The True Meaning of Atonement

Good morning. Happy Feast of Atonement. Hopefully it will be. I just have one announcement. I know I'll make everyone here happy. Now that we've started at 11 o'clock, after the Feast of Tabernacles, we'll meet back here on October 13th. We will now start meeting at 10.30 in the morning. I know that's going to make some of you very happy. Yes? Okay, well, good. That way I do not have to break my neck and take a chance on flying at 80 miles an hour to get to my next stop.

So I appreciate your patience and willing to do that. So welcome any guests that are here. I know we have two that I know from Fort Myers. And it is a tough trek in two hours to get here on time. So this will give me a little time to be able to actually stay for the end of services and even say something to people who come in late. So that's what I hope to do. With that, we now only have two hours to get there today.

This time I get on the stick here and start this sermon. You now have 50 minutes to give this sermon. You can still get out of here on time. This, of course, is part two.

You heard part one from the Sabbath, as we talked about the Day of Atonement. At One-Ment. So I want to talk today, as I go into this, on true at one-ment. What that means. The Day of Atonement, or the Yom Kippur, in the Old Testament, was a Day of Judgment. It was a Day of Judgment to the Israelites. A Judgment from God on their repentance on this day for the years' previous sins.

That's why it was commanded that they all show up. They all attend. God also on this Day of Atonement, God in the future, renders a Judgment. As Satan's rule and reign on this earth is done. That is pictured by the Day of Atonement. Come up a little bit. Okay? Would we, and I ask you that question this morning, would we pass God's Judgment as a true servant? Think of your life. How you live, how you act, how you treat other people, how you walk with God.

Would you pass that Judgment? Would you pass a Judgment as a person totally convicted in God's way of life? Does our keeping of the Day of Atonement not only physically, but spiritually show God's way? Is a conviction with us and not a preference? Is it a conviction and not a preference? It was a Judgment given many years ago.

As a matter of fact, the date is 1972 by the U.S. Supreme Court. And that ruling I have in this brief here, had for quite a few years. The ruling is by the U.S. Supreme Court on the state of Wisconsin, or United States, state of Wisconsin versus Yoder.

Yoder, for any of those who know the name, is an Amish, typically Amish name. All those Yoders that I've known in the past have been Amish, or Amish descent. Yes, Kathy goes yes. Right. Well, it was interesting because this case came before the United States Supreme Court in 1972. And a Judgment was given that impacts us today, living in this country.

And thankfully, by this ruling, we're able to worship God a little different than everyone else. I'll touch base here. It was argued December 8, 1971, decided May 15, 1972. As I said, the respondents sincerely believed that high school attendance was contrary to the Amish religion and way of life, and that they would endanger their own salvation and that of their children by complying with the law.

From the brief, which I cannot go through all 32 pages of it, I'll say this on page 12. It says, there can be no assumption that today's majority is right, and Amish and others like them are wrong. A way of life that is odd or even erratic, that interferes with no rights or interests of others, is not to be condemned because it is different. They make a note on page 9 that almost 300 years of consistent practice and strong evidence of a sustained faith, pervading and regulating the respondents' entire mode of life, support the claim that they are different. So, giving no way to such secular considerations, however, we see that the record in this case abundantly supports the claim that the traditional way of life of the Amish is not merely a matter of personal preference, but one of deep religious conviction, shared by an organized group and intimately related to daily living.

That the old order Amish daily life and religious practice stems from their faith is shown by the fact that it is in response to their literal interpretation of the biblical injunction from the epistle of power to the Romans, which is Romans 12-2.

Be not conformed to this world. The command is fundamental to the Amish faith, moreover, for the old order Amish religion is not simply a matter of theocratic belief. As the eyewitness explained, the old order Amish religion pervades and determines virtually their entire way of life.

Would you like to be on trial?

Would you like to be on trial for what you believe and find that it is? A way of life.

And last, it says, the Amish in this case have convincingly demonstrated the sincerity of their religious belief, the inner relationship of belief with their mode of life. And it came down to the ruling by the Supreme Court, and it set a precedence for us today because these people not only talk the talk, they walk the walk. Do we, as God's people, we are here today on this day that God commanded that we are to be here because we are to walk the walk.

But is it up here? Is it out here? Or is it here? See, we will not come under judgment by the United States Supreme Court. We will come under judgment by Jesus Christ Himself. But it's interesting here that they laid this out and said there are five factors. Make it a conviction. Five factors. United States Supreme Court rule that would make it a factor in your belief. And it says a person will not change due to, number one, peer pressure. Number two, influence of family members. Number three, litigation. Number four, imprisonment. And number five, even death.

So the Supreme Court ruled that conviction is a belief that does not change. Does that describe you? Conviction is a belief that does not change, even under these five factors.

Last Saturday we talked about atonement. We talked about it being something of the heart. We talked about being at one with God. We talked about just not doing away with food and water.

People all over the world doing without food and water today, and it's not their choice. It is your choice. It is your conviction today on the Day of Atonement. What does true atonement mean? That you show up to services? That you go without food and water for 24 hours? No! Absolutely not!

Just because you have a marriage certificate and you live with someone, does that make you at one with them? Absolutely not!

True atonement, my wife and I, are physical examples of one flesh, physical! Genesis 2, verse 24 says that a man, a woman, should leave their families. And it says, Leave and cleave, and the two shall be one flesh.

I keep turning to John 17. John 17, verse 5. John 17, verse 5 says, And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. A glorified state when Jesus Christ and God the Father were one. One Spirit, one entity. One together, like mine. Verse 11, Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are one. Are we today at one with God? Did it start last night at sunset? Have we spent our time in prayer, in study, in meditation, in showing God that we love Him, and that we are one?

Have we done it? We haven't? You've got some work to do this afternoon. No tuning about the world, no radio, no TV, no anything. Just you and God.

Is that important? I think in the past this church has been watered down in their keeping of the Day of Atonement. I brought it up Saturday, and I'll bring it up again. Where are we going? We're going to the Kingdom. Today is a step towards the Kingdom of God. I've had people in the past whining about food and water, even bringing it up, and I think, why? What is wrong with us? We have a day dedicated to God, the only day of the year that He says, Come before Me, be at one with Me, do not eat, do not drink, of the physical. But to eat and to drink of the spiritual. Drink in His Spirit. Eat His Word. Hour after hour after hour, He just asked for this one day, Can you just be at one with Me for one day and get your mind off the physical? And He's looked around the church in the years and said, How long? How long? Will you please live in the Spirit for 24 hours so that I can see, that I can give you that gift for eternity, and that you can live at one with Me forever? So, verse 22, John 17, verse 22.

And the girl which you gave Me, I have given them, that there may be one just as we are one. This was Christ, the last moments on earth with His Father, and all He did was think about us. He thought about us and He knew what it was like to be one with God. He knew how precious, how special, how wonderful, the greatest thing anyone could ever experience. And He said, Please let them feel it.

And we got people whining because my stomach is growling. I think God looks at that.

And He goes, Oh, that's okay.

My son, in his desperation, in his last few hours, thought how special it was, and I'm just asking you to do it for one day.

I think it is important. Turn to Romans 8.

Romans 8. My favorite chapters, I will be using it at the feast a lot this year. Romans 8, verse 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Pretty plain. God and man, they're not going to be one as long as they are in the flesh.

And it will not take place till Satan is bound. On the day that this day pictures. He's bound and put away. And then, man can begin to know what it is to have a true relationship with God.

So what about God's servants now?

You know, as day represents the beginning of true peace and safety. As day represents the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ, because Christ cannot reign till the day of atonement is fulfilled. Christ will claim a seat which He qualified for almost 2,000 years ago. Christ was the only one who could be our atonement, who could atone for our sins. He wasn't a shadow.

Christ, not a shadow, but the real thing. The lamb killed a Passover was a shadow. The goat killed on this day in the Old Testament. The high priest put his hands on that goat's head and cast one out with all the sin and brought the other one in to represent Jesus Christ as a goat was sacrificed and killed. And the blood put on the altar. Because Leviticus 17, verse 11, says there's blood that is necessary for atonement. And Hebrews 9, 22 says without blood there is no remission of sin. But Jesus Christ's blood was an atonement for us. He did take the place of the high priest. We do now have access to the throne of God. In the Old Testament, they kept the Day of Atonement, called it Yom Kippur, Hebrew. Jesus Christ kept it. We are here today keeping the Day of Atonement.

The New Testament kept it, mentioned in Acts 27, verse 9. As a reference by Luke, the physician. The time of the year. In 58 AD. And Luke wrote his book somewhere in the mid-60s to late 60s, possibly even 70 AD.

We talk about Saturday, the word teshuvah. Teshuvah. And some that were not here. And teshuvah is a word that's used, which means return to God. Not just the word repent, but teshuvah means to return to God. It's interesting that, do I have time? Yes. It's interesting that during that time, that the word teshuvah is a Hebrew word. And that means to turn around. And you will find that listed all through the Bible. But it wasn't until the return after the Babylonian captivity. And how Ezra and Nehemiah set up and got the nation going again. But then we see, after a few years, the people that were living there just kind of got to be old hat. And next thing you know, they were living the physical life. And we find that out in Haggai, the book of Haggai. Because God says, Haggai, I have to say, what is wrong with you people? I gave you what you wanted, you have a nation, and what have you done? You've built all your houses, you've built all your vineyards, you've done all this, and look at my house. You care so much about your own stuff, and not about me. But that actually, the word teshuvah was actually coined at that time because they wanted a word that meant not just to turn around because they did, they turned around and went back to their nation. But they did not return to God.

And that's what a lot of this day is about. Because teshuvah actually means to return, but the tesh that they put on it means answer. It means you return to the one who has all the answers. You return to God. Teshuvah means true repentance. You turn to God. Have we done that today? Have we returned to God? Because no matter what, all the days, all the years, even the Sabbath, and even when you fasted a week or two ago, you're still doing things, you still have things to do. God set this aside so you don't have anything to do. This is the day to be at one with Him. Keep your minds on Him, to get your hearts on Him. Revelation 12, verse 9, talks about the accuser of the brethren, which we know to be Satan. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3, 4, talks about the world being veiled. They're veiled. There's a veil. And they said, the God of this world. You know, in so many ways, when we conduct our regular lives, we're in this world. Can't help it. But God said He would like for us to come out of this world today and be at one with Him. We talked about Exodus 30, verse 10, calling this day the most holy day to God. Most holy of any of the holy days. The most holy. Why? It's the only day He will be at one with you.

Is it the day you will be at one with Him? I guess that's why Christ called it the first and the greatest commandment. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your might. That's all God wants. Big order, though. Be at one with God. How do we do that? Are we left clueless? God's instruction manual. Tell us how. Tell us how.

Isaiah 59, verse 2, verse you all know. It says, our iniquities, our sins, separate us from God.

Our sins separate us from God.

But do we really picture that? Do we get it?

Do we realize that? Oh, yes, that's what we keep pass over. But do we realize it separates us on this day? And on this day, picture something that only happens once a year. Bob, I'm going to embarrass you today. You don't mind, do you? No. Would you mind coming up the stage? I'm serious. I'm not joking.

Just so we don't visual, I'm asking Bob Sarott. He'll stand right there. I'm asking him to stand right there. Just so we don't visual, I'm asking Bob Sarott. He'll stand right there. I'm asking him to act today. Okay? Have you ever done any acting in your life? No. Never on TV, stage, or anything else. Can you see him there, or does he need to take a step forward? There we go.

I want you to look at, and I want you to use your mind. Because this is no longer Bob Sarott. Okay? I'm going to give you a very hard part to play. I want you to play God. Now, I know you've seen it by entertainers and athletes and everything else, and politicians before, but this is the first day that Bob will betray God. I want you to view Bob as God. Bob as God. Okay? He's no longer Bob. He's God.

I want to get close to God. Matter of fact, this Scripture tells us we've all read what? To be at one with God. Right?

What's going to have to happen? Scripture says God doesn't move. Right? God doesn't move, so I can't say, God, come over here and stand over next to me. Some people have tried that. Some people have tried to put God down on this level. Well, guess what? It's not going to happen. That's not the way it works. He wrote the book. He wrote the rules. And he said sin separates us from Him, our iniquities. For me to be here, I've got to get rid of sin.

I sin separate. I sin separate. Why is it so important for us to pray many times during the day? On this day, as I shared, the high priest went in five times to the Holy of Holies. It's because things enter our minds. God says, be at one. Sometimes we don't even realize what enters our mind, but it's in there during this day. He says, get it out. Be at one, and I cannot do this.

Because of what this is. Ask us to be at one.

Do we realize that? That's why this day is so important. Be at one. Let nothing come between you and God. Nothing, not one thing on this day. What happens to us when we do that? When there is no sin, and our mind is constantly on the things we've got. What happens to us? There's something that happens in our minds. There's something that happens in our spirit.

And we change. We change from the inside out.

God is not going to move. Ezekiel 18 verse 30 said, to repent and turn around and go the other way. And return back to God. What happens? First, there's sin. Sin is what separates you from God. What do I have to do? Well, it's easy. We just repent. That's the first step, is repent. Let him cleanse us. And that's part of step two. It has to be. We can be sorry for what we've done. But we've got to claim the blood of Jesus Christ to...what? This is what so many people miss. See, we don't want to go back to the Jewish days. That's why you'll never hardly ever hear me call it Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur means, you're covering. Okay? You're covering.

That was covering of sins. If any of you have ever worked in drywall or painting, you realize, if a young kid comes over and takes a permanent marker and he marks on the drywall. What? And you want to get rid of it. You're going to have to put something like Kilsit on. You're going to have to use something to cover that up and then cover it and then use four or five coats of paint. Well, guess what? It's still there!

That's why it's so great what Jesus Christ did. He is not the shadow. He does not cover your sins. Get that out of your head. He does not cover your sins. He takes them away. They are totally gone. They're not here. And I hear people say, cover my sins. What? You want to go back to goat's blood? So we must realize Christ takes away our sins. It's like He goes and He completely just makes that mark on the drywall completely disappear. It's never there. It's never been there. How great is that? Do you want the Day of Attonement, which means in the New Testament, it's only mentioned once, it means what? It doesn't mean a covering. It means reconciliation. We are reconciled back to God. Not have our sins covered up or something. What's greater is that?

And then the third thing, we can use the Holy Spirit to communicate to God. Don't just go, hi, God. I don't know what to say to you, God. It's been years, huh?

No. Let it come from the heart. When you repent, repent for your sins. Claim the greatness that is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Then use the Holy Spirit. God, you open my mind, open my mouth. You teach me. Speak through me.

So that I can be at one with you.

Remember when they came off the mountain? They couldn't cast. They went down and the three that were up there with Christ, they came down and they jumped on automatically. And they're saying, oh, you're disciples. There was this big hableu going on. They couldn't cast out demons out of this man. And what did he say? You can't do that without fasting, because they weren't close enough to God.

This is part four. This is where it all comes together. Because you're showing God that nothing matters. No food, no drink. But that you want to be reconciled through His word, through His prayer, through His meditation. Because then it stops. The sin in you stops. And all of a sudden, we can then become at one with God. We move! He doesn't move! He says what He wants. He says that we can go there.

Thank you, God. I appreciate you doing that.

I did it, not for show, but I've seen people that just didn't really understand what this day is about. Why it's about reconciliation. Why it's about us and God. And how strong and powerful that is. We ought to be closer to God on this day, above all days of the year.

To be close to God, brethren, we must be like God. Is that far from you to understand? To be close to God, we must be like God. That's why He says we are partakers of the divine nature. Because eventually, that will be our nature. We won't just be partakers of the divine nature. We will be divine!

That's a strong word.

Why is so important? Habakkuk. A little book. In the other 12, Habakkuk. Chapter 1, verse 13, says why? It describes God, and he says, You are of pure eyes. You are of pure eyes than to behold evil. You cannot look upon wickedness. That's where we've got to go.

That means today. Don't look on wickedness. Don't let it enter your mind.

Have pure eyes than to behold any evil. A step to getting closer to God. To being at one with God. That's why Malachi 2, verse 15, says what? Malachi 2, verse 15, says God seeks godly offspring. We are called His children. He wants godly people. Are we godly people?

We must show God that we can leave this world for 24 hours. We have to.

How about silence?

You ever just spent time with God?

I never said a word.

I tell you, if I was at one with God, guess what? If I was there, I'd probably try to, as much as I talk, I'd still try to keep my mouth shut.

Because He's this important. He knows everything. I know nothing.

And there's nothing. You know nothing. Compared to God, you know nothing. You're nothing. Forget Him said, you're nothing. I want you to be at one with me. One day I'll just be one.

Do we want it? Do we want it that bad?

I hope so. Because it's part of perfecting of the saints, preparing the bride. With the little time I have left, I'd like to turn to Matthew. I want to give you some things to go over. We're going to go through these very quickly. If you'll just write them down, then you can go back and look at them this afternoon. But I'll give you a chance to say, okay, let me make sure I have this down right. Let me make sure my mind is in the right place. This is in the book of Matthew, chapter 5.

Matthew, chapter 5, verse 44. Bless I so dear. Love your enemies. Can you do it? Now, without God, you can't. Some of us can't love our own families. Without God. Right, Stephen? It takes God. Do we love our enemies? Are we closer to God?

Do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. That you may be angels flying around the sky. That you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

Matthew 8. If that one's not enough, how about Matthew 8? Matthew 8.

Verse 10, talking about the centurion, soldier.

And the centurion's servant, brother. Now, he told Christ to just go ahead and heal him. Christ said, let me go. He said, no, you don't need to go. Just say the word. I say the word, my soldiers go. I say, come, and they come. And then Christ said, when Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to those who followed, and surely I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. But I say to you that many will come from the eastern west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. That the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. Will that be some of us? Do we have even the faith of that centurion? Because it's going to take that faith and more to be at one with God. Not your own faith. You can't work up faith. God grants you that kind of faith. Faith in him, not in yourself being righteous. Because none of us are righteous before God, until we are cleansed, purged.

Matthew 9. Matthew 9, we see about the bride and the bridegroom, and why the disciples said, well, why do we and the Pharisees fast off them, but your disciples do not fast. Why do we have to fast? You have to fast.

Don't you cry, babies?

What did he say? No one puts a piece of untrunk cloth on an old garment, but the patch pulls away from that garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do people put new wine in old wineskins, or else the wineskins will break. The wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined, but they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. You get rid of the old person. Get rid of the old man and you before he can put the new man in you, the spirit in you.

What's simple? Did they get it? No. He says, you've got to get rid of that old stuff. Get rid of that old man, those traits of old. You've got to get rid of that before you can be at one without those old thoughts, those old lusts. Those little things that enter you, and are in you. They get rid of them. They're taking up space that God needs for His Holy Spirit to dwell in you.

Matthew 12. Matthew 12, verse 46. 46 through 50, you see a story of Jesus Christ. And He's preaching, and then His brothers and His mother, and probably even one of His sisters, were there, and they wanted to see Him. But they were just there to mock Him. They weren't there to be a part. They didn't really get into His ministry until after He was dead. And He knew. And He answered them, Who is my brother and who are my brothers? Here are my mother and my brothers. And He says, What? And this has to do with us. Who ever does the will of my Father in Heaven? That is my brother. That is my mother. Is that us? Not just what God tells us to do, but His will. What is God's will for us?

Finally, let's go to Matthew 19. Just a few of these. That helps you to think. Let's go to Matthew 18, verse 4. Matthew 18, verse 4. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. We must humble ourselves to be at one with God. Finally, Matthew 19.

Matthew 19.

Verse 28.

What a promise!

Not only did He get to be the one with God, but He says, If you do this, you will inherit eternal life in a hundredfold for whatever you've lost.

Sometimes we'd want to dwell on what we don't have instead of what we have.

Following prayer was written and found on a Confederate soldier at Devil's Den in Gettysburg that he kept on him. Nobody ever really knew his name. It's called the Confederate Soldier's Prayer. I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was made weak that I might learn to humbly obey. I asked for help that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given a weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing I asked for, but I got everything I had hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayer was answered. I am, among all people, most richly blessed. Blessed.

Being at one with God, being reconciled to God, being one Spirit with God. What an incredible blessing.

The meaning of true at one with God.

Have a wonderful feast.