We Need These Feasts!

That was beautiful. Very appropriate for the Holy Day. Welcome, everybody, to God's Feast of Tabernacles, here in this beautiful Colorado resort area. My! How many of you have not been to this feast night before? That includes us, too! It's really beautiful. Oh! This young lady says, me too! Did you count me in on that? Absolutely! Thank you very much. But it's just gorgeous. Welcome to God's Feast, brother. This is His time, God's time. He's invited you here. You're here. You packed. And you forgot things, didn't you? Yes. It's just a matter of what you'll find the next eight days. But we're so glad you came because it is by God's invitation that we're here together to celebrate, to honor God, and to be together as His elect. Hey, I've got... I want to show Mr. Mollier that I actually read a bulletin. So I want to get a point or two because if you notice in his nice greeting on the first page, he says, those of you who want the feast extended, he says, look up the last part of Proverbs 15, verse 15. And I actually did that during announcements. So it says, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast. So that's Mr. Mollier's greetings to us that we can have a feast, brother. And even after the eighth day, which will be here before we know it. And that's just like camp. We tell campers, camp is only a week long, but get ready because you need to make sure you're here for all the activities. You really put your heart into it. And I tell campers, like I did at Northwest Camp in July, I said, this camp is only as good as you make it. In fact, if you don't really give yourself, you won't get a whole lot from this camp. And that's true of the feast as well. If you give during the feast, you'll get a lot. If you don't give too much, you won't get too much. That's just how it is, isn't it? God's way is a giving way. And we're very thankful you came. A lot of you from the Midwest. We've enjoyed already greeting some of our friends from the West, some of California, New Mexico, and all through the country. So great to be here. That beautiful full moon up here at altitude is really bright, isn't it? Oh, that is a shocking full moon that God gives us here as we start the feast of tabernacles. Oh, brethren, we're here to honor God. God walks among us. He's here. He's answered your prayers and certainly is going to bless the services and your health and your activities, your family, and all of these spiritual meat that we have the next eight days. And we basically know as speakers, because of a teleconference we have a little bit earlier before the feast, we know a lot of the basic messages. And we've got a full plate coming. A lot of good, spiritual food. And we look forward to that. Well, as I say, brethren, this is the best place to be right now. God's invited you here. We're glad to be here. You know, for a lot of you, it's been a challenging year, hasn't it?

It's been a year of challenge. It's been a year of really prayer, asking God to help you, bless you. He's answered your prayers. He's maybe healed you, and you're here. He's given you work. He's blessed you in school. But it's been a challenging year for a lot of God's elect. We're glad you made it, as well as youth. How many here are under the age of 20? How many of you are under the age of 20?

And this young lady can put her hand up. There you go. Absolutely. Well, we do have a lot of youth here, teens and free teens. And you know what? They're among the part of God that we are very rejoiceful to have here. They tithe. They keep the Sabbath, the Holy Days. They're here for the feast. So we have a lot of good activities for the young people, the teens and free teens. We're glad to have you here. And we want, brethren, for every service to be for you. Listen, be attentive, and you are. My, this is incredible. So we're glad to have you again. You know, the basic questions of life most people don't know the answer to, and you do. Why is that?

For instance, the basic questions of life include, does God exist? Who and what is God? And what is God's purpose? And who is man? And why were you born? You know those questions, and more importantly, you know the answers. And very few really know those answers, and you do. Why? Well, because God is in your life.

We have a booklet in the United Church of God called, What is Your Destiny? And it answers some of those basic questions. And this is a part, of course, of our calling to know the answers to all those questions. Brethren, we truly live in a spiritual Babylon. I was going to bring up a recent newspaper. We were in Denver the other day, and the headlines across the country talked about a Supreme Court decision the other day.

But I thought, I won't bring that up. You're aware of it. But we do live in a spiritual Babylon. There is such confusion in our world today about why man is on this earth. And if we are on this earth, earth is human beings. What is our purpose? Do we have actually laws? Do we have guidance? Is there a God, a creator, a purpose?

Our culture is going through a tremendous upheaval today, more and more. The hearts and minds of people in the Western world have become thoroughly desensitized and secularized.

And that's just been especially the last 20 or so years. In fact, it seems the last five or so years has been especially hard-hitting in terms of our morals and our direction.

The Muslims seek the 12th Imam, or Mahdi, or Savior. The Buddhists seek Nirvana. The Jews seek for the Messiah. Christians seek for heaven. And humanists seek for inner peace within.

And rather than none of those, hit the mark. In fact, most of them are way off the mark. What do you seek? What do God's people seek right now?

Actually, what this piece pictures? The coming Kingdom of God. We know that. Very few do. We know there's a coming Savior to this world, Jesus Christ.

He's coming this time not as the Savior only, but as the King of Kings. And yet others seek a Savior. They seek Nirvana, or peace within.

And how can we have peace within? Well, that only comes from God. And forgiveness of sin through the Passover.

And through, of course, coming out of the world as the Days of 11 bread picture. And then, of course, you can't do that without God's Spirit as pictured in the Feast of Pentecost.

And all that, brethren, begins to culminate in Fall Holy Days as we celebrated the Feast of Trumpets recently.

And Jesus Christ's dramatic return in the resurrection of the saints to their rulership as kings and priests.

And you cannot have the coming Kingdom of God because fully, without Satan being bound, because he's the God of this world.

And the future God of this world, Jesus Christ, will bind him as a Day of Atonement pictures.

And then, of course, we're into this very Feast Day. The Feast of Tabernacles and the Millennial Rule of Jesus Christ on this earth.

And that's followed, of course, by those who have never understood God, never been called by the Father, to be in the resurrection, the Second Resurrection.

And then, after everyone is in the Kingdom of God, only those who reject God fully with their whole heart.

Which is hard to imagine, isn't it? How can someone who truly has God's Spirit, who truly knows the truth, has been given time after time after time, and yet they reject God?

How can you do that? But it is possible. And so those who truly do that, there will be a resurrection of their resurrection, and they'll be put in the Lake of Fire.

On the eighth day in the afternoon, I'm going to speak about what happens after the Second and Third Resurrections. So stay tuned.

Because there's a whole big plan after the Second and Third Resurrections.

And so that's what we're going to have in the afternoon. And then the minister, the pastor in the morning, is going to give us the meaning of that whole day.

It's called the Eighth Day, the Second Resurrection Time. So, well, turn with me, brethren. I've got three basic points as we sum up, really, why we're here and why, brethren, what are we here? What do we have to look forward to as God's elect? Let's start over in Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 1, please.

It's really, I think, very fitting in the opening message, which I'm privileged and honored to give tonight, to really start with the basics of why are we here and what is God doing here in our lives. Leviticus 23 and verse 1, We shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. And these are the feasts of the Lord, holy complications, which you shall proclaim at their appointed time. So that's why we read these verses. God says to actually proclaim them tonight. As the Feast of Tabernacles opens, we have to proclaim it. We should. We want to. And say, we're here, brethren. You're at the right place, the right time, for the right reason, right now.

So God invented these feasts. Brethren, we are, in a sense, the feast people, aren't we? We're the feast people. Sometimes people say, well, you're the Sabbath people. Well, we're also the feast people. God calls even the Sabbath day a feast. So these are all known by God as the word feast. Now, what does that word mean in Hebrew? The word in Hebrew is moed. It means sacred season. It means set feast or appointed sign.

These are appointed signs between God and His people. The word moed also means appointed place. And that's why I say we're in the right place at the right time for the right reason.

The word moed also means appointed time or meeting. That's what all the word feast means.

These are God's sacred seasons, His commanded assemblies. Notice it down in verse 33, please.

Verse 33, The Sabbath day. Some ask why have we kind of changed the name from the last great day to the eighth day? Generally, we use eighth day. Well, because right there it's called the eighth day. God counts to the eighth day. And that's more the formal name of that day.

And then notice in verse 40, You shall take for yourselves on the first day of the fruit of beautiful trees and branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees and willows in the brook, and you shall rejoice. You know, that's one of the beautiful things of the feast, brother, is rejoicing. Isn't that a terrible command from God? All these laws are so hard to keep, aren't they? God says, oh, you've got to rejoice. What a terrible law, brother. Oh, we're under such bondage in God's church. God says, you rejoice. Yes, He said, we have so much to rejoice over. Before the Lord your God for seven days. Verse 41, You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. So it is, brethren, from Him, and we honor God through keeping these days.

And it shall be a statue forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month, and you shall dwell in booze for seven days. Now, there's more about dwelling in booze here, but, you know, we generally, brother, don't go out and chop a tree up and try to make a little lean-to. I mean, you could do that if you're in primitive conditions, and I'm not knocking that, because some of you probably camped way back in the day, many years ago, in tents, didn't you?

I don't ask for a showing of hands, but some of you actually camped and still do. And we love camping, but camping to me is more of an RV today and a motel today than the old tent today, because—and we've done a lot of camping, believe me, over the decades with our children— but, you know, however it is, it's a temporary dwelling, whether it's an RV or a tent or a condominium or anything like that, because we're not, brethren, we're not called to be a participant of this world.

We're temporary sojourners, aren't we? We move with God. And this is a temporary feast, although it pictures something very permanent. So we are in temporary dwellings, all of us. And Jesus Christ, of course, observed these very days when He was alive, and He made those days. And so where to keep them if we have Jesus Christ as our Savior?

Turn with me to Zachariah 14, verse 16, please. We'll probably be over here as other speakers turn to the book of Zachariah. Later in the feast, Zachariah 14, verse 16. A little bit about the Feast of Tabernacles and the Kingdom of God.

And the context is clearly after Jesus Christ's return. And verse 16 of Zachariah 14, It shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King and the Lord of hosts and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, brethren, in this first point, I'd like to mention we have come to this feast, brethren, to worship our special God and learn from Him. That's, brethren, the best reason possible for coming to the feast is to worship our special God and learn from Him. And that's exactly what, of course, the Scripture states.

So I just want to cover those three simple points. One, two, three. Why we need these feasts. Brethren, I need this feast. You need this feast. You need it. I need it. And God proclaimed us to come out for these special days together. So the first reason we need these feasts is we have come to worship our special God and learn from Him. So going back to Zechariah 14, notice He says to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. That's going to be a major challenge for the world because they're not used to doing that.

That's a big challenge for them. And the word keep in Hebrew means to move in a circle and to march to a sacred procession. You know what a move in a circle means? You repeat it. The holy days are repeated year to year. They remind us. They remember the plan of God, the reason we're alive. And God brings us back to center. Every Feast of Tabernacles, every other feast that God has, it brings us back to the purpose and the plan of God.

Let me go on and define the word keep in the Hebrew. It means to observe a festival by implication to be giddy, to celebrate, to dance. And also it means a solemn feast and real to and fro. Now, isn't that amazing? The word keep here includes very serious mis-observation. But also the word keep means to celebrate and to really enjoy and rejoice in these days. So we have a multi-purpose Feast of Tabernacles. There's the very serious challenge and the learning and the growing together spiritually. And, brethren, there's also the physical enjoyment and realizing all gifts come from God and how those gifts really are from Him and to be thankful for what we do have.

So there's a lot here as God will teach this in the Kingdom of God. Now, who are these feasts for? Notice verse 17. It shall be that whichever are the families of the earth, so in fact, the feast days are for the families, the nations, the people of the world.

But if they don't come to Jerusalem to worship the King, again, one of the primary purposes that God has called us to is to worship the King. If they don't do that, there will be no rain. And if the family of Egypt in verse 18 will not come up and enter it, they shall have no rain and they will receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

This is the punishment. The word punishment there in the Hebrew means sin. It is a sin, brethren, not to observe, not to honor God through these feast days, to carelessly just, oh, they don't mean anything. They're not commanded. Or, I'm not going to do that. I'll be working, thank you. I'm not going to observe these. No, God says that's a sin. They are sin today to break them, and they will be sin to break them in the Kingdom of God. So He says this is the punishment, verse 19, or the sin of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Isn't that interesting? God specifies this Feast of Tabernacles really special. It's a seven-day feast. The first day is holy, and it's a time of coming out. But, brethren, this Feast can and should be a great turning point in our lives. What do you think? Can we do that? Sure we can do that with God's help. It can be a turning point. It can be really a big lesson.

It's virtually good things that God gives. Now, we talk about some of the challenges in God's Church. Well, you know what? Maybe the biggest challenge to face the Church right now is we need to close the gap between what we know and what we do.

What do you think? That's a challenge we can all agree on. That's one of the greatest challenges probably facing, I know it is for me and maybe you. From what I know, the knowledge versus doing it. And the Feast is a good time to do that, isn't it? It's a great time. Do that. So remember in James 1, it talks about you be the doers of the Word, about just the hers only? And so the Feast is for the doers to really make this week and the eighth day very special to God. Well, let me continue on this first point to honor God, to worship Him, and to learn from Him. Let's go to Deuteronomy 31, please, in verse 10. Deuteronomy 31, verse 10.

There's a succession here, brethren, that I want to link together in Deuteronomy 31, verse 10. Now this occurred, a release of debts, and it started during the Feast of Tabernacles. And in Deuteronomy 31, verse 10, we read, Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time, in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which he chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Now we come to what I'd like to emphasize in verse 12, gather the people together. Now obviously that's what part of the Feast does. We have a festival tithe, and we gather ourselves. I mean, some of you flew a long way to get here. Some of you drove from the Midwest to get here. Some of you drove up from Southern California, Albuquerque. I don't know wherever else, but I mean, you have made some major effort to get here. So God says to gather my people together. Notice the whole family, men, women, and little ones, the little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, yes, guests, that we may hear. So there's a purpose, brethren, to this. You gather together. God gathers us together. So we may hear. And what are we learning as we hear? God continues that they may learn to fear the Lord your God. And that's why we're here. We gather. We hear. We learn to fear the Lord your God. And notice the last part, and carefully observe all the words of this law. Brethren, what a wonderful plan! This revolving annual festival, the Feast of Tabernacles, and yes, all the other Feast festivals, they continually remind us about God, His law, His plan, how much He loves you, and how much He loves the world. That's what God wants us to remember. And then ingrate that in special details as these days go on. So again, do you have any goals for the Feast? I want to have a great feast. Right? And how's that going to happen? Well, I want to have a great feast, and that's going to happen because, see, we have to fill in the dot, dot, dot. Now, God has already got us started here in verse 12, right? We're gathered together. We're hearing. We're learning to fear God more and more to observe the words of His law. And then we kind of have to, rather, let God filter the rest of that through us. Because that's special. So what is God, rather, going to teach you this year? What are you going to learn? How are you going to grow? That's the exciting part because it's yet to happen. It's a feast in work. Or we're going through the process beginning tonight. But anyway, that's the start. And we've got the major elements right there already for us. You know, often our young people, though, they hear the word church a lot. You know, how many times have I used the word church? You've used the word church. We basically know when we say the word church what we mean. So sometimes our young adults and our teens, they hear the word church. And the problem with that is it's like a corporation or a big entity. And for our young people, our teens, and yes, our pre-teens, the big thing is for them to develop a relationship with God. That's not the church. That's God and them. Developing a relationship is between God and them. Or all of us, God and us, isn't it?

So we want, obviously, all of us, no matter what age, to develop that relationship with God or further develop that relationship with God. Our United Youth Camp's thing last year was right out of Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1. Remember now, your Creator in the days of your youth. God says, remember now while you're young, me. Remember me.

Have me in your life. What a wonderful thing that is to everybody, especially the youth. So our first reason, brethren, why we're here and what God wants us to learn is to honor Him, learn to fear Him, brethren. We worship a special God and learn from Him. Our second reason we're together here is we've come to fellowship with God's special people. We've come together to fellowship with you and me. Look around you right now. You can take your eyes off of me and just look to your neighbor. Look around here. Now, who are you seeing here? You may see your wife, your husband, your son, I don't know, but look beyond your family. And what you're seeing really is your extended family. We're a family for eight days, right, in this room. And again, we've come together in part, brethren, to fellowship with God's special people. This is our family. God has gathered us from many areas. We're a family for eight days, around 300 plus right now, in this area. You know, brethren, we're going to spend eternity with each other and a whole lot more. We might as well get acquainted now. Well, at least some. I don't know if we can meet all 300 of us, but we could take a good start as the days go by. Turn with me to Deuteronomy 13, please, over in chapter 16. Sorry. Deuteronomy 16, verse 13. Let's read through a couple of verses here together. Again, we've come to fellowship with God's special people, our second point tonight. And in verse 13, this is Deuteronomy 16, verse 13, You shall observe the feast of tabernacle seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress, and you shall rejoice. Now, we read that earlier. Here's another command, another part of the feast. You shall rejoice in your feast. God actually here says, this is your feast. Well, it's God's feast because he made it. And we honor him tonight, every day. But also, he says, this is your feast. Rejoice in it. And he says, you and your son and your daughter and your male servant and your female servant and the Levite and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates. In other words, your entire extended family. Seven days, in verse 15, you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord, your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your photos and all the works of your hand. So you shall surely rejoice. Brother, this feast, pictures are rejoicing and abundance when God will send his son Jesus Christ to this earth and there will be an abundance, a blessing of material wealth and joy spiritually. And the earth will be blessed and the deserts are healed and yes, the crops will produce and the weather will be wonderful.

And it just shows, brother, how God wants us to share physical things with each other. Yes, your family. You know, the feast is for youth as well. The feast is for young people. The feast is for those of us who are a little bit older, just a wee bit older. And, you know, it's for the whole family itself, no matter what age.

So use that money, that festival money that you have brought, brother, to bless others with. Your family certainly should be included by and large, no question. And then to bless others as the funds continue to go through the feast itself.

I want to tell you a story of my first feast back in 1968 in Squaw Valley, California. We met in Blythe Arena and we were leaving one of the feast days during the Feast of Timerackles in 1968. And we were heading up the hill to these dormitories as ambassador college students. And that was my first feast. And I had very limited funds. I didn't know what a festival time was until about six weeks before that feast. And so I had money. I could keep the feast. It's pretty low, you know, key feast as a student. And so I was walking toward these dorms out of Blythe Arena after the service and this man heard his voice, Hello, up there! And I turned around and this man was talking. He says, Do you plan to eat dinner tonight? And I thought as a 19-year-old slender guy, man, back in the day, I said, Yeah, I plan to eat dinner tonight. I'd love to eat dinner. And he says, He handed me a, I think it was a $10 bill. $10 in 1968 was like, what, $30, $40 now? And I never got his name. He never told me his name. He just kind of slips off in the crowd. And I hope I thank them. I honestly don't know if I thank the man.

But he gave me $10. Yeah, I ate really well at night. Maybe the next night. I don't know. But you know, you remember those stories, how people shared and gave. That's a feast. That's a, you know, if you want to have a perfectly miserable feast, here's the perfect formula. Think of nobody except yourself. Don't serve anybody. Don't pray while you're here. And don't study the Bible while you're here. You're going to have a perfect, miserable feast. That formula always works. Now, if we reverse that, you're going to have a wonderful feast. But it really depends on us, like camp. It depends on those campers. It depends on us as the attendees, as the called out ones. So you bet, brother. Let's make it a committee of one to really make this feast special for others. You know, you can always do this. You can introduce yourself and say, hi. You can hold a door open for somebody else. And you can always smile because that makes people wonder what you're up to. So all those things work. But God's way is, of course, a sharing way, a giving way. You know the most excellent way that Paul talked about? Remember what he said? Better than speaking in tongues, better than interpretation in tongues. He said, the most excellent way is what? Love. Love is kind and sharing. It's not incoming. It's outgoing. And he said, that's the excellent way. The subtitle of the sermon actually is, a most excellent way, or a more excellent way. Because God's feasts are a more excellent way. You know, brother, today we're being trained to be kings and priests. What an awesome calling. What an imagine. Imagine being a king and priest. Way beyond our job description right now, but that's what God is training us for. You know, here's a humorous example of courtesy. When I was in college, we had these little, we call them per closets or PCs. And they had insulation like a phone booth inside the... I know this goes back because we don't even know what a phone booth is anymore, but they used to have insulation inside. So these per closets had insulation. So if you're praying, it kind of insulates your prayer to the fellows out in the hallway who had study desks. And so they were just feet away from the per closets. And I remember my study desk was literally like this, away from some of the PCs or per closets. So you kind of sometimes hear the rumble of some of the men, sometimes thumping, and you're like, oh, I don't even want to know what they're talking about. But, you know, that's college life. So one night, there was a student praying. You don't know what happened in his life. But he was just having a real big prayer. And you could hear him down the hall, nobody loves me! Nobody loves me! And you know, a student, she said, oh, do we thump on the door? Do we go outside? Nobody loves me! Nobody loves me! He's praying. So finally one student went over to the door, thumped on the door, and said, we love you! We love you! Now shut up! I don't know about you, but some of these stories stay with you. And, you know, there's courtesy and how to get along. But, brother, we are called by God's elect to enjoy our fellowship together. We have come to fellowship with one another. And let's enjoy that. God says, rejoice, and we surely will do that. Let's move on again. Why do we need these feasts?

Number three, we have come to be inspired by God's very special future. We've come to be inspired by God's very special future. We're going to have a lot of sermons and sermonettes about this subject, because that's what the Feast of Tabernacles portrays in part, is that future reign of Jesus Christ, and yes, eventually for the whole world.

Notice in Matthew 25 and verse 19. Matthew chapter 25 and verse 19. I mean, there's literally dozens and dozens of scriptures, brother, and we could all turn to talk about that very special future that this Feast of Tabernacles pictures for the entirety of the world.

So I'm going to turn to two here. Matthew 25 and starting in verse 19, please.

So Jesus is saying, after a long time, the Lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And so he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five, and look, I've gained five more talents beside them. And as Lord said to him, well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. And now he says, I make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. And that is fiery. Enter into the joy. The kingdom, brethren, is going to be a joyful, wonderful, powerful realm for his people, his saints, those who have come up in the first resurrection, the best or better resurrection, Hebrews mentions. It is, brethren, going to be awesome. We can only imagine in a little bit what that joyful existence will be like. But we do know it's going to be without tears. And it's going to be without stress, the kind of stress we have and the physical elements that we have every day, every second, a joyful, wonderful, positive experience. You know, brethren, we can't depend on the world to supply these future kings and priests.

The world will never get their act together. Right? They will never get their act together.

Every generation repeats the same mistakes the earlier generation, but it gets worse. They not only repeat the same things, they may go worse.

So, God is not depending on the world to get their act together to supply servants of God for his kingdom. Brethren, he's depending on his first fruits. God's elect today and those that have lived earlier and those that live up to the time of Christ. They're being trained today to be godly servant leaders. And they know the truth. They live the truth.

That's what God is depending on. You know, Satan will provide his leaders, who are going to be his future leaders, the based on the false prophet, and a lot of other minions. Yeah, Satan will have his leaders. That's not the leadership God will use at all. You know, on front of this lectern, brethren, there's the United Church of God's seal. One of the things there, I think it's at the bottom area, it says, prepare people. Right?

Preach the gospel, prepare people. That's what God is doing. He's preparing an elect, future kings and priests around the world. Seeking a faithful few, we might say, for that first harvest. And you're one of those faithful few. Well, let's go over here with me to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40, please, in verse 1.

Of course, Isaiah is a very forward-reaching prophet. We call him the millennial prophet. There are so many scriptures in Isaiah that talk about the millennial rule of Jesus Christ.

So we're going to start in verse 1 of Isaiah 40, please.

Yes, comfort my people, says, Lord. That's one of the major offices, brethren, of Jesus Christ. He's going to comfort and comfort and comfort the world.

I mean, we have gone through some of those scriptures even some days ago for the Feast of Trumpets.

The kind of world that we'll have prior to Christ's return.

We're on the verge of destruction. And then Jesus Christ comes in the nick of time and saves us.

So one of the first things he does is comfort, to rescue and to give life, healing to the world.

Notice in verse 2, speak comfort to Jerusalem. Cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she is received from the Lord's hand. Double for all her sins.

Well, the scripture shows the kind of wars, problems that Jerusalem will have all the way up to the end.

And then down in verse 9, O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountains, O Jerusalem.

You who bring good tidings, lift up your voice and strength, and lift it up.

Be not afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God, and behold the Lord God, shall come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him.

And behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

And he will feed his flock like a shepherd, and he will gather the lambs with his arms.

And carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those who are with him.

You know, that's a very comforting sight, brethren, of the king.

You know, kings need to be comforting as well.

Now, Christ's first job will be to take action and take control.

He must do that. Satan is challenging him.

And yes, he will and save the world, but he's going to say, You know what? We're going to comfort, we're going to heal, we're going to gently lead now.

And he's going to have this big army with him.

Brand new members of the body, or the spirit members, actually in his family. Brand new.

God's elect. Those who are preparing for leadership and service right now in their lives, or have already, or will in the future.

You know, brethren, Jesus Christ is going to tabernacle with humanity.

He's going to have his headquarters at Jerusalem.

He'll be a hand-on savior, a king that people can rely on. You know, his campaign promises, brethren, won't be promises, they'll be fact.

He is the God right now at the Father's right hand, and he's coming to this earth.

He's going to end all acts of terrorism. The madness will be gone.

The newspaper headlines change.

What a brilliant change. What a wonderful, wonderful change. Awesome change that'll be. So, brethren, I've heard reason we need these feasts.

The Feast of Tabernacles in the eighth day, and yes, all the other feasts, but we're celebrating these two present feasts right now, or will the eighth day very soon.

Well, we've come, brethren, to be inspired by God's very special future.

So, brethren, you're at the right place, at the right time, for the right reason, as God outlines in the Scripture. And yes, we need these feasts. We have come to worship the wonderful God and learn from Him.

We've come to fellowship with God's special people.

And we have come to be inspired by God's very special future.

So, just let's really rejoice in the next eight days, and let's be a wonderful, positive, smiling example of God's way of life in action.

So, have a great feast.