who have developed agape during the course, that will be there when Jesus Christ returns. There'll be those who are working on that now. Stir up love and good works. That means we've got to do something. That means when we see a need and we have someone who has a problem or something that we can do to help, we've got to do it.

We can't sit back like the Levites and the priests in the story of the Good Samaritan and just sit back and think, someone else will take care of it. Someone else will take care of it. I have too many things in my life to do on. Let us consider one another. It's a family. It's a group. It's something that we learn and can only learn by being part of the gathering that God has and the family that He has called us to be.

It can only happen when we're together. For six months, we've been apart. Six months. It's hard to believe that it was back in March and we're here in September. In six months, we've been apart. The last few months, we've been able to have the small groups here in Orlando and Jacksonville come together.

I'm really looking forward to next week to seeing everyone back together again in trumpets. We have the venues for it and it's part of this holy day that we have because there is a danger in being apart. We talked about the lion, 1 Peter 5, 8, that Satan goes about his roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

One of the ways the lion stalks its prey is, who's out there separate? Where's the weak one? Where's the one who's separated from the rest of the flock? He's not paying attention to the flock and its movements, so he just kind of gets left behind. Easy. Easy prey, right? We don't want to be that, but there's a danger. There's a danger when we're apart too long from one another. We can relax. We can become complacent.

We can kind of let all things creep into our life little by little and say, not that big a deal. We sit at home every Sabbath and it's like, oh, you know what? God, it's not that big a deal. I'm not actually out on my job working, but things that we wouldn't have done six months ago or eight months ago, we might find ourselves doing now, or we might be letting our children do now, or whatever it is that we do.

There's a danger because we need each other. We need each other, and God built it this way that we would consider one another. To love and stir up good works. We watch out for one another. So he goes on to say in verse 25, as we consider this, because it is an important part of our development, if we don't develop the love, if we don't display the good works that come from our hearts, we don't have to worry about being there. We'll be the ones left out as we read those parables. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Now, for years, I think we looked at that and said, that's the Sabbath command.

It's much more than the Sabbath command. God built in a weekly Sabbath that He commanded people to get together. He built in Holy Days. People get together on the Holy Days. But He didn't intend that they'd be the only, whatever it is, 52 plus 7 Holy Days, 59 times a year that we would see each other. And He said, don't forsake any of them. Take the opportunity. It's part of your development. I had to appreciate, looking through the commentaries, that Matthew Henry nailed it, I think, in his comment on this verse.

He says that the author gives us in this verse the means prescribed for preventing our apostasy and promoting our fidelity and perseverance.

Let me read that again. The author in this verse gives us the means prescribed for preventing our apostasy and promoting our fidelity and perseverance. What he's saying is, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together. It is so important. When God says, gather, there's a reason He says, gather. And when we decide, for whatever reason it is, I don't need to gather that day. Not that important. You know what? We're not following God's commands. It was necessary over the last six months, but as we watch what's going on, I think it's very interesting to watch how the pandemic is, you know, not that anyone should throw caution to the wind, but how the pandemic is beginning to die down.

And yesterday I got a little notice in my box that the governor is talking about relaxing. I guess he's opening up the bars again. Not that that should affect any of us, but even the restaurant standards. And I'm hoping some more. But I think as we go forward, you know, we think, look, you know, and I've long hoped and thought that by the time the feast got here, things would look much different here in October than they did during March.

And maybe God is doing that way because he expects us and wants us to all be together at the Feast of Trumpets, on the Day of Atonement, at the Feast of Tabernacles, just as he commanded. Just as he commanded. You know, locally, we haven't been able, you know, for several months we weren't able to assemble together in person. But God did open up the opportunity for us to be together by Zoom. And I don't know about you, but I found the Zoom Bible studies just very heartening. I've tried to find myself thinking, what would it be like if we didn't have Zoom?

I've never even heard of Zoom before March, you know, when all this happened. But what would we do without it? If we didn't have this time to gather together virtually, what would it have been like? I mean, phone calls go a long way, and emails go a long way, and, you know, for a while we weren't even supposed to be visiting, and things like that, as we watched out for one another.

But what would it be like? And that's a way for us to gather during this time. God always provides what we need. It may not be the way we think it's always been done. And I know many, if not most, have been on the Bible studies, but I've been, you know, I know there have been several who just haven't taken the opportunity to be part of those meetings.

I don't understand that. I mean, you couldn't be more convenient unless you're at work on Wednesday evening or Wednesday afternoon or both times, because you simply pull up your computer or your phone, and you're assembled together with the people in your congregation, both to Orlando and Jacksonville. Couldn't get easier, either than what it is, but some forsake it, thinking it's not necessary. Brother and I would just say, you know, we better look at what God says. We better look at what He's built into it, because in His Word He tells us what we need in order to grow and to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ.

As we'll be going through the book of Revelation, we're talking about some of those things. What God expects us to look like, behave like, be like from our hearts. And here in this verse, you know, this Matthew Henry, He tells us, you know, don't forsake the assembling together. It's an important thing. You learn from one another. You have to—and there's only ways that you can learn to be who God wants you to be in the group setting. Can't happen individually. If we think it can, then we're not reading the Bible.

Well, let's go back and let's look at a few of the things in the Old Testament here. God commands the trumpets to be blown. And we see in the occasions of Israel, in Exodus 3, we see God bringing people together. He worked through Moses. We know that. But He didn't work only through Moses. He wanted other people involved as well.

So in Exodus 3, verse 16, as He's calling Moses to go to Pharaoh and preparing the way for Israel to be out of Egypt, in verse 16, He tells Moses, go and gather the elders of Israel together. You're going to work together on this. You're part of a team. It's not just you, Moses. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt.

And I've said, I will bring you up, out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Samorites, the Parazites, the Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey. Then they will heed. And notice what He does. He tells Moses this, but He's telling the elders that they know what's going on. God is giving them the plan.

Just like He tells us, He's not going to do anything without first warning us. We've got to have our ears open. We have to have our ears unplugged. We have to be listening to what God says, not just letting it go in one ear and out the other, they say. Then they will heed your voice, and you'll come, you and the elders of Israel, to the King of Egypt. And He goes on and says this.

But these tells them in verse 19, you know what? Be prepared. You're going to go. I'm telling you to go. But I am sure that the King of Egypt will not let you go. Know not even by a mighty hand. And then He tells them what He will do to Egypt. So He warns them ahead of time, you know what? It's going to be a difficult road. It's not going to be like you just go there.

And tell Pharaoh, let my people go. And He's going to say yes. There's going to take some perseverance. It's going to take some time. You're going to have to build some faith in me along the way. You've got to believe that what I'm saying really is going to happen. And it might be tough. It might be different than what you think. Yes, I am God. Yes, I am powerful. I can make it all happen in an instant. But you have to learn Israel to have faith in me. You have to learn elders and Moses to trust in me no matter what happens.

The same thing He would say to you and me. Whatever the time between now and then. It's a very tough, tough time to do. But as we've talked about recently, God will persevere. God will endure. Jesus Christ will endure to the end. And there's one way to endure to the end.

Here the elders are brought together. And they had a group as they came back. And maybe with their feeling a little down when Moses, or not Moses, but Pharaoh rejected their command or their demand. They might have felt down, but together they could consider one another and help each other, right? Because it is good to be with someone who can say, you know, don't worry about that. God really is in charge. We'll just keep going. And, you know, He who was promised is faithful. Well, God did bring Israel out of Egypt in Exodus 19. You know, He wanted to gather people together.

He had brought them out of Egypt. They had plundered the people of Egypt. He had brought them through the Red Sea. And here they are. And in Exodus 19, verse 5, we see God bringing all the congregation of Israel together. He'd been working with Moses. He'd been working with the elders. But, you know, God delights in seeing all of His people before Him.

And here's His people. It's like, I want all of you here. And He uses this as an opportunity then to teach them of His law, of His way of life. Verse 5 of Exodus 19. It says, Now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you'll be a special treasure to me above all people.

Not individuals. I'm your Israel. You're a people that is special to me. I'm calling all of you. You're the group. You will be a special treasure to me above all people for the earth is mine. You will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. So Moses came, called for the elders of the people, and he laid before them all the words which the eternal commanded him. And then all the people answered together and said, Everything that God has said will do. So, broses, brought back the words of the people to God. And God told Moses what was going to happen. Behold, I come to you 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 God. God said to Moses, Tell the people to consecrate them, to go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. They're coming together as a people before me. Get ready. Understand the importance of it. Understand what it is to come before the God of the, for lack of a better word, universe. Tell them to get ready. Consecrate them, let them wash their clothes, and let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Gather them together before me, Moses, verse 16. So it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were, there were those signs of God, there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain.

And the sound of the trumpet was very loud, as the people were summoned, gather before God. 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, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because God descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.

And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Some of them, by a trumpet, come together before me, make yourself ready, get ready for the time, and when you come before me, when you hear that trumpet, stand before me and tremble. Stand before me and tremble, they did. Do we tremble at God's word that when He has a command, come before me, and gather that we do it? Or do we just slough it off and say, not today? Now let me say something here just to clarify something.

If anyone is feeling sick on trumpets, right? If you have a fever, if you have any of those symptoms that we all know so well, don't come. It is appropriate to stay home at that time. That's showing love to the rest of the people. That should always go without saying, when I'm talking about things, if you're not feeling well, stay home. If you're at the Feast of Tabernacles, we're going to be announcing it.

Stay home. Stay at home that day. We're going to have 800-900 people in Daytona Beach. We don't need people there that are feeling not well. Stay home if that's the problem that day. I don't need to say that anymore, but be there if you can. If you can be there.

I guess we've had a microphone problem. I could go on speaking.

Maybe back? No? Is it back on? Yeah, okay, very good. So we see God gathering His people. You can go through the Old Testament and you can see that God built into their lives, an assembly of together. Let's go forward to Deuteronomy 30. Deuteronomy 30 and verse 3.

In verses 1 and 2, God is talking to Israel about, you know, there will come a time that you're going to leave me, you're going to turn against me, and you're going to end up being scattered. You're going to lose the land that you have, and we know that that's exactly what happened to the ancient people. In verse 3, and you return to the Lord your God, so if you do, and when you do, return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.

And so we see ancient Israel, you know, they disregarded God. They kind of forgot His commandments. They kind of didn't obey or keep any of the festivals anymore. And God allowed them to lose their land, and they were scattered everywhere, if they had just followed God's way, if they had just done everything that He said, and didn't minimize it or look at the world around them and say, I'll do things the way this world does or this nation does, or why is that important, or can't we kind of not just do that now? If they had just followed God, if they had just kept gathering together at the times that He told them to do, would they have continued to be committed to God? Would they have stirred up each other to love and good works? Would they have stirred up each other to continue to follow God? But it said they lost it all and they were scattered. But we see that at the end time, and it's a time that is well documented in the Bible, during the Feast of Tabernacles, after Jesus Christ returns, what is He going to do? He's going to gather His people, Israel, back together and put them in this promised land, back to the land He promised. Let's look at a few verses on that. Isaiah 11. You know, wherever you go to the Feast of Tabernacles, probably you'll be hearing something about this, because it is a part of the Feast of Tabernacles, as Jesus Christ returns and He sets up His kingdom. It is documented that the physical nation of Israel, who God loved, still loves, scattered all over the world now, that He's going to gather them back again. The physical... Isaiah 11, right here in the chapter that talks about Jesus Christ and the Spirit that is in Him. In verse 11 it says, It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left. Well, they've been through an awfully lot by this time. They've been through what we've talked about in Jeremiah 30 and Ezekiel. There's a remnant of them that's left, because God won't have all of them die. There will be people left to populate the land and to serve Him in the temple that we've talked about. It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left. From Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Kush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations. He will assemble, my margin says that could be translated gather, He will gather the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. When we think about what's going to happen in the Feast of Tabernacles, God's going to gather His people. It's part of the Holy Day. It's part of what God wants to do. Bring His people and bring everyone together as one family under Him. Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40, verse 1.

Comfort. Yes, comfort, my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. She rejected God. She didn't follow what God said. She paid the price dearly. The voice of 1, drop down to verse 10. Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arms shall rule for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young. Beautiful pictures of what God's going to do when He gathers His people back together and puts them where He wants them to be. It's part of what we'll be observing. Isaiah 43. I'm going to read through the first nine verses of Isaiah 43 here, because it has certainly, as every scripture in the Bible is, has meaning to us. Some of the times that we've gone through, some of the things we'll go through, we're going to see here in this verse, in these nine verses, where our faith and where our eyes need to be. Isaiah 43, verse 1, And I will gather you from the west, I will say to the north, I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Siba in your place. Since you were precious in my sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you. Therefore I will give men for you and people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you. I will bring your descendants from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, give them up, and to the south, don't keep them back. Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory, I have formed him. Yes, I have made him. Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this and show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses that they may be justified, or let them hear and say, This is truth. God is a God who gathers his people, and he takes great joy in that. As you read through the book of Revelation, and you see the 24 elders bowing down to God in praise. As you see the others, J. Angel is joining in. What do they always do? They're always praising God for what his plan is. And his plan is, together, it's a group of people. He's got first fruits, 144,000. He has other groups that are working together. There are no lone wolves in Christianity. There are groups, and there is a family that God is building that is clear from the beginning of the Bible to the end. And the only way we build family is if we gather together and we march forward with God and learn the things he wants us to learn. That is to watch out for one another, encourage one another. When we see someone weak, taking them aside and encouraging them to stay in the faith. When we see physical needs, taking care of them, learning to serve, because that's where a gurape is. It's so easy to look the other way when there's a need that is met, or that needs to be met, and let someone else do it. We never learn what we need to learn. If we're not part of a group and we look and see what's there and we learn the areas of service that God wants us to build into our lives.

There is a heart in God. He loves everyone that he's created. He's not willing that any should perish. We would look at some things and think, how can you love them? But he does. He's not willing that any should perish. He loves all of mankind.

One of the things is that I've gotten older, and my kids are grown, and we have a few grandchildren. Even if we don't have activities on the table, I find myself just very happy when they're all together with us. To have them all in one place, that happens maybe once or twice a year. It's good to see them individually, but to have them all together, it's just special. You know what? When God sees his people come before him, it's just special to him. Just like a father, he rejoices when he sees us, and we should rejoice when we have the opportunity to be before him.

Luke 13. Luke 13. We see Christ's heart, and when we see Christ's heart, we see the God the Father's heart. Jesus Christ said, if you have seen me, you've seen the Father. They are united in thought, in principle, in plan, in emotion. So when we read Luke 13, also there in Matthew 23, verse 37, but in Luke 13, Luke records this about Jesus Christ. He's just gone through talking to the Pharisees and chiding them for their hypocrisy. But he pauses at the end, and you see his heart to what he wants to do as he's there. Luke 13, verse 34. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together. I just wanted to take you under my wing. I just wanted you to come before me. I just wanted my family together. At those appointed times, on those Sabbaths, at other times, when they can be together. I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you weren't willing. You didn't want that. You didn't want to be part of that. You didn't want anything to do with me. You didn't want to be part of that group, and so you stayed away. When we stay away, it doesn't bring God joy. It brings him sadness. What he so very, very much wants is for everyone's heart to be where his is. To be with him, with each other. Building the character that's part of which we can only build if we are together. If we are gathered together and letting God develop us for what we're going to do, because you know what? When we are in the kingdom, it's going to be about service. We're going to be serving other people. You know what God is about and Jesus Christ is about? They're about service. It's not going to be in the kingdom that we just sit back and have people serving us. That's what our lives will be. And we develop that, and God sees what's in our heart by what we do today. Do we stand apart from one another? Do we just kind of forget one another? Do we just kind of like, you know, ships meeting on a Sabbath day, but we really don't get to know each other? We really don't care about helping one another when opportunities arise, which they do, believe me, to help those who need help. Do we look the other way? You know, the Feast of Tabernacles is coming up. Let's look at Deuteronomy 16.

And the Feast of Tabernacles is a tremendous opportunity for us to learn what God wants us to learn. It's a time that we should be rejoicing to come before Him at the feast. He rejoices when He sees it at the feast. It's the time in the year where more than just our normal Sabbath gatherings, nothing, not that there's anything wrong with that, but, you know, people flow in. And it's a beautiful time to see how many people there at the Feast of Tabernacles and there are opportunities to serve. And if we go to the Feast of Tabernacles, our minds, just on what are we going to do? We're keeping it like a vacation. Yeah, do the activities. Yes, enjoy that. But also look out for the opportunities to serve and to participate. And if you see someone standing alone, take them aside, ask them out to dinner. Do something with them because no one wants to go to the Feast of Tabernacles and feel alone. And there are plenty who are single who may feel quite alone. And we've all failed. We've all failed. And what God would have for us if there are any that come back from the Feast of Tabernacles and say, I was sad, no one paid any attention to me, I was by myself the whole time.

Let's look at Deuteronomy 16.14. You shall rejoice in your feast. When we do things God's way, we rejoice. You shall rejoice. He's talking about the Feast of Tabernacles you see in verse 13. You shall rejoice in your feast. You and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. All of those who are within our house, our spiritual building, everyone who is of God who is going to be at Daytona Beach or Gatlinburg or wherever it is you're going, they are all within our gates at the Feast. Let's look out for them. Let's use the Feast of Tabernacles to practice the gathering together and what we learn during that time. It's not a time. It's not a time just about ourselves and what we're going to do. It is a time to consider one another for love and to stir up good works. When we go there, you know, understand it is a picture of the kingdom and the life that we have for eternity. The kingdom is not going to be just about us and just what we want to do. It's going to be how we serve other people in the Feast, as well as the other 51 weeks of the year, opportunities to learn that and build it into our character as God leads us and as He directs us into what He wants us to do. Okay, so we see Christ's heart. I was in Luke 13. Jesus, I mean, look at the compassion. I just wanted them to gather together, because it's such important things for them to gather together if they would just come before me and let me teach them and develop them the things that they need so that they can serve for eternity and so that they can learn my way.

Let's look at Joel, Joel 2.

Joel really talks about the fall holy days when you read through it. You see trumpets blowing. You see fasting going on. You see people assembling together. Joel 2, verse 15. Blow the trumpet in Zion. There it is when we hear that trumpet call. Consecrate a fast. Well, on the Day of Atonement, we'll be fasting before God as He commands. Call a sacred assembly. Get the people together. Blow the trumpet. Call a sacred assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation. Assemble the elders. Gather the children and nursing babes. Let the bridegroom go out from His chamber and the bride from her dressing room. What is God saying? I want everyone to come before me. And you know what? Forget about it. You just got married and still come before me. Whatever it is that you're putting between me and gathering together, apart from sickness, right? Because I know there are those situations that none of us should judge. If we're not feeling well, God would say, Come before me. Children. Everyone who He calls. Families together. Putting God first, doing His will, following His command.

Matthew 24.

Matthew 24.

The Olivet Prophecy. Jesus Christ goes through all the things that are going to happen. We've talked about those many times. Probably next week we'll highlight a few of them.

But in verse 31, after He tells us about wars and rumors of warms and famine and pastilence and false religion and great tribulations, such as, was not since the beginning of time, no, nor ever shall be again. After He says, endure to the end, and He will deliver us. In verse 31, verse 30 says, It's then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And I hope, as we've talked about that verse here in the past month or so, that we have a vision of what that will be like when Jesus Christ returns. Verse 31, There's that trumpet again. He will send them with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The trumpet sounds, and the elect will be gathered together from one end of heaven to the other. What is God's will when we hear the trumpet?

He wants His people together. He's going to do it at the end time when we meet together next week, picturing what that day fulfills. Part of it is God gathering His people together. Christ returns. First fruits are resurrected. He gathers His people. And then we move in to Satan being bound, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the gathering of the physical nation of Israel. Don't discount. Don't discount. And listen for those trumpets. I mentioned earlier in the wake that I hope that when the seven trumpets sound, it's as loud as Israel heard and even louder than what they heard in Exodus 19, that the world trembles when they hear it. And as one by one those trumpets blow, they know it's the God of heaven, summoning them and, in that case, warning them and announcing, it's me that's bringing this on you. For you and me, when we hear those trumpets, there shouldn't be sounds of alarm. There should be times of rejoicing, just like the beings in heaven do. Rejoicing that the time of Jesus Christ is near and the time of His government will be on earth. And all the negative, sad, unfortunate things that have happened on this earth and will happen on this earth before His return will pass away.

My prayer always is that everyone in this room, everyone that isn't in this room, everyone in Jacksonville, and God's people everywhere, that we will all hear those trumpets, that we will do what God says, we will learn the detail, and we will make it part of our lives.

Discounting our comfort, discounting our ideas, following Him, putting everything into place because we all want to be where He is. And the time is now. The time is now to be getting ourselves ready.

The time is now to be doing the things that God said, that we can listen to the trumpets and we can talk about that. But one of the things that we want to do going forward, and I'm going to close where I started back in Hebrews 10. As we march through and as we practice what God has called us to do, we practice at home in overcoming our own unusual things, but we have to practice agape, considering one another, good works, loving all of God's people, whether we know their names or not, and as we come together as a people loving everyone there because they are all God's children. Verse 23, Hebrews 10, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Jesus Christ will return. Jesus Christ will gather His elect from the four winds, or gather them from one end of heaven to the other. Jesus Christ will know those who, well, Jesus Christ knows the first fruits. He will be the one who decides what it is. We have that opportunity now, and He will deliver us and He will guide us if we choose Him, if we let Him, and if we don't fear, and if we march forward in complete faith and commitment and loyalty to Him, 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, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some. The author was well aware of things that we could say in the 21st century, as well as he said it to them. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.