Why Are We Here and Why Are You Here?

Good to see all of you here this afternoon on the first holy day of the Feast of Tabernacles. We're very glad to have you join us here in Colorado. I really appreciate that beautiful, beautiful special music. It's very appropriate. God does indeed have great plans for us. We'll talk about some of those plans today and throughout the Feast. I really enjoyed Mr. Newtsman's message last night about our reasons for being here. I thought it was very good, except for the part where he used every Scripture I was planning to use today. But that's okay because God's Word is very deep, has many levels of meaning and understanding. We'll explore some of the richness of some of those verses that he read and were also read in the sermonette time today. I'd like to start out with two questions for you. Two questions. Why are we here and why are you here? Why are we here and why are you here? Because as we begin this Feast, if we are to get the most out of these eight days, we need to understand the answers to those two questions. Why are we here collectively and why are you here individually and personally?

You arrived here in Steamboat Springs not by accident, but because at some point you decided you wanted to come to attend the Feast here. At some point you looked it up on a map to figure out how to get here and your major arrangements. You didn't just go randomly driving around and arrive here. At least, I hope you didn't. We may have somebody come in in the middle of services that that happened to, but let's hope not. In the same way, it This isn't a random process that you arrived here for the Feast of Tabernacles and that the Feast is celebrated here this week, and you are a part of it. There are specific reasons that we are here and specific reasons that you are here as well. And the better we understand those reasons, the more we will benefit and be blessed by keeping the Feast of Tabernacles here in Steamboat Springs this year. So let's address the first question first. Why are we here? Why are we here? I'd like to give you four reasons for that. One is that we are here because God has commanded us to be here. God has commanded us to be here. And this is the first and foremost reason that we are here. God commands us to keep the Feast in a number of passages, which have been read already. And we are here in obedience to those commands. So let's look at some of these very familiar chapters, Leviticus 23, where God lists His holy days, His festivals, in the order and when they are to be kept. So let's look at this passage here, Leviticus 23 and verses 1 and 2.

And then in verse 34, we come to the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 34, speak to the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Eternal. So again, this is God's Feast. It's not just Israel's Feast, not just Feast for the Jews, the Jewish people. It is God's Feast. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. And then He says, these are again the feasts of the Eternal, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations.

And then God repeats the command to keep the Feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day in verse 39. Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the Feast of the Eternal for seven days. On the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest.

So those are the two holy days, plus the weekly Sabbath. During the Feast of Tabernacles we see here God repeating again for emphasis. You can understand the importance of it. How many times God emphasizes this is His Feast, and we are to keep this Feast for seven days, followed by a separate holy day on the day immediately following. So this is a command from God, and as people who have surrendered our lives to Him, and who are doing our best to obey Him to follow His ways, we are here in obedience to that command to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

We understand there are obviously sometimes extenuating circumstances, health situations, family issues, and so on. But this is, again, a very important command for God. So we see the first reason we are here is because God has commanded us to be here. A second reason that we are here is that we are here because this is one of God's sacred appointments with us. This is one of God's sacred appointments with us. This is something that I don't think we fully appreciated to the extent that we should have over the years, in large part because of the way the Hebrew wording is translated into English here.

Let's dig a little closer into this and hopefully come to understand the meaning of what God tells us here a little bit better. And when we do, we find out there are some very important lessons for us, not just about this Feast, but about all of God's Holy Days. Let's go back to Leviticus 23 again and examine this a little more closely here. Mr. Knutzman touched on this a little bit last night, and I'd like to elaborate on that a little bit more.

Leviticus 23, verses 1 and 2, And the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, we just read this verse, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, the Feast of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my feasts. And what I'd like to draw our attention to is the three words that are highlighted in orange up here. The words translated feast, the word translated holy, and the word translated convocations.

Because there are lessons here for all of us in the meaning of these words. Now, part of the problem is that in the English language, these words just aren't used that much anymore. After all, outside of church services or announcements or hearing about the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Trumpets or Feast of Unleavened Bread, when was the last time you heard the word feast used in common conversation with somebody? It's probably been years, maybe decades. In the same way, when's the last time outside of church services you heard the word holy used?

Again, probably been a long, long time. Or convocation, that's not a word we use that much anymore. So part of the problem here is that in the English language, these words used to be much more commonly used than they are today. They're increasingly falling out of use, and that leads to a lack of understanding and appreciation for the concepts that God is trying to get across for us here. So what do these words mean, and what do we learn from those lessons?

Let's look first at all at the word translated feast. It's a moed, meaning briefly, it has a range of meanings, but we can summarize it by saying it means an appointed time or meeting or a gathering at an appointed time. It comes from a root word, a Hebrew root word, that means together by appointment. Together by appointment, or to meet together by appointment. So the feast days, what this means is that the feast days that God lists for us here in Leviticus 23 are God's appointments with us. They are God's appointments with us.

Now what does an appointment mean? Well, we know what that means in English. We have doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, maybe appointment with our auto mechanic or whatever. And that means that the other person is going to be there, and that you are going to be there at this agreed upon time. And if you don't show up, well, the other person is there, but you weren't. You broke the appointment. You didn't keep the appointment. So what are the implications of that when it comes to God's holy days? And this is a lesson for us here. And again, of course, the first of God's holy days in Leviticus 23 is His weekly Sabbath day.

So if these are God's appointments, what that means is that God has set an appointment to meet with you as one of His people. This is God's appointment with you. He sets the time. He issued the invitation. He set the location. He says that He is going to be there because it's His appointment, after all.

It's His feast. It's His holy day. And if you don't show up, what happened? You blew off an appointment with your Creator. How many of you would blow off an appointment with your doctor or your dentist or your auto mechanic?

Well, probably not, because you understand the consequences of that. Yet, do we sometimes blow off our appointments with our Creator? Because if we don't show up for His holy days, for His festivals, including the weekly Sabbath, that's what we're doing. God set the time. God set the place. God said He's going to be there. It's His appointment with us. And if we don't show up, we've blown off an appointment with our Creator. That's a serious situation. Something we need to seriously consider, because it is a serious matter. God takes it seriously. And do we? How seriously do we take that command? So these are some of the important implications of the word Moed.

Moed, which again means an appointed time or meeting with God, with our Creator. And this again is the word that is translated feast or feasts there. And Leviticus 23. The next word that I'd like to look at here is the word translated holy from the Hebrew. It's kodesh. And it means to set apart or something that is set apart or separated by God as sacred for His use or His purpose.

Something that is set apart or separated by God as sacred for His use or His purpose. So God says, as we read up here on the screen behind us, You shall proclaim these feasts to be wholly set apart convocations here. So these feast days, including God's weekly Sabbath day, are holy, which means that they are set apart.

They are separated by God for His holy purpose or His holy use. Mankind can't make anything holy. We're not holy, so we can't make anything holy. But God is holy, so we can determine what is holy. He can set apart things, people, events, occasions, times like this as holy for His use or His purpose. One of those purposes that He sets aside these days, these specific days, as being holy, is to teach us about His plan for the salvation of mankind. Some of the other purposes of this feast, Mr. Knudtsman talked about last night, and some of the other purposes we'll talk about later on in this sermon, and I'm sure later on during the feast as well. But the point of that is that these feast days are special. They are special to God. They are not ordinary days. They are days, there are times that God has set apart as holy, dedicating them for His use. It's easy for us, and I've been guilty of this myself, to get into the mindset that the feast is a vacation. And yes, it is a vacation in the one sense, and we are not at work. And yes, it is for many of us the only vacation we get during the year, until we've built up a certain level of seniority and so on, to earn more vacation time than just this feast. But my point here is that God has set these times apart, these days apart, for something that is far more important than just a vacation. It's far more important than that. He has far more important things to teach us during this time, which is why we are gathered here, for services to hear these messages. The next word that we'll take a look at is convocations. Convocations, it's from the Hebrew word, mikra. And it means an assembly, a calling together, or a gathering together of people.

Calling, an assembly, a calling together, or a gathering together of people. It comes from a Hebrew root that means to call or to call out or to proclaim. It has the connotation of calling people together for a meeting, again, an assembly. That's what this word is derived from. So God says, and we've read this command several times, you see it here on the screen behind me, that these are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim, you shall call out, you shall announce, you shall proclaim these, to be holy convocations, holy gatherings, here by God for his people. And he says again that he will be there, because again, this is his appointment, and that he expects us to join him there in these holy meetings, these holy assemblies, because again, he has set the time, he has set the place, he has set the purpose. And that is right here, right now, in the Feasts, in Steamboat Springs and in many other places around the world to keep God's Holy Days, God's festival here, and to learn the lessons that he has prepared for us to learn about during this time. I'd like to read how some other versions translate this passage, Leviticus 23, 1 and 2, which helps capture this meaning a little bit better for us. For instance, the new international version translates this as, Speak to the Israelites and say to them, These are my appointed feasts. You see the idea of an appointment in there again. The appointed feast of the eternal, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies, sacred gatherings, holy gatherings there. The New Living Translation puts this as, Give the Israelites instruction regarding the Lord's appointed festivals. There's that idea of an appointment again. In there, the days when all of you will be summoned, called out, commanded to come and worship me. The Bible in Basic English says, Say to the children of Israel, These are the fixed feasts of the Lord, fixed because God chose the time there, which you will keep for holy meetings. These are my feasts. And the last one, the Holman Christian Study Bible, Speak to the Israelites and tell them, These are my appointed times. The times of the Lord that you will proclaim as sacred assemblies. So all of these, I think, catch different aspects of these Hebrew words there. And their meaning and their significance. And when we put these different meanings together, we come away with a fuller picture of God's command here and why we are gathered here. That these are God's appointments with us. These are His specific times that He has set apart as holy and sacred gatherings to come and meet with His people at these times and in the locations that He has chosen. And He emphasizes again and again that these are His feasts. These are His feasts, my feasts. So what this means is, and we say this, but do we really grasp the meaning of it? That God and Jesus Christ are here with us in spirit. Because again, these are the appointments they have set for us. They say they will be here. And do we understand and appreciate the fullness of that meaning? I think we do when we dig in to these words a little bit better here. So again, God has invited us to be here for this specific appointment to keep with Him. And we are here to have these holy meetings at God's command. So again, the second reason why we are here is because this is one of God's sacred appointments with us that He sets throughout the course of the year. A third reason that we are here, and this has been touched on a little bit, is that we are here to rejoice. We are here to rejoice and to enjoy the feast. Let's notice another verse where we left off earlier in Leviticus 23 and begin in verse 40 here.

And God says, And you shall take for yourselves on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. So part of the command to be here, we're commanded not just to assemble here, but to do something while we're here.

And that is to rejoice, to have a good time. The common thinking in the world today is that these laws are bondage, they're slavery, this kind of thing. But God clearly tells us that this is a time of rejoicing. If this is suffering, bring it on. Let's have more of it. I'll take all the suffering I can take of this kind. I want to suffer some more like this. This is wonderful. God commands us to rejoice. Let's notice another command, and this is part of God's command, to save our second tithe so that we can come here to celebrate his Feast of Tabernacles.

And he tells us what to do with this second tithe here in Deuteronomy 14, verse 26. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires. You shall eat there before the Eternal, your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

So during the Feast, God wants us to enjoy some things that we would not normally be able to during the rest of the year, and gives us some examples of that. For instance, if you'd like some nice leg of lamb, go for it. He specifically mentions lamb here. If you'd like a nice, tender, juicy steak or a better steak than you can normally afford to do that, go for it. He says, spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep. Now, I've never tried to eat an entire ox during the course of the Feast, but I've seen a few young men and teenagers who could probably do it, and may be already well on their way to doing that.

But if you can do that, go for it if you want to do that. God gives you his blessing on that. If you want to have steak or lamb every day of the Feast, you have God's blessing to do that.

Of course, in moderation, as Mr. Carmichael brought out in the Sermonette today. God also says you can spend your second tithe on something good to drink. Maybe you like a good wine that you couldn't normally afford. So you can buy that instead of what you normally buy. The Thunderbird, the Ripple, the Boons Farm, the Mad Dog 2020. I'm thinking back to the brands that were popular in college days. I don't know if they're still around or not. Or now that Trader Joe's has come to Colorado, the 2-buck Chuck.

You can tell which ones of you are from California because of the laughs about the 2-buck Chuck. It's a $2 bottle of wine, but it's pretty good stuff sometimes. So you have God's blessing to enjoy that. Of course, as long as you do that in moderation and don't overdo that. God says that this is a time to rejoice. He even commands us to rejoice. Us and our household, you and your household, as he says here. The entire household is to rejoice, too. This is important. It's not a matter of just what the head of the household wants to do, or to see, or to experience, or whatever it is.

It is to be a time for all the members of the household to rejoice and enjoy themselves and to take advantage of this opportunity. All the blessings that God gives us here to learn about God's truth and to celebrate this foretaste of His kingdom. Let's notice also over a few chapters in Deuteronomy 16, verses 13-15. God says here, You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days.

Notice how many commands there are to keep this feast here in God's Word. This is a different one. When you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress, and you shall rejoice in your feast. Again, the command to rejoice is an intrinsic part of celebrating the feast. 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.

Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Eternal, your God, in the place which the Eternal chooses, because the Eternal, your God, will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands so that you surely rejoice. Do you get the idea we're supposed to rejoice here? Emphasize that command over and over again. So this is a time to rejoice.

And after all, what does this feast picture? What does it typify for us? It pictures the coming kingdom of God on earth, and we are here to rehearse that coming kingdom in a millennial setting of peace and plenty when Satan, the great adversary, the enemy of mankind, the source of sorrow, the source of suffering and blindness and death and all of that, is removed and mankind will at last have the joy and the thrill of beginning to learn about God's ways, most of them for the first time ever.

And they will learn that and begin to experience the great blessings that come from knowing and understanding God's truth and obeying them. And one of the ways that we rejoice, of course, during the feast is by giving of ourselves.

During the feast, we've heard that in the first two messages so far, and it is an important part of the feast here. We just read that here in Deuteronomy 16, in verse 14, that is, we are to rejoice with our families, we are to rejoice with strangers, with the fatherless, with the widows, with those who are here without families, without spouses or without others whom they know. And perhaps, no doubt, some of the people here are the only ones from their church area attending the feast here. And as we heard last night, they are our family for this coming eight days. They are our extended spiritual family, and are we going to make them welcome and feel at home here? So we are commanded, we are here to take them in, to give of ourselves in serving and rejoicing with others during this time. As Mr. Knutsman mentioned in his message last night, I thought this summed up very well. If you want to have a miserable feast, don't pray, don't study, think only of yourself, and... Let's see, what was the other one? Yeah, don't serve. Yeah, don't pray, don't study, don't serve, and think only of yourself, and you're guaranteed to have a miserable feast. And we see that reflected here in Deuteronomy 16 and verse 14 here on screen. So we are here to rejoice here, to enjoy the feast. This is God's command here. A fourth reason that we are here to celebrate this feast, to observe this feast, is to learn to fear God. We are here to learn to fear God. Let's notice this command. Yet another place, Deuteronomy 14 verse 22 and 23.

You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain, and that the field produces year by year. Again, this is talking about second tithe, which we save up over the year, and then use that to come and enjoy the feast here. And notice here, And you shall eat before the eternal your God, and the place where he chooses to make his name abide, the tithe of your grain, and your new wine, and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and of your flocks, that you may learn to fear the eternal your God always.

Now, what does that mean, to learn to fear the eternal your God? This is a phrase that trips a lot of people up, and understandably so, because it leads to a lot of misunderstandings. Because, after all, what does the word fear mean in English? It means to be afraid, to feel dread, to be terrified of something.

Is God saying that we are to be terrified of him, that we are to be afraid of him? Because fear, if you think about it, is pretty much the opposite of what God wants us to feel toward him.

How does God want us to feel toward him? First of all, he wants us to love him. He wants us to trust him. But how can we love and trust a being that we are terrified of? Have you thought about that? How do you reconcile those two concepts here?

How do we love and how do we trust a being that we are afraid of? Well, to begin to understand this, we need to understand a basic concept about the Hebrew language. I've been mentioning this in a number of sermons in our Colorado congregations, that the Hebrew language is much more limited than the English language. English has about seven times as many words as the Hebrew language does. We're familiar with this with some words, one notable word, ruach, which we've probably heard, which is translated, and means spirit and breath and wind. Spirit, breath and wind. They're related meanings, but they're all distinctly different in English.

We have very different English words for that. And the English language, again, has far more words, so we can get very much more specific with our meaning and intention and words in English compared to Hebrew. What this means, the implications of this, is that in the Hebrew language, one word can have a very broad range of meanings. And you have to really understand the context of how it is used and compare it and how it is used to understand the specific meaning that God is intending with that.

And this is true of the Hebrew word that is translated, fear. Here you can see on the last line, it is yare, y-a-r-e, yare. That's the word that is translated, fear, in English here. Let's notice, to try to get a handle on what this word means, let's notice another passage where this word, yare, is used. Leviticus 19, verse 3, Every one of you shall revere, shall yare his mother and father. And if you look at the King James version, it says, every one of you shall fear his mother and father. Is that right? Does this mean that every one of us is to be afraid of our own father and mother?

Is a little child afraid of her mother? Or is a little boy afraid of his father? Well, no, not at all. It's not the way God designed us. It's not the way God intends it to be. That goes entirely against the way that God wired us. A child naturally, a little girl naturally looks up to her mother. A little boy naturally looks up to his father. They want to be like their mother.

They want to be like their father there. Because, again, we trust our parents. We look to them to protect us, to provide for us, to watch over us, a child does. And that is part of what is captured by translating this word, Yahreh, here as revere, instead of fear. Because no little child should be afraid of his father and mother. But a child should revere his father and mother. Should trust them, should love them, should rely on them. It's the exact same word. But two very different meanings, depending on the context there and what it means for us.

God is not telling us again to be terrified for little children to be in dread of their father and mother. But to revere and to honor and to respect them. And it's a shame that in the King James Version of the Bible, the translators, usually when it comes to relating this word to God, usually translated it as fear, instead of some of the other range of meanings of this Hebrew word. Because it puts an entirely different and erroneous connotation on our relationship with God.

That's not to say that we shouldn't fear the consequences of disobeying God, because we should. We should fear those consequences when we disobey God. But does that mean that we fear Him, that we are afraid of Him? Because again, how can we love a being that we're afraid of? How can we trust and rely on a being that we're terrified of? It just doesn't compute.

It doesn't work. But that's not what is being talked about here. And that's an erroneous connotation because of this unfortunate translation of the word fear here. Let's notice another passage that relates to this in 1 John 4, verses 18 and 19.

Notice this, particularly in the context of what we've been talking about, about fear and God. John, the apostle of love, tells us here, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment or punishment, is what the Greek means here. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

We love him, we love God, because he first loved us. So this very clearly tells us that fear involves torment, and there is no fear in the right kind of love toward God, because that right kind of love casts out fear. It eliminates fear, in other words. When we love God, what John is saying here is that when we love God, we don't have to live in terror of him, because we know that he loves us, that he only wants the best for us, and that everything that he does is ultimately for our good, for our blessing, our benefit in the long run. And this is why John says just before this, famous passage, 1 John 4 and verse 16, And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love.

And he who abides in love, or lives in love, lives in God, or abides in God, and God in him. So when we come to know and understand that God is love, that that is the perfect summation of who and what God is, of his character, of his nature, of his motivations, then we have a relationship with God that isn't based on terror or dread, but on love. We want to obey God. We want to please him. We want to do what he tells us, because we know that he has only our best interests at heart. And he wants to bless us. And that's why we obey him. And that's a much longer-lasting, a much deeper motivation than just fear or dread out of the consequences we might suffer from disobeying him. So this is very important. Let's notice another verse that ties into this. Proverbs 9 and verse 10. The fear of the Eternal is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. The fear of the Eternal is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Is this saying that being terrified of God is how we begin to become wise? Well, no, that doesn't make any sense. That's not a disconnect. A common way of phrasing things in Hebrew, and particularly in the Bible, and particularly in the book of Proverbs, is to say the same thing twice in slightly different ways, with slightly different emphasis the second time. And that's what we see here. What Solomon is telling us here is the same thing in two slightly different ways. He says that if you want to become a wise and understanding person, that the way you start becoming wise and understanding is in first coming to know who and what God is.

It's like what Mr. Newtsman mentioned in his sermon last night about the great questions of life. Who and what is God? Who and what is man? Why are we here? If you want to answer those great questions of life, the place you start is right here in Proverbs 9, with the right, the honor, the respect, the reverence for God. That's how we do that. And one of the ways we do that is by coming here, again, the purpose we're talking about, we come here to keep God's feast of tabernacles, to learn to fear God, but not fear as in being afraid of Him, but to come to honor Him, to respect Him, to love Him as our Heavenly Father. Because again, these Holy Days teach us what God is doing. They teach us about His love for us. They teach us about His love for all of mankind, the entire human race. And as we do that, as we learn these things about God's nature and character and personality, then it's only natural that we come to love Him, and to honor and respect and revere Him as well. So we need to understand that, my bottom line of this is, we need to understand that when the Bible talks about fearing God, or tells us that one of the reasons to keep this feast is to learn to fear God, it's not saying we are coming here to be terrified and afraid of God.

But instead, that we come to love Him, to revere Him, to come to stand in awe of Him and everything that He is, that He is the great God of love, who loves us and wants all mankind to come to know Him and to understand Him and to receive His gift of salvation and eternal life in His Kingdom. This is very well expressed in Psalm 66 and verse 3, where this same word, fear, is translated a very different way, again because of the context. Psalm 66 verse 3 says, Say to God, how awesome! Yare, the same word, fear. But here it means how awesome, how incredible, how mind-boggling, how awe-inspiring are your works.

All the earth shall worship you and sing praises to you. They shall sing praises to your name. This is picturing the time that we are here to celebrate when all of the earth, all of the human race, will come to realize what an awesome and incredible God that we have, the privilege and the blessing of worshiping here. So again, the fourth reason that we are here is to learn to fear God, not to be terrified of Him, but to love Him, to honor Him, to revere Him, and to stand in awe of the majesty and the glory and the greatness of our Heavenly Father.

And now let's shift gears. I think we addressed two questions. Why are we here collectively? But now, why are you here? Why are you here personally, individually? Well, the short answer is that you are here because God the Father has chosen you. Because He's chosen you. You have been invited here. You have received the greatest invitation that any human being can receive in this physical life here. Let's notice the words of Jesus Christ in John 6, verse 44. It says here, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him, and I will raise Him up at the last day.

So Christ tells us here that God has drawn us into a relationship with Jesus Christ so that we can be raised up in the First Resurrection at the return of Jesus Christ to start His millennial reign on earth. This tells us here, we didn't choose God. He didn't need us. We didn't choose Him, but He chose us. He did something that sparked a thought in our minds, sparked an interest in digging deeper into His Word and coming to understand that and seeing something we hadn't known or understand and coming to obey some command like the Holy Days or the Sabbath that we hadn't seen before.

Or maybe for some of our young people here, He sparked that interest in the mind of our parents there and helped us to learn and to see that, to draw us to our Savior Jesus Christ and to learn of His ways. And He draws us then, as Christ said here, into a relationship with the Father and with our Savior and coming King Jesus Christ. So, since you were called, you were drawn, you were chosen, the Bible uses all three of those words, called and drawn and chosen there.

Why? What were you drawn to? What were you called to? What were you chosen to do? And what does that have to do with your being here at the Feast of Tabernacles? Yes, you were called to be raised up, as we see here from Christ's words, but raised up and given glory in the resurrection and immortality in the resurrection to do what?

What's the point? What's the purpose, in other words? When the remainder of the sermon time here, we'll talk about three things that He has called and chosen you to become. And the first of those is that you are here because God chose you to be a ruler and a king. You are here because God chose you to be a ruler and a king.

Let's notice a few prophecies of that beginning in Revelation 19 and verse 11 through 16. We'll read, He was clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So this is the name or the title that our Savior will bear when He returns to reign over the earth. But He's not called King and Lord. He's called King of Kings and Lord of Lords, meaning many kings, many other lords. Is this talking about the other political or government leaders on the earth at Christ's return?

Well, no. So what is this talking about? Let's turn to Revelation 20 and verse 4. And we find the answer to that. John writes here, And I saw thrones connoting rulership, connoting royalty. And they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. So this is an important aspect of those sitting on those thrones, what they will be doing. They will be judging. Judgment is committed to them, determining right and wrong, based on the source of truth, which is God's Word.

Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or His image and had not received His mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. And this is where we get the word millennium. It's Latin for a thousand years. And this, of course, is talking about God's faithful saints. Some of them have been sleeping in their graves for thousands of years now, awaiting the fulfillment of this prophecy.

And some will yet die and then await the resurrection to life, when they will rise from the dust of the earth to live and to reign in the time pictured by this feast of tabernacles. But the point is this, that they live again and they reign with Jesus Christ. And this is why you are here.

This is why you are here, to be in training for that incredible future responsibility. Let's notice also Matthew 19 and verse 27. Actually, I got out of order here. Yeah, Matthew 19 verses 27 and 28. Mr. Carmichael read this parallel account in Mark. But it says here, So we see here very plainly that Christ says the twelve apostles will judge over the twelve tribes of Israel during this period.

We know from other passages, we don't have time to go there, that David will reign over all of Israel. King David will. We know from the parables of the talents and the pounds that those who remain faithful to God, who faithfully use what God gives us, will be given rulership over ten cities, over five cities, over one cities. This is our future. This is what we are here training for. This is what we are here learning about. But to do that, we have to learn a different kind of leadership.

We have to learn the kind of servant leadership to learn to lead as Jesus Christ leads. And here's the passage I meant to read at this point. It got a little bit out of order. But Matthew 20 in verses 25 through 28, this is what Mr. Carmichael alluded to.

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who are great exercise authority over others. And yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant. Again, we keep hearing this theme of service again and again during the feast. We've heard it twice so far.

We'll no doubt hear about it again. It's because it is important. It is part of our training for the future that God has called us to, to serve, not to lord it over others. Continuing in verse 27, And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. So again, we're hearing this theme because it is important. It is a key part of our training and our preparation here.

So again, we are here. You are here, each one of us, because God chose you to be a ruler and a king. The sixth reason that we are here and that you are here is because God chose you to be a priest. God chose you to be a priest. Let's notice this, stated in Revelation 5 and verses 9 and 10.

And they sang a new song saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. This is referring to Jesus Christ here. But then it says what Christ is doing in and through us and the future he has for us.

And you have made us kings and priests to serve our God and we shall reign on the earth. Now we've already briefly discussed what it means to be a king, so we won't go through that again. Actually, any one of these points could be a whole sermon here, but we don't have time for that. I'd be here preaching to midnight and then people fall out of windows and it kills them. And it gets kind of ugly, so we're not going to do that. We'll just skip that part. But what is a priest? What does a priest do? Kings and priests are two different positions. But they're two sides of the same coin, two different aspects of the same responsibility. Now, priests, like the other words we talked about earlier, convocation and holy and so on, is another one of those words that isn't used that much today. And when we think of a priest, what do we think of? We think of some old guy in a long black robe and maybe a rope tied around his waist or something, and he's swinging a sensor and kind of mumbling in some strange language under his breath and so on. That's the common concept or idea most people have of a priest. And it's unfortunate that Satan has polluted the meaning of a priest in this way so that people are blinded to the meaning that we are to be priests in the world tomorrow. Because in people's mind, after all, I mean, how exciting is a priest? Nothing could be more boring than an old guy with gray hair and a long bra.

Can we erase that last part off the tape, sir?

As I tell my wife, I have that extinguished look, with my gray hair. But is this what God has in mind for us? That idea, that concept of a priest? Well, let's notice Isaiah 61, verses 6-9. This is from the NIV, the New International Version. And notice what God says about his priests here in the coming kingdom of God.

And you will be called priests of the Eternal. You will be named ministers or servants, those who serve. You will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations. And in their riches you will boast. Instead of their shame, my people will receive a double portion. And instead of disgrace, they will rejoice in their inheritance. And so they will inherit a double portion in their land. And everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, the Eternal, love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Eternal has blessed.

Does this sound like a boring future to you? Far from it. What this says here is that God's priests will feed on the wealth of nations. They will receive a double portion. They will rejoice in their inheritance from God. They will experience everlasting joy. That everyone will acknowledge that they are a people whom God has blessed. Think about the contrast. Who gets so much honor and fame and glory in this world? Well, it's the pop stars. It's the actors, the big sports stars and things like that. But it won't be like that in God's kingdom. No, it will be the priests who are the ones who are highly honored. And why? Why will they be highly honored? This gets back to understanding what a priest's job is. What a priest's responsibility is. Let's go back to Malachi 2 and verse 1. This is a condemnation of the priests here by Malachi. He says, And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. And then he proceeds in several verses to lambast them for falling down on the job, for not carrying out the responsibilities of a priest properly. They have drifted so far from God's original intention of the priesthood as established through the tribe of Levi. And then God goes on to talk about the purpose of the priesthood, and the Levitical priests as always talking to Levi, the original, the progenitor of the tribe of the priests. Notice then what God says about the role and the responsibility of the priests and of our role. Because this is what we are called to do in God's coming kingdom. He says here through Malachi, My covenant was with him, with Levi, one of life and peace.

And I gave them, gave life and peace to him, to Levi, that he might fear me. So he feared me and was reverent before my name. So God is here contrasting the faithfulness of the right priest with how corrupt the priest had become in Malachi's time. Notice again what he says to compliment the priests. The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth. For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Gives us a little bit different picture from the old guy at the long black robe, speaking and mumbling some strange language under his breath, doesn't he? What does a priest do? We see it here that he fears God and is reverent before God's name. We've talked about reverence and right fear of God today. The law of truth is in a priest's mouth. Injustice is never found on a priest's lips. A priest walks with God. A priest turns people from iniquity. The lips of a priest seek knowledge, and people seek to learn God's law from a priest. To sum it up, in the last sentence here, a priest is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. In other words, he is a personal representative of the great God himself. This gives kind of a different picture of a priest, doesn't it? A very different picture. In the world tomorrow, a priest isn't going to be someone that people want to avoid. They think that's terribly boring. They never want to be a priest. No, people are going to respect and honor priests. They are going to be the people that the peace... Those are going to be the ones that people will want to see, to learn from, to learn about God, and learn about God's ways from. Part of our job, then, in the world tomorrow, as we see here, will be turning people from iniquity and getting people to seek the law of God, to seek to learn about God, about our great God. Let's notice an important aspect that ties in with this about Jesus Christ's role as our high priest. In Hebrews 7, verses 24-26, again, reading from the new international version here.

It says here, picking up into a thought about Christ's role as our high priest, but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. How would you sum up Jesus Christ's role as our high priest in what we just read here? How would you sum it up? How does this summarize Christ's role, his purpose, the end result, the goal of him being our high priest? What's his job, in other words?

As we see here, it is to bring people to salvation. To bring people to salvation. That's the bottom line. That's the bottom line of the role and the responsibility of a priest, to bring people to salvation. That's not to say that we, personally or individually, can save people, because we can't. We can't duplicate the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the creator of all things, who gave himself, his life, as an offering once and for all, to pay all sins, to pay the penalty for all sins, of all mankind, for all time, for all eternity. We can't do that. We can't do that. As he did. He alone makes salvation possible. But what we can do, and what we will do, is help bring people to a knowledge of salvation and into a relationship and obedience to God, and forsaking sin that can then make their salvation possible. Just as Christ has done for us. And as we saw from back in Malachi, which we read just a few minutes ago, that has always been the job, the role, the responsibility of a priest, to teach about God's ways, to bring people into a relationship with our great God. And that will be our job in the millennium. You are here. You are here at this feast because God has chosen you to be a priest. And now we come to the seventh and the final reason that we are here and that you are here. And that is that you are here because God chose you to be a teacher. God chose you to be a teacher. You are here because of that. Just as the responsibilities of a king and a priest somewhat overlap, so does this responsibility. And it's so important that it deserves a brief discussion of its own, as we'll do here in the next few minutes. Because the biggest responsibility or job in the millennium will be doing what? It will be rebuilding a world on the right values, the right values, and on the Word of God, the Bible. Let's notice a prophecy of this found over in Isaiah 30 and verses 20 and 21. And here God is talking about the restoration of the world, a shattered and destroyed world, as it will be in the cataclysmic events leading up to Christ's return. But here God is talking about the regathering of His people, of Israel, and comforting the people. And it says here, Your what? Your teachers! As it mentions here twice. Your teachers. Verse 21, If you like it, you'll enjoy the great blessings that will come from it. Just try it. And at last mankind will then be receptive to learning of God's truth, and that will be our job. This shouldn't be a big surprise to us that we're called to be teachers, because after all, what's the great commission Jesus Christ gave to His church? Matthew 28, 19, and 20. Probably have it memorized.

And of the Holy Spirit doing what? Teaching them. Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. So the great commission that Christ gave His church is to go and disciple the nations to teach them to observe all things that He's commanded us. And that is a big part of the job.

Is this commission only for this age? Well, not really, because in this age we know we're not going to make a whole lot of disciples, followers for Jesus Christ. When is that ultimately going to be fulfilled? When is a huge number going to come and surrender their lives and become followers of Jesus Christ? It's going to happen in the millennium. It's not going to happen in this age. That's when our job really begins, of teaching people God's ways in the millennium. Notice one other scripture here, Isaiah 11, verse 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the eternal, as the waters cover the seas. And this will be a part of our job. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of God, as the water covers the seas. How does water cover the seas? It fills every nook and cranny. That's a neat thing about water in this wonderful analogy, because water fills down. It fills every hole, every nook, every cranny, every crevice. It fills everything. And the whole world is going to be filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the seas. One final scripture I'll close with, Daniel 12, verse 3. A very encouraging scripture that talks again about us, about how it all comes together. Our purpose, why we are here for the feast, and why you are here individually. Those who are wise, and this is a prophecy of this coming time, those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament of the heavens, and go out at night and admire the night sky out here. And those who turn many to righteousness, and as we've read these scriptures today, that is a major part of our job, to turn many to righteousness, as kings, as priests, as teachers, will shine like the stars forever and ever. That is our job. That is part of our future, and part of our futures, to shine as stars forever. Why are you here? You are here because God chose you. You are here because God believes in you. If He didn't, He wouldn't have called you. We are in training now for that future. What can we do to get the most out of this feast? Pray about the messages. Pray for God to inspire the speakers, to give us what we all need. Ask God to give you what you need. To remind you of things that maybe you've forgotten over the years. Ask Him to help you learn things, to see things you haven't learned or haven't seen before His Word. Or to gain a deeper understanding of what you already know. Take to heart the messages that you'll hear during this week. Review them. Discuss them with your friends, with your family here. Take them home with you. Most importantly, live them. Live them so that you can live up to this future, this incredible future. Go back and build your congregations. Because we are the Kingdom of God in training. How can you help your congregation become part of the Kingdom of God in training? How can you help others grow in grace and knowledge? By this time, we ought to be teachers, not babes. Edify the Church using the abilities, the gifts that God has given you. Put into practice the reasons that we are here for the Feast, and the reasons that you are here.