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we had the reading there in Leviticus 23 and if you notice what it says there in verse number one Leviticus 23 verse number one it says and the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them concern the feasts of the Lord which you have which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations even these are my feasts look what it says in verse number three six days shall work be done but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest and holy convocation you shall do no work therein it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings now I'm going to read to you stay there in Leviticus 23 look at verse number three I'm going to read to you pretty much a parallel passage in Exodus 35 verse number two Exodus 35 as I read Exodus 35 verse number two you follow the words there in verse number three Leviticus 23 three I'll read to you from Exodus 35 verse number two which says six days shall work be done but on the seventh day there shall be to you and holy day a Sabbath of rest to the Lord whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death so what you see in Leviticus 23 is God is outlying his feasts this holy convocation but in Exodus 35 verse number two God calls it what and holy day holy day title for the sermon this morning is happy holidays happy holy days happy holidays okay now I know that in our society generally speaking people are trying to move away from the statement merry Christmas because they don't want to acknowledge Christ and so many times in order to remove themselves from Jesus Christ they'll say happy holidays but brethren it's not a wicked thing to say happy holidays because we understand that the etymology of the word holiday for us comes from the word holy days okay which is a biblical term and what we see in Leviticus 23 is a list of feasts or a list of holy days and you know right now for many people you're on holidays many people you say out my business I shut down for a couple of weeks we're on holidays we're about to celebrate our holidays now when some if you're working with a colleague and a work colleague comes up to you and says boy I need a holiday what do they mean by that when they say I need a holiday they mean I've been working too hard I'm exhausted what do they mean I need a rest I need a break and really that's what it means look again they're Leviticus 23 verse six days shall work be done but on the seventh day it is a sabbath of rest and holy convocation you shall do no work therein but it is a sabbath for the lord in all your dwellings the first holy day or the first rest that we see here in the bible is the sabbath the sabbath and what I want to do today guys is to go through all the feasts not in any great detail the feasts are listed out here in this chapter and I want to take the spiritual meaning of the spiritual lesson that we can take today because holidays was important to god it's something these are the feasts of the lord these are his days and there's a purpose behind these holy days where the jews of old the israelites of old will take a break from the regular day-to-day activities and come and and focus meditate on these holy days or these feasts that god has given them and he did it for a purpose he did it for a reason he wanted everybody to forget about the daily day-to-day events of life and god wanted to focus on specific things and so brethren if you're on holidays right now if you're you know coming into your christmas if you've got a break from work uh you know or you know you're taking time off or whatever it is I want you to think about why god created the holiday to begin with what his purposes are so while we go and we celebrate christmas and open the presents and all these other things I want you to think about the things that god wants you to be meditating on on your holidays so the first thing that comes up of course that we read here is the sabbath we understand that the sabbath is a rest from works okay and if you can keep your finger there in leviticus 23 come with me to hebrews chapter 4 please keep your finger there in leviticus 23 and come with me to hebrews 4 hebrews 4 hebrews chapter 4 so we know the sabbath day began when god created all things he created all things in six days and then he rested on the seventh day he rested today we call it the saturday okay in spanish saturday is called sabado which comes from sabbath most other countries most other languages when they say saturday for us in english it's referring to saturn okay but for most other languages saturday means sabbath the sabbath day okay which is the seventh day of the week and that is the day that god rested all right well i mean obviously our lord god doesn't need to work six days and rest on the seventh he doesn't need to do that for himself but he did that as a picture and example a truth that we are to live by and understand and this teaching of the sabbath day gets brought up in the new testament and we understand fully what this holiday what this rest signified in the eyes of god in hebrews chapter 4 verse number one it says let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it so god wants you to enter into his rest and there's a concern that some of these hebrews might come short of the rest they may not enter into that rest look at verse number two what is this rest for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them so we understand what this rest is it's the gospel a gospel being preached okay but the word preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it so if you hear the gospel you hear the death burial resurrection of jesus christ as the all sufficient payment for your sins you hear that but you don't mix faith with it it's unprofitable for you okay you might know what jesus did for you but if you don't have your faith and trust solely on what christ has done for you it's unprofitable let's continue verse number three for we which have believed of believe is your faith we have believed do enter into rest as he said as i have sworn in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest although the works were finished from the foundation of the world for he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day that's a sabbath on this wise and god did rest on the seventh day from all his works that's really interesting so this rest is resting from your works and the symbolism that god gave us in the old testament was god creating or working for six days and resting well we want to enter into that same rest how do we do it by believing on the gospel by putting our faith on the gospel the death bearing resurrection of jesus christ if your faith is on anything else but jesus if your faith is on works all right you're you're resting from works okay but if your faith is on works then you've not entered into that rest let drop down to verse number nine it says the remain of therefore arrest to the people of god for he that is entered into his rest look at this he also have ceased from his own works as god did from his so what is entering into the sabbath rest signifying entering into the rest of jesus christ being saved believe in the gospel in order for you to be saved guess what it is not of works in fact you have to cease from works and entering with belief and the moment you do that you enter into the rest of god you are saved you're a child of god you believed on jesus christ his death burial his resurrection as the all-sufficient payment for your sins and now you're resting now people you know it's funny about this people might say well if you've entered into rest by believing what's the proof that you're resting they'll say your proof is your works no no no i'm seized from worse i'm resting if i if proof of resting is working it makes no sense whatsoever it's correct prove to me that you're resting well can you see that i'm working no no works is not the evidence that you've rested resting is the evidence that you're resting having believed on christ and cease from works is the evidence faith is the evidence of things not seen the bible says and so it's interesting about this is that the first rest the first holiday that is mentioned here is the sabbath rest as god rested from his works so too is salvation you cease from works and you trust what christ has done for you once you've done that you've entered into his rest all right so happy holidays brethren the first thing that god wants you to remember is that salvation is ceasing from works not oh i work to the point that i can't no you cease from works completely forget works and you rest purely on what christ has done for you all right and then people say oh pastor you're saying you don't work we are constantly working this this is a working church just yesterday we had several of us going out there knocking doors preaching the gospel of jesus christ there's plenty of works happening here but salvation is without work salvation is faith alone on what christ has done for us and i want you to remember this if you're on holidays right now i want you to rejoice it's happy holidays i want you to be happy i want you to be rejoicing remembering that salvation is simply putting your full faith and trust on what christ has done for you on the cross all right come back with me to leviticus 23 let's look at the next one the first one was the sabbath what's the next thing that is mentioned here in leviticus 23 verse number five leviticus 23 verse number five it says in the 14th day of the first month at even is the lord's passover the passover is the next thing that is mentioned here uh in the sabbath rest of the feast of the lord so come with me keep again keep a finger there in leviticus 20 uh 23 that is the main text for us today but come now with me to first corinthians please first corinthians chapter five first corinthians chapter five you know what the passover is when israel was under bondage by egypt and uh god performed those 10 plagues that fell upon the people of egypt so his people would be free to go though the the children of israel be free to go being led by moses you know the final plague that fell upon the egyptians was a was the death of the firstborn and in order for the israelites to the to protect themselves from the death they were to take a the blood of a lamb they were to sacrifice the lamb eat of that lamb and the blood was put upon the doorposts and that lame became the passover lamb well this is the next feast this is the next holiday that i want you to celebrate and think about in life and if you don't know what the significance of that is in the new testament very quickly there in first corinthians chapter five and verse number seven first corinthians chapter five and verse number seven the bible says purge out therefore this old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened look at these look at these words for even christ our passover is sacrificed for us for even christ our passover is sacrificed for us so what is the significance of the passover lamb in the old testament that it pictured jesus christ our passover amen jesus christ our passover even john when he sees jesus coming john the baptist he says these words behold the lamb of god behold the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world john the baptist himself knew that christ would be that passover lamb not to deliver uh the israelites out of egypt but that he would be the sacrifice for the entire world this is what's wonderful about celebrating our holiday especially christmas remembering christ came in bethlehem's manger as a little innocent child is that he came to die he came to be the passover lamb he came to give of himself fully that we can be saved and again enter into that rest happy holidays we enter into that rest but the passover lamb is jesus christ and so i want you to understand and recognize you know just like the israelites of old would put the blood of the lamb upon the door posts and that would protect them from the angel of death well you too in order for you to not experience the second death not to be cast into hellfire you need to apply the blood of the lamb the blood of your passover lamb jesus christ and if you put your faith and trust on him like we saw earlier that the sabbath represents then the blood of christ has been applied to your accounts the blood of christ is what cleanses us from all sin and so these holidays now whenever you have a holiday whatever it is i want to think about why am i having a holiday what is the history of holidays exactly and it's biblical it's god-given but he wants to be focused and thinking about what christ has done for you how he gave his life for you that he bled for you that he cleanses you by his blood don't let your holidays go by without remembering what christ has done for you happy holidays i know christ gave his life and gave his blood that we would be delivered from all our sins now keep a finger there in first corinthians five if you can and come back with me to leviticus 23 okay because there are two feasts there are two celebrations that are intermingled after the passover when the passover is then you uh yeah you probably heard of the days of unleavened bread okay and sometimes the days of unleavened bread are just referred to as the passover in general but it is its own thing if you look at leviticus 23 the next verse number six leviticus 23 verse number six it says and on the 15th day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the lord seven days you must eat unleavened bread seven days you must eat unleavened bread come back with me to first corinthians five you were there before first corinthians five please what is the significance of this unleavened bread well let me give you the practical side of things very quickly the reason the jews were to eat or the israelites were to eat unleavened bread is because once the passover lamb came by barrow because he would lose his first one would very quickly allow the israelites to leave egypt and so they were to make haste and the bible says in the old testament they were ready to go they would have shoes on they were ready to have their clothes on their bags packed they were ready to leave and one thing of course with unleavened bread it's just it's a much quicker process to cook unleavened bread than waiting for the dough to rise and so the unleavened bread in many ways respects of the old testament represents the haste or the immediacy and this is another you know picture of salvation the moment you apply the blood of the lamb it's instant you're saved immediately you're delivered from egypt immediately it's the same kind of context but paul uses this concept of unleavened bread in the new testament to speak of the new testament church and in first corinthians chapter five look at verse number six first corinthians five verse number six he says your glorying is not good no you're not that a little leaven leaven of the whole lump because you put a little leaven in bread in your dough in your flour put a little yeast it's going to leaven the whole thing don't you know that now this is the context of there being a fornicator in the house of the lord and a man who had slept to his father's wife okay and i mean it's a horrible sin now horrible sins happen all the time but the fact is this church was basically supporting him they were fine with it it was like oh you know we're cool with it as a church that should not be the case because you allow certain wicked people to be in your church everybody's going to be leavened by that like if you allow some young fornicating person to be in the church guess what the other young people are going to be thinking well i can do it too if so and so can get away from it then so can i these things need to be removed from the house of the lord look at verse number seven it says purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened for even christ our passover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth so what is this unleavened bread representative of sincerity and truth what is leaven representative of malice and wickedness look when it comes to a church a very unpopular thing something that i don't like to do but i've had to do sometimes is to ask people to leave the church because there's wickedness and there's malice because there's something that's going to leaven the whole lump unless it gets removed because we want to be able to serve the lord and praise the lord in the house of the lord with sincerity and truth drop down to verse number 11 this is the leaven that needs to be removed out of the church verse number 11 says but now i have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator fornication needs to be removed out of the house of the lord or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one know not to eat for what have i to do to judge them that are without do you not ye judge them that are within but them that are without god judgeth therefore look at this therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person so we have a list of sins that wicked person that is committing those sins is to be removed from the house of the lord all right that is representative of leaven we need to be an unleavened church okay we have christ our passover and the unleavened is removing wickedness and sins out of our church and out of our midst out of our lives now look when someone gets removed out of the church for these reasons sometimes publicly sometimes privately depends on how people respond to that situation i want nothing more for that person to be restored back to church i want them to repent get that right with the lord put it behind them get back in church everyone's forgiven and forgotten and we operate as per usual sometimes that's one step too hard for some people to lower themselves go you know i was wrong you know but my pastor loves me and wants me back in church so i'll do that but sometimes very hard just the pride of man the ego that we all carry you know it's hard for people to admit look i was wrong and but i want to be back in church so let's you know i'm gonna i'm gonna get that sin i'm gonna get that leaven out of my life and be restored back to the house of the lord now brevin happy holidays all right when you're on holidays what i want to do is think about the leaven in your own life you can't control the leaven that is in the life of others but what about the leaven in your own life because some of these sins are not that difficult to fall into really okay so especially during holidays drunkenness is something that needs to be dealt with you know what happens during the holidays alcohol sales are through the roof that's what people generally like to do during their holidays is get on the alcohol but reverend this is a leaven that needs to be taken out of your life don't cave in to these things that please the flesh satisfy the flesh but when god's giving you a whole day he says look i want to be holy and unleavened for him think of christ the passover he gave his life for you now what can you do get the leaven out of your life live more holy be righteous follow his commands do the things that please the lord get the leaven out of your life these holidays all right back to leviticus please leviticus 23 leviticus 23 we've looked at the sabbath we've looked at the passover we've looked at the feast of unleavened bread what's the next one leviticus 23 verse number 10 it says speak unto the children of israel and say unto them when ye become into the land which i give unto you and shall reap the harvest thereof then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest the fourth one brevin is the feast of first fruits the feast of first fruits you know god one of the israelites to get into the promised land of course we know the story they rebelled and they were in the wilderness for 40 years but that was god's plan to bring them straight into the promised land and as soon as they you know uh planted their seeds plowed the land and they had the very first of their crops prop up god wanted them to take that a sheaf of the first and bring it to the house of the lord okay that's the feast of the first fruits and so if you just uh you're there leviticus 23 look at verse number 14 look at verse number 14 it says and ye shall eat neither bread nor parched corn nor green ears until the self-same day that ye have brought an offering unto your god it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings so brethren think about the israelites of old when they have harvest the first harvest of the new season all right they were to reap of the first fruits and take it to the house of god they were to offer it as a sacrifice to god and they were not allowed to eat anything until they did that what does that tell you about the first the feast of the first fruits is that everything that comes first in our lives ought to be gods god is the priority in your life okay you put you need to put god first in all areas of your life this is the picture or the lesson of the feast of first fruits hey you can enjoy everything that god's given you but give god first of everything the first fruits i should have told you the same in uh first corinthians come with me to first corinthians please come with me back to first corinthians chapter 15 first corinthians 15 please we should of course put god first in all that we do every decision we make in life we ought to be thinking god what would you have me to do lord your will not my will be done because if it was my will i'll leave of it first and then give you the leftovers no god says give me the first give me your first so we need to make god the priority of our lives while you turn to first corinthians 15 i'm going to read to you from proverbs chapter 3 verse number 9 we know the book of proverbs is the book of wisdom god wants to embark wisdom upon you in proverbs 3 9 it says honor the lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine not alcoholic wine new wine okay freshly squeezed grape juice god promises you from the book of proverbs great wisdom if you put god first in your life he promises you're going to have more than you even need you know your barns are going to be plenteous you're going to have plenty of new wine you know you have more than you ever need simply by putting putting god first giving him your first making him your priority so we understand that concept you know from the old testament but how do we then apply this to the new testament what's the spiritual lesson that we can apply apply in this look at first corinthians 15 first corinthians 15 verse number 20 first corinthians 15 and verse number 20 first corinthians 15 20 it says but now is christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept who's the first fruits jesus who are those that sleep those that sleep in christ jesus the believers the saints that have passed away they're the ones but hey the first fruits is jesus christ look at verse number 21 for since by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead you see when you think about the concept of the first fruits when your harvest is starting to grow you're seeing the crops and you know that it takes time for everything to grow for your full farm to to be fully developed but you take the very first and you say god i'm going to give you the very first in expectation that it's all going to grow there's a fullness of harvest to come and the reason i know that i'm going to be resurrected from the dead if this body drops dead tonight i know i'm going to come back to life the reason i know that physically with a new body made like unto christ is because the first fruits have already been committed to the lord jesus christ the first fruits okay that's been offered to god jesus christ resurrected from the dead and because of that i know the full harvest is coming and i'm part of that harvest and so are you the resurrection the rapture as we know it okay so when it comes to holidays happy holidays brethren guess what even if your body were to break down and perish on this earth you have the promise of a resurrection to come and christ will bring his kingdom rain for a thousand years and is going to rain with you and i what a great harvest to come the resurrection of the dead i'm going to quickly read to you from romans 8 22 which says for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travailleth in pain together until now and not only they but ourselves also the bible says all creation groans but we also groan okay there's a there's a there's a sorrow there's a pain it's a pain of sin it's a frustration of temptations that drive us to break the laws of god it says this and not only they but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit or to witness the redemption of our body so guess what right now you have a the holy spirit of god living within you all right i've not seen jesus christ with his eyes just yet no man has seen the father as of yet but god has given us his first fruits the holy spirit to end well with in our in us okay and the holy spirit is a witness to our spirit we know the battle that we have with the flesh and the spirit the flesh wants to sin the spirit wants to do the things of god like it like it was said uh uh you know the um the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak well guess what we've been given the first fruits of the spirit we know the great harvest will come when our sinful flesh will be done away with and will be given a new resurrected body made like unto jesus christ again the same concept christ the first fruits or the holy spirit within us the first fruits because it's a promise of a coming harvest where we too will experience this resurrection and be like christ never to sin again never to die ever again never to suffer never to weep and sorrow ever again because of the new bodies that christ has given us happy holidays guess what you've got a promise of a new resurrected body to come one that will never perish one that is immortal one made like unto christ and so i know these holiday season we think of christmas and the birth of christ but i want you to remember every holiday remember all of these trips because i want you to rejoice in your holidays i want you to enjoy your holidays i want you to be happy in your holidays sometimes people get upset during christmas they don't have their family and friends around maybe loved ones have gone and passed away maybe they just don't have that social connection they don't have anybody and they have a very upset christmas but it doesn't have to be a sad christmas if we remember what the lord has done for us it can be a happy christmas it can be happy holidays to everybody and this is why god wanted the israelites of old to remember these feasts to break away from the mundane day-to-day activities and remember these important things that bring great joy in the holiday seasons come back with me to leviticus 23 leviticus 23 verse number 15 we've looked at the sabbath we've looked at the passover the feast of unleavened bread the feast of first fruits what's the next one leviticus 23 15 leviticus 23 15 says and you shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering seven sabbaths shall be complete seven sabbaths shall be complete so that's seven weeks shall be complete verse number 16 even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number 50 days all right and you shall offer a new meat offering unto the lord sorry the seven sabbaths are the seven days of unleavened bread i got that confused but then there's 50 days that follows that 50 days and in uh the book of um exodus this feast is known as the feast of weeks the feast of weeks all right now notice what well before i keep going into that do you guys know what the feast of weeks is known as in the new testament pentecost so when you read acts chapter two and they're celebrating pentecost because the word pence is like five 50 50 week 50 days all right afterwards that's where the word pentecost comes from the feast of weeks is pentecost it's the one and the same thing now we've been going through the book of acts as a church haven't we we understand what pentecost represented it's when the holy spirit was poured upon the believers and they were given a special gift to speak in other languages which we'll talk about in a moment okay but notice in leviticus 23 verse number 22 look at this feast look at that look look how they're meant to operate during this feast in leviticus 23 22 it says and when you reap the harvest of your land thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest all right so god says look when you begin to reap the harvest don't don't focus on the corners don't clean up the corners leave the corners with growth and even the gleanings whatever falls on the ground right as you harvest things fall on the ground he goes just let it fall let it just be there okay for what purpose thou shall leave them unto the poor and to the stranger i am the lord your god leave them to the poor leave them to the strange so what is this what is god saying to the harvest you harvest okay in the middle of your field forget the corners forget what you drop that's going to be all sufficient for you you don't need extra it's going to do make do with what you need god's going to give you everything you need but god is also thinking about the poor god is also thinking about the strangers god wants the poor and the strangers to have what they need as well how does that apply to the day of pentecost well if you want come with me to accept the two actually two very quickly actually the two the feast of weeks or the pentecost okay actually the two in verse number one and of course if you've been going chapter by chapter with me in the book of acts you know all of this already but actually the two verse number one actually the two and verse number one it says and when the day of pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place and i won't go into all of that right now but you know what happens right they pray they're praying they're serving the lord and then these cloven tongues of fire appear upon their heads the sound of a russian wind comes through and they've been baptized they've been filled with the holy spirits and then what happens in the story they're speaking in other languages they're preaching the gospel in other languages they're not preaching in hebrew they're not preaching in um what's the language that jesus spoke aramaic thank you they were preaching other languages and other people in jerusalem start to hear the gospel in other languages look at verse number eight and how here we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born parthians and meads and elamites and the dwellers of mesopotamia and in judea and in cappadocia in pontus and asia figria and pamphilia in egypt and in the parts of libya and syrene and look at this strangers of rome jews and proselytes cretes and arabians we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of god you see the 120 that had the baptism of the holy ghost being filled the holy ghost special gift that came upon them they were already saved they had what they needed but you know what god god cares for the poor and the strangers you see the strangers of rome the strangers of these other countries that have not heard the gospel guess what it's for them as well brethren it's wonderful that in this chest of god right now if you are saved that's wonderful god has given you everything you need to be saved he gave you jesus christ but do we just polish it off and we're done we're done now we're saved no no no no we leave the corners we leave the gleanings we need to give it to the strangers and to the poor and needy brethren this is why we go door to door so winning this is why we go to the strangers this is why we go to the community here on the sunshine coast and we preach the gospel of jesus christ the strangers need it too you've got it praise god you're fueled all right you don't need any more salvation once you're saved you're done you're saved once saved always saved jesus has paid for all of your sins it's everlasting life not temporary life god has given you everlasting life you're done you're going to heaven what about the poor what about the strangers that live here on the sunny coast brethren the the uh feast of weeks the day of pentecost is a reminder that this world needs jesus the world needs the gospel and guess who's going to do the labor you okay you planted those crops you left it for the strangers it's our job to make sure we give and offer that to the strangers and the loss in this dying world that's the significance of the feast of weeks now can't we meet back to leviticus 23 leviticus 23 we're looking at the six feasts the six feasts there's eight of them in this chapter we're looking at number six now number six now i'll be honest with you number six is probably the one that's least uh clear let's put it that way okay but i have i have a view based on everything we're on everything we're looking at so far i think there is a pattern uh that we're looking at here and in leviticus 23 verse number 24 leviticus 23 verse number 24 it says speak unto the children of israel saying in the seventh month in the first day of the month shall ye have a sabbath a memorial of blowing of trumpets and holy convocation you shall do no server server work therein but you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the lord so number six here brevin is the blowing of the trumpets also known as the feast of trumpets the feast of trumpets now again the bible is not super clear this is something god asked him to do we don't have a new testament sort of uh we don't have any any writing to the new testament that takes the concept and makes it clear that this is the spiritual lesson or the new testament understanding of this um feast but i think sufficiently based on what we've seen so far i'm going to quickly read to you from the most famous passage on the rapture in first thessalonians chapter four verse number 16 i'll just read it to you it says for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of god and the dead in christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the lord now the blowing of trumpets one thing we know for sure is when those trumpets were blown that the israelites were to gather themselves together come and celebrate this holy day well when we have the trump of god being sanded from the skies guess what we're going to be gathered together god's people are going to be gathered together not only are we going to see christ face to face in the clouds but we're going to see every believer that's ever lived those that have gone before us in those new resurrected bodies that might be very well what the feast of trumpets was all about that the trump would sound when christ ascends we know there's the last trump so there's more than one blowing of a trumpet there's the last trump when our bodies will change and be caught up with the lord god in the clouds so the feast of trumpets is remembering that we've been gathered together um unto christ come back with me to leviticus 23 leviticus 23 verse number 27 leviticus 23 verse number 27 leviticus 23 verse number 27 now again you know just going back to the trumpets thing something to say well that might be representative of the seven trumpets of god's wrath i'm trying to do happy holidays here all right you'll see in fact when when these feasts you when you read about it in the context of the larger um you know bible that it's about rejoicing it's about celebrating all right it's about uh you know because sometimes uh you know if if there are watchmen on the wall and they saw an enemy come in to attack the city they'll blow the trumpets it'll be a trump of alarm and concern and alert all right that wouldn't really bring a lot of rejoicing okay but i know one trump that will give me great rejoicing and that's of course hearing the trump of god and being caught up with jesus christ in the clouds but anyway let's continue leviticus 23 27. the next one number seven also on the 10th day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement it shall be an holy convocation unto you and you shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire unto the lord leviticus 23 27 the day of atonement the feast number seven brevity is the day of atonement the bible says here that we ought to afflict our soul the israelites of old were to afflict their souls that means to humble themselves to have a broken and contrite heart for their sins they've committed unto the lord now keep your finger there come with me to hebrews 10 come with me to hebrews 10 the day of atonement what is this this is probably the one you know the most it's when the high priest not any priest but the high priest would enter into the most holy or something known as the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant laid right and there was a veil in that veil the thick veil that only the high priest could walk through the ark of the covenant the mercy seat and he was to take the blood and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat this was something that happened once a year okay this is probably the most famous sacrifice that you read about in the bible the day of atonement the holy of holies we'll look at hebrews 10 verse number 19 hebrews 10 19 hebrews 10 19 having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of jesus so instead of the blood of the lamb being taken in we can go boldly so not only the high priest can go in no we can all go in boldly without fear without concern as long as we enter with the blood of jesus okay uh verse about 20 by a new and living way which have consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh so what did the veil that allowed or that covered the holiest of all that was a picture a representative of the flesh of christ and we know the story don't we when christ was crucified he died on the cross that the veil was torn in two his body was broken for us and by his broken body we can enter into the holiest we can enter into heaven because of what christ has done for us and we enter with the blood of jesus the blood and the body of jesus allows us to enter into the holiest look at verse number 21 and having an high priest over the house of god let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water brethren i want you to understand that if you're saved today you have the blood of christ applied to you you've accepted his broken body as a sacrifice for you then you can enter in boldly you go to god you speak to the lord god we're children of god we say lord we need you we love you we thank you we praise you and lord please answer our prayers we go to god directly and boldly through the blood of christ it's amazing because if the high priest messed up he would die he'd be killed by god if he didn't do things properly we don't need to do things properly christ did all the work christ gave us his blood christ broke his body for us and if your faith and trust is on those things you too can enter boldly into the holiest of all that's the day of atonement okay so we don't enter in by our efforts our strength no no no you come and you afflict your souls you acknowledge your this is what salvation represents the only way you can be saved is to afflict your soul and realize god i can't save myself i am deserving of hell i've sinned against you god i deserve to go there but by your mercy and your grace you've given me jesus and lord i'm going to cease from my works i'm going to rest on what christ has done for me i'm going to rest by his broken body i'm going to rest in his shed blood and lord my faith is on that and so i can enter boldly straight to you what a beautiful thing what a beautiful message you know we ought to be rejoicing what christ did his sacrifice his suffering his body and his blood so we can enter into the holiest of all that is the meaning of the day of atonement come back with me to Leviticus 23 happy holidays brethren happy holidays i hope you're having a good holiday okay i hope you have a better holiday as you start to think about all these things god wants to meditate on you know during this time of rest when you're not working as much as you're working or you mcdonald's never closes unfortunately but other places you guys have time off okay or any other time during the week or during the year you say i'm done i need a break i need a rest i need a holiday okay good get your bodily rest but mentally spiritually think about these things that god wants to meditate on okay and that will give you true joy great enjoyment in your time of rest Leviticus 23 please so far we've seen number one the sabbath number two the passover number three the feast of unleavened bread number four the feast of first fruits number five the feast of weeks number six the feast of trumpets number seven the day of atonement and number eight look at verse number 34 speak unto the children of israel saying the 15th day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the lord number eight the feast of tabernacles the feast of tabernacles now just let's let's you take that word tabernacle let's apply it to just our modern day vernacular tabernacle just means like a tent it's a temporary dwelling okay it's you know that's what the tabernacle remember when um when god first instituted the house of the lord with the nation of israel it wasn't a temple a fixed building they were they had a tabernacle that could be packed up and moved okay it was a temporary dwelling place and then it fell upon the heart of king david later on it says man like you know god deserves a physical dwelling place let's build him a temple that came from the heart of david right so then we had the temple representing the house of the lord but before the temple you know the the sacrificial system all that would be done through the tabernacle you know and well the feast of tabernacles is essentially leaving your house your fixed house uh the israelites of old right fixed house and basically living in tents for a while okay and i'll just show you more here drop this verse number 42 leviticus 23 42 you shall dwell in booths seven days that's your tents okay uh you can read in your own time it gives you the material by which you are to build this okay um all that are israelites born shall dwell in booths now some people like that's like camping out right like we're having a week-long camp out right that's the the feast of tabernacles but what it represents is so much more important of course verse 143 this is this is what this is what god wants them to remember in verse 143 that your generations may know that i made the children of israel to dwell in booths when i brought them out of the land of egypt i am the lord your god so the reason for this is you remember that your forefathers dwelt in booths they also didn't have a physical and temp a physical and permanent location right verse number 44 and moses declared unto the children of israel the feasts of the lord okay so moses taught this to the people of israel happy holidays i want you to remember that your forefathers of old had temporary accommodation not fixed locations and what why is that important well you may recall when they had their temporary tents and all that and the tabernacle with a when when the when the pillar of god moved what were the israelites supposed to do move with god right if god stopped doesn't matter how long you stop you set up god might stop for one week one month one year you know whatever it was they were to stay there god might set up shop for 24 hours and then move again now to set up and then oh pack up god's moving we gotta we gotta move with god and i think that's a really great lesson to end on that we need to be ready to be to be moved when god is ready to move us to take us from place to place you know and you need to remember also the greater truth in all this and i'll just um if you can come with me to first peter chapter 2 come with me to first peter chapter 2 first peter chapter 2 first peter chapter 2 come with me to first peter chapter 2 and while you're turning to first peter chapter 2 i'll read to you from From Hebrews 11, 8, Hebrews 11, 8, you go to 1 Peter chapter 2, I'll read to you from Hebrews 11 verse 8. It says, By faith Abraham, when he was called to go into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and went out, not knowing whether he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, look at this, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, and the heirs with him of the same promise. So when Abraham was called, he goes, well, I'm happy to dwell in tabernacles. I'm happy to be in a tent, I don't need a permanent location. This is why verse number 10 says, For he looked for a city which have foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Abraham says, you know what, I don't want any earthly city, I want the heavenly city whose builder and maker is God. New Jerusalem that we read about in the book of Revelation. Well brethren, look at 1 Peter chapter 2, this is for us, okay, in the New Testament, New Testament believers, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstained from fleshy lusts which war against the soul. And brethren, the last thing I want to leave you tonight, oh sorry, this morning, is that we're just pilgrims and strangers, we're sojourners, we're just passing through. You know, I was, yesterday when I was going door to the soul winning, I spoke to a lady and she said, you know, it's great that Donald Trump's in power and, you know, it's going to fix the world. And I'm like, well, I hope so. I mean, I hope things get better. But I also understand that the nature of man is that we're sinners, that we're wicked, that there'll be wars and rumors of wars and things will continue, you know, in a negative trajectory until Christ comes back. I'm not really looking for this world to be fixed because I'm just passing through. You know, this isn't our permanent dwelling place, right, we're passing through, God willing you get a good 70, 80, 90 years, 100 years, Lord willing of life on this earth. But compared to eternity, compared to living with God in the new heaven and the new earth, in the new Jerusalem, in the city, whose builder and maker is God, it's so insignificant. And I want you to remember, brethren, that our eyes, our attention, our focus must be on eternal things, on the spiritual, not the carnal things. You know, if our attention and focus is fixing ourselves in this world, brethren, it's just hurt and pain and suffering and a sin-cursed world, you're never going to be satisfied. You're not going to have happy holidays if you're just transfixed on the temporal. He wants us to fix ourselves on eternity. We're sojourners, we're passing through, we're doing booths in tents, right? Whatever God gives us on this earth, just consider it a tent, a booth, the Feast of Tabernacles. I'm looking forward to going home where the city is, and I can dwell with all my brothers and sisters in the Lord for all eternity. So brethren, the title for the sermon today was Happy Holidays. I want you to be happy. I want you to rejoice. You know, again, if you have your mind just set on this world, you know, I mean, you can rejoice at the Boxing Day sales, maybe, I don't know, it's just temporary, it won't last forever. Okay, inflation keeps going up. You know, there's not much joy in this world, you know, but I want you to remember the great joy to calm the spiritual, the eternal, what these feasts represents, what Christ has done for you. All right, to rejoice in the new man that God has given you to live holy and clean lives. Get the leaven out of your life. That's a good time for New Year's resolutions. Get the leaven out of your life, right? You're eating too much bread like me, get the carbs out of your life. Get that leaven out, all right, whatever it is. But I want you to have happy holidays. I want you to really enjoy this time. And even if you're on your own, even if you don't have anybody to celebrate with, you think everybody's forgotten you, God's not forgotten you. God wants you to have happy holidays. God wants you to be fixed upon the great things that He's done for you and the promise that one day will be made like unto Christ in those new resurrected bodies. All right, brethren, let's pray.