How Great It Will Be

Transcription

1 How Great It Will Be Opening Night of the Feast 2018 Gatlinburg, TN (Sermon Notes) By Warren Zehrung 9/23/18 Feast of Tabernacles greetings to all our beloved brethren, here and across these fruited plains of America To our brothers and sisters around the world; to our loved ones in the UK we long to be with you Across Canada, from East to West; to those on Indian reservations and in prisons To our scattered brethren in the Philippines and Australia who endure the persecutions To our southern brethren in Mexico and South America To our far away brethren in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Hong Kong as near as our spiritual hearts unite us To our widows and widowers To our European and African brethren who dearly grasp the Truth To all of God s people, we say, Happy Feast of Tabernacles. Fall is here; the sun has dipped into the Southern Hemisphere; the Harvest Moon is bright and full on the first day of the Feast. God commands us to eat and drink to the full, while reminding us that these accommodations are temporary dwellings; looking forward to the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ establishing His Father s Kingdom in Jerusalem over all the earth. It seems to us like we started the Feast early; Yesterday we had weekly Sabbath services here and began discussing the theme of this year s Feast, How Great It Will Be. We had some long spiritual discussions that went on for four hours. Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and Revelation 20:6... priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Kings and priests means that we will have both, Civil and Religious responsibilities requiring a great deal of expertise and finesse. Now is the time to learn. The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the great spiritual harvest that will take place during the Millennium as multiple billions of converted church people come to know God s truth and receive His gift of eternal life! Yesterday, we spoke of the meaning of the Feast and what it stands for. There was a rather poignant comment made by one of the men, not yet baptized. He expressed his concerns that there would be so much terrible trouble taking place before the wonderful peaceful Millennium arrived. I appreciated that question because it demonstrates just how much effort God bestows on mankind to induce repentance into a world that has rejected Him and His ways. Revelation 16:9 Men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give Him glory [due to Him]. Revelation 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 1

2 We spoke of how the first citizens of the millennium will be the survivors of the Great Tribulation, through God s direct intervention, will instill a great sense of camaraderie like we ve seen following a number of catastrophic happenings. People naturally come to the aid of victims in need even when it means placing themselves in peril. People will naturally place their lives in harm s way to help those they don t even know to survive. That brotherly love even in a much greater way will pervade the New Nation being formed by Jesus Christ. All living survivors of the tribulation will be brothers and sisters to one another in a way that is hard for us to imagine. The Two Witnesses will have made it very clear that twelve thousand from each of the tribes of Israel would survive and live over into the World Tomorrow. They will all know that they are literally brothers and sisters to one another through the miraculous intervention of Jesus Christ. That fact alone will give them a strong sense of purpose and belonging and it will only grow stronger and stronger as we move forward into the millennium. With Jesus ruling form Jerusalem in accordance with God s perfect law the human spirit in man, coupled with God s Spirit will soar to the heights that God originally intended! Everyone will respect one another. All will see Jesus Christ and God the Father in others. They will see only the good in their brethren. They will treat one another as we treat God Himself. All men will depend on one another. Every child will reach his full potential all talents will be fully developed. The weak will be made strong and secure. Every mind will be mature and brilliance will be the norm. Everyone will know and love everyone even when they haven t met because everyone will have a sense of true brotherhood, belonging to one another. John 10:28 I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Because, Jesus will lead us in the way to the Kingdom of God. We are here to picture the Feast of Tabernacles. We are in the Fall of the Year picturing God s harvest: The crops are in The milk has been turned to cheese The harvest has been reaped The flocks and herds have multiplied The vineyards have been gathered for vintage production. Spiritually, the harvest of Saints is ready to begin anew Amos 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. Amos 9:14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 2

3 Amos 9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God. The Kingdom of God will be a time when everything we see and know of today will be different. Tonight, we will look to the word of God and allow it to be our guide. We will be of course mainly talking about the meaning of these Feast Days. The theme of this year s Feast is: How Great It Will Be, speaking of the World Tomorrow and the Kingdom of God on earth. We want to be able to visualize what the incredible spiritual part of the world tomorrow will be like for us. And how we will interface with those we are serving in the millennium. That is what I want to focus on during the Feast. Time is growing short in more ways than one. Jesus said: John 9:4 I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Romans 9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: Amos 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. Daniel 12:7... when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. God reveals Himself and His Plan for mankind in the Bible: Isaiah 9:7 Of the [Great] increase [geometric progression with an exponential growth towards infinity] of His government [empire, realm, domain of jurisdiction the Plan of God] and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. There will be a great spreading of the Gospel Peace and Truth that will go on and on It is good for us to stop and think back to our beginnings in the faith Many of you, like us, have sought something We have been looking for something We have desired to take hold of something We felt sure we would know it when we found it We thought we had a hold of it when God first called us to His way of life. It was centered on the Sabbath and all the Ten Commandments That which we were seeking had a great part of its foundation based on the Holy Days and the Plan of God We tried our best to repent and believe We made every effort to come out of the world We wanted to be right with God And, for a little while we felt that it was all coming together. We were all in ONE big Church corporate organization. At some point Jesus was on the outside knocking (3:20). We were able to find like-minded people and become friends with them We had been called into the Truth, and it was good! We were preaching the Gospel to nearly every nation under the Sun. It seemed that the Gospel was going to the entire world. 3

4 Beginning tomorrow, we will be looking at where the peoples who will populate the New World Tomorrow will come from. Who will they be? A comparatively small physical remnant of Israel will survive the tribulation, and to liveover into the world tomorrow. That is where God s people in the millennium will come from. Isaiah 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day [Day of the Lord], that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left [alive], from [all over the world] Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. We know that soon modern Israel will be carried captive into every foreign nation and God will bring about their return. Isaiah 11:12 And He shall set up an ensign, a sign, a banner for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth to Zion. Where and what is Zion? God will point the way for those His people who belong to Him. Assemble the outcasts of Israel look closely that means that God is again assembling His people His assembly the people who will make up the beginning of His millennial Church. Please do not look to any man to get you to the Place of Safety and the New Promised Land. Zion; that s the New Church in the New Wilderness. The aftermath of the tribulation will be like the total disaster of the twin towers at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, New York that burned for over three months after the Islamic suicide attacks that brought down the of the World Trade Centre. Matthew 24:22 Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. So there will be survivors! There will be physical technology that will make today s technology look like the stone age. But, God will be given full credit and glory, because all good things come from Him. And spiritually, eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him the purpose, the support, belonging, cooperation, the limitless riches, the brilliant and perfect understanding, the love, the oneness, the creativity. God s Spirit coupled with man s spirit will begin to soar to heights that God originally intended. For an example of the creativity picture Jesus creating the universe with color, music, man and animals, plants and jewels. Have you ever seen a spiritual flower? I suppose that in heaven their blooms and blossoms never fade or wilt. 4

5 This Feast of Tabernacles is given to us for the express purpose that we might be able to see the coming Kingdom of God on earth As much glory as our human eyes can grasp. Not only the physical magnificent Garden of Eden aspects of the plants, trees, flowers, terrain, climate, animals, and abundant life in harmony with the Plan of God But, that we might begin to comprehend the inestimable, Divine spiritual gifts that will be bestowed on millennial mankind grace upon ever increasing grace (John 1:16) gifts upon ever increasing gifts of God s Spirit. The magnificent difference of that future day compared to now will be the difference between day and night. That is only a reflection of how the hearts and minds of the people will be changed. Jeremiah 24:7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. In this opening sermon of the Feast of Tabernacles we ve chosen the topic of, How Great It Will Be, speaking of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is a God-given responsibility that we be there for each other. It is God alone who has separated us from this evil world. Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, who has made us meet [fitting and proper] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: [The saints, the Church brethren, the called-out ones, are one and the same!] God the Father has placed us where we belong: Colossians 1:13 Who has delivered us from the power of darkness [where we do not belong], and has conveyed us moved us - transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son: I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. End: How Great It Will Be 5