Last Great Day 2020: Shine Your Light Forever

[Music] so brethren we understand that today is a separate feast it's the last great day and we understand that it pictures the time that will come after the thousand-year millennium after the thousand-year reign of christ on the earth now we know that some tremendous events happen after that thousand years and i will not get into all of the technical uh prophecies and i will leave a lot of the meaning for the afternoon sermon message but we understand brethren that our goal is to inherit all things under jesus christ and we understand that our elder brother will return in power the feast of trumpets typify signifies that and the binding of satan and the the marriage ceremony and so forth over those following days and then you come to the feast of tabernacles which pictures the millennium the thousand-year reign and our goal is to inherit all things under our elder brother but it doesn't end with the feast of tabernacles it doesn't end with the millennium god wants to give us good things and those good things will go on as you understand forever so although the last great day is a little bit you know sobering we we know we have to go back to the world we know what it pictures will go on forever we understand that let's turn to revelation chapter 21 to begin the sermon today revelation chapter 21 because one of my goals today is to inspire us to stand fast to continue to walk in the truth and to take the lessons that we've learned and the the godly lessons we've been practicing and applying and to take those lessons and that growth and to go forward over the coming year to let our lights shine brighter in the coming year i think all of us have let our light shine at the feast of tabernacles this year i i've been very impressed and and humbled in many ways by seeing the the attitudes of so many of you and i know god is pleased and so we don't want that to end we want our lights to shine through the coming year we want our lights to shine into the millennium and we want our lights to shine into the rest of eternity which is what the last great day pictures revelation 21 verse 1 we have this very inspiring very famous passage and it's speaking of the new jerusalem and it's speaking of that time that will follow the thousand-year period i saw a new heaven and a new earth god in his power will cleanse and there's some sort of re-creation refreshment god doesn't give a lot of details but there will be a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and first earth has passed away and there will also be no more sea verse 2 then i john saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and i heard a loud voice verse 3 from heaven saying behold the tabernacle of god is with men and he will dwell with them and they will be his people and god himself will be with them and he will be their god and we read about the wiping away of of of all the tears we have some symbolic uh language here and you see that there will be no more death no more sorrow no more crying no more sin this is the new heavens and the new earth the the new jerusalem no more death you know we have to go back into the world and we're going to have to deal with things in the world but we look forward to a time when what this day pictures continues on forever no more death no more satan no more sorrow no more sin no more crying no more pain for the former things have passed away you know we have to go back into the world but there will be a day in the future when you won't go back into the world it will be god's perfect government forever what does the sign say above my my shoulder there now god will cause this to come to pass and so verse 4 is very inspiring and then verse 5 tells us that he who sat on the throne said i will make all things new so we have this refreshment again this this recreation this newness this refreshing and he said to me so this is john hearing these words right for these words are true and faithful this is going to happen the zeal of the lord of hosts will cause this to happen there is no plan no marvel movie no no theology no you know nothing greater that man has ever invented in man's puny little mind that comes even close to what god is doing in truth and what we're part of in truth to become part of the family of god not lesser beings not to be reincarnated year after year not to go into some sort of cosmic stasis but to be part of the active conscious living lively exciting family of god and to do and to rule and to serve and to reign and to have joy forever we don't want the feast of tabernacles to to come to a close and you know we know technically it already has we're here on another holy day how much more does god look forward to the revealing of the sons of glory to rule and reign under him forever and so he has john record that this is these words are true and faithful this will happen and we're participating in that plan so verse 7 tells us then and he said to me it is done when god decrees something will happen it will happen you know he decreed that kingdoms would rise and fall but this is even bigger than anything that's happened before you know tire being taken down or whatever it will happen i'm the alpha and the omega the beginning of the end i will give you the fountain of water of life freely to him who thirsts he who overcomes shall inherit all things and i will be his god and he shall be my son that's what we look forward to this is our awesome future when the saints in perfect character will shine and reflect god's perfect character throughout the universe forever when your lights will shine forever i want to talk about light today and that theme for those of you who know me i love themes and metaphor we're going to talk about light today the title of the sermon is shine your light forever shine your light forever let's turn back to thessalonians first thessalonians because obviously as you you know paul and others use this theme it's a scriptural theme and i want to give us some practical encouragement today as well that we can take home with us first thessalonians chapter 5 a verse that we're familiar with or passage first thessalonians chapter 5 verse 1. now this is referring to the coming day of the lord and uh paul tells us here through his epistle to the church at thessalonica that concerning the times and seasons brethren you have no need that i should write to you and so he's just telling them that they understand that there are perilous times ahead and verse two then he's admonishing them you know to not not slumber not sleep to be active to be to be full of life full of enthusiasm full of zeal for what's what's coming not the bad times that are coming but what's coming after that christ establishing his government on the earth and so he says that the day of the lord will come as a thief in the night for those who are slumbering for those who go back into the world and get stuck in the world the day of the lord is going to come like a thief in the night and that's a terrible terrible thing to think about and so he tells us in verse 3 that people will say peace and safety and then sudden destruction will come upon them we don't want to go back into the world and be lulled to sleep but he tells us he says you brethren are not in the darkness so that this day should come and overtake you as a thief and i would say that we're not in the darkness you being here is testament to you not being in the darkness now we don't have it made guaranteed but i would say that the signs are positive okay you're here and so that's a good a good sign that we're not of this world we're not in the darkness we're not falling asleep being lulled to sleep and he calls us here sons of light and sons of the day and he repeats that we are not of the night or of the darkness and he repeats he keeps repeating this theme therefore do not sleep do not sleep when we go home from the feast of tabernacles the last great day we've got to go back to our jobs and school and this and that and we have to live but let's not sleep let's go back filled with enthusiasm god's law and let's let our lights shine brighter this coming year than the past year you're either growing or you're dying you're growing or you're dying from a character perspective you know we're all going to die physically but from a character perspective we're either growing or we're dying and as as ministers i've seen it and the other ministers here have when you talk to our brothers and sisters who have been in the faith for longer and they'll tell you i remember dr meredith making these comments you know that they're learning so much and god's working with them so much and they're overcoming so much and these are people that have been walking in the faith for 45 50 60 years and i think to myself you know wow that's very humbling isn't it so even those of us who have walked in the faith for many many years god wants us to grow he wants us to watch he wants us to let our light shine brighter in the coming year verse 7 for those who sleep sleep at night those who get drunk or drunk at night i won't read much of the rest but we are to be of the day sober vigilant excited and letting our lights shine over the coming year let's turn to john chapter 12. john 12. here we have jesus christ talking to the disciples in john chapter 12. and let's just begin in verse 34. so jesus is talking about his martyrdom his crucifixion and the people in verse 34 ask him or answer him we have heard from the law that the christ remains forever how can you say the son of man must be lifted up who who is the son of man so the people were familiar with the prophecies of the messiah and his reign that where he would reign forever so they were legitimately they were confused and so they they didn't understand you know what do you mean you're going to die you're going to be lifted up you're going to be crucified then jesus said to them verse 35 a little while longer the light is with you you know he he knew he had a little bit more time to be a light how much more time do we have to be lights how much more time do we have to be lights to the world how much more time does the church have to be a light how much more time do you have to be a light to your family to your local congregation to your wife your son your daughter your husband your friends so he said to them a little while longer the light is with you walk while you have the light when you're walking you're not slumbering when you're walking you're not sleeping when you're walking in the light you're doing the work you're involved in the work you're loving the work you're doing the work of god walk while you have the light walk while there's still time lest darkness or the world overtake you he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going verse 36 while you have the light believe in the light believe in the light we've got the light the light is the bible the light is christ living in us the light shines through the church the light shines through the sermonettes and the sermons through your conversation with each other through your lives and your behavior and your examples at home i remember talking with mr wayne pyle many times and he worked for the church for worldwide doing statistics and he was in charge of television statistics and things like that and it's just interesting we would always ask him and i just find it uh i think god you know i think he does this um in a way it just keeps us all humble and mr pyle would say you know as much as we look at the the research the data over the years about half the people that come into the church come in through personal example personal referral you know they come in because you're being a light because a neighbor or somebody else is being a light and so we go through these eras in the church where we you know it radio back in the 30s and 40s and tv and more internet and less internet and more social media and it's all that's great we we take advantage of the tools that god allows us to use but so much of the work is accomplished by us and you being lights and we still see that it's about half now if you didn't do twps or you didn't do you have the the the telecast god would be very unhappy very displeased you have to do those things that's part of the work but we are to walk in the light we are to believe in the light that you may become sons of light these things jesus spoke and departed and then he was taken away he was hidden from them so brethren we are here today on the last great day to be inspired to learn but to grow in character so that our lights shine a little brighter today and tomorrow than they did a year ago and we want our lights to shine a little brighter over the coming year than they did last year we want our lights to then shine into the future into the millennium and forever god doesn't want the feast of tabernacles is what it pictures to to come to an end either right he's looking forward to the millennium he's looking forward to the kingdom of god being established but there's a plan he's working out and so our job is to go home and be lights and to let our lights shine and not get wrapped up in the world john chapter 1 verse 1. we'll just quickly quickly read through this in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god so speaking of the pre-incarnate word christ who lived with the father from before even there was time before there was a universe and he was in the beginning with god verse two and all things were made through him so all things were made through christ we talked about that earlier in the feast and without him nothing was made that was made verse 4 in him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it so it should not surprise us when the darkness does not comprehend us it should not surprise us that we at one point had d do many of you remember how what the maximum plane true circulation was back in the in the day a lot of us remember was it uh 500 000. we were really excited we got 500 000 tomorrow's world magazines a little while ago maybe we can get to a million that would be great was it a million 2 million seven million it was the largest circulated english language magazine on the planet at one time eight million still barely would make a dent as far as the world's population goes should it surprise us that a lot of people didn't understand it it shouldn't surprise us we don't put those people down but that should make us appreciate how precious it is that we're here and we need to prove why we're here and we need to be excited about god's plan and what he's doing with us and we need to go home and let our light shine and not be down we'll miss each other but let's not be down because the next year is going to go quickly for those of you i saw a couple nods from especially older people you know from the right older brethren it's going to go quickly and either we'll be back at the feast or you'll be resting and in the moment in the twinkling of an eye you'll be at the feast the real feast right the millennium mr ames a few years ago right in a tomorrow's world editorial and he was using this theme as well this is the january february 2015 tomorrow's world he wrote jesus said and i'm just this is sort of echoing what i just just mentioned you are the light of the world and he cites matthew 5 14 and mr ames then says he said that we should let that sorry that we should shine as lights in this world so that others and then he begins to quote jesus again may see our good works and glorify our father in heaven matthew 5 16. and that's one of the exhortations i want us to go home with to let our light shine in the world i know many of you go back to small congregations in small cities or small congregations in big cities or whatever you've still got a job to do to let your light shine and god expects you to be back at the feast next year and he expects you to be in the kingdom he wants you to be in the kingdom as well and your coming year and your remainder of your life is going to go by very quickly and you're going to let your light shine and then your light's going to shine during the millennium and then your light's going to shine forever forever which is what the last great day pictures dr meredith would use the same themes he wrote in a tomorrow's world uh from december november december 2012. he talks about jesus christ's sermon on the mount he says the following in the sermon on the mount jesus tells us let our light shine matthew 5 16 if all of us sincerely take to heart this matter we can as a church begin to be a kind of light or the kind of light jesus talked about more fully than we have ever been before i would like to admonish us me as well to be lights more fully than we've been before there's growth you're growing or you're dying spiritually and we've got to grow god wants us to be lights even more than we were before to put behind the childish things the things where we get easily offended this has been a good feast attitudes have been good right but we've been together and i and i know that i'm not referring to any particular person or incident but i know that you probably had a run-in with your friend or your wife or your brother or your sister or whatever you know and and i'll ask you and i'm not thinking of anybody but i'll ask you how quickly did you get offended can you say that you were more easy going and kinder and more patient this year than you were last year you know how many of you were out running around just you know murdering and robbing banks okay right okay good good but how many of us maybe got a little bit short tempered once in a while you you didn't fit well yeah okay you did fail technically you know i got short-tempered and that's a failure we shouldn't get short-timbered um but you didn't fail in a big way we're growing we're growing so my request is that we grow and as dr meredith said as a church and individually that we quote begin to be the kind of light jesus talked about more fully than we have ever been before these are not just empty words we need to grow let our light shine so that they can then shine onto eternity let's talk about light a little bit more and then we'll give some practical uh admonition toward the end of the sermon how does god use light it's a wonderful study let's turn back to genesis chapter one in genesis chapter one god created the universe but before god created the universe he created the laws the laws that govern how the universe works and god could have created a different universe oh no we couldn't have the laws no no no god created the laws that let the universe work so god could have created different laws you know matter could be different light could be different sound space time pain joy memory consciousness could be different so god's laws reflect god's mind and what does light do god loves light talks about light it you know it reveals to us the mind of when we understand and we meditate on scripture and how god created his law it lets us understand his mind and so let's study a little bit light's very important to god so genesis chapter 1 verses 1 2 and 3. i went through some of this in the bible study we won't get into as much depth so in a beginning god created the heavens and the earth and the earth became without form and void satan rebelled sin and darkness darkness were not to be of the darkness the darkness comes from satan and so god his spirit is hovering over the face of the waters and he says let there be light that's the first thing he did he said i want to see what's going on we're going to start cleaning up the earth the earth existed it was it was created prior to here but he wanted to bring light into the situation right god uses light light is powerful light reveals light reveals after the earth became tohu and bohu because of satan's rebellion what did what's the first thing you read about god says let there be light second example we're gonna go through six seven different you know uses of lights that's the first one in the recreation the first thing god created or made made visible he didn't it pre-existed he made it a visible from the earth was light verse two and by the way no competition between god and satan right you know in eastern religions you have the yang and the yang and it's the balance you know the the black and the white little yang yang thing and that's supposed to show balance you know star wars are going to balance in the four no there's no balance there's no balance god is overwhelmingly beyond measure more powerful than satan and more powerful than evil just it there's not even a competition he's just letting satan do his thing so that character can be developed in you and you and you isn't that interesting number two christ gave light to his people and darkness to their enemies where do we find that where do we find that well you know ezekiel i'm sorry exodus chapter 14 exodus chapter 14. we have israel and they're stopped at the banks of the red sea and they're worried and scared and brethren there are times coming in the future where we might be worried and scared i'm not saying god's going to do perform this miracle again but again god's a god of light god's a god of deliverance and so he came between the camp of the egyptians and the camp of israel exodus chapter 14 verse 9 the egyptians pursued them all the horses and chariots of pharaoh and they overtook them verse 10 pharaoh drew near the children of israel lifted their eyes you know israel had been delivered from slavery and there's not an exact parallel here with us of course but they've been delivered from slavery and then here comes a big trial so you're going to go back home and you're going to get confronted with the trial i'm going to get confronted with the trial god's a god of deliverance and so they were very afraid and they cried out israel cried out to the eternal verse 10. let me know the rest of their whining here and we come down to verse 17 18 19 and so what does god do exodus chapter 14 and let's just pick up in verse 19 the angel of god who went before the camp of israel moved and went behind them and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them so it came between the camp of the egyptians and the camp of israel that it was it was a cloud and darkness to one and it gave light by night to the other so that one so that the one did not come near the other all that night and so god used a pillar of a cloud and a fire and light and darkness and he separated them christ gave light to his people in darkness to the enemy he made a distinction between who his people were and who were not his people again i'm not saying the same miracle will be performed but god's a god of deliverance a god of power you'll have trials let's not go home and you know lose faith like israel did they they had all these great wonderful uh miracles and god brought them out of egypt and then they you know they lost faith and of course they didn't for the most part have the holy spirit most of us do so we should behave better number three number three god placed lamps with light in the holy of holies this is something in a passage worth worth just reading and thinking about leviticus chapter 24. we see how light is very meaningful to gods when god tells us to be lights when jesus tells us to be lights there's a lot of meaning behind that leviticus 24. i'd like to bring out something that's you probably thought of but to me it's very profound leviticus 24 then the eternal spoke to moses saying command the children of israel that they uh bring to you pure olive uh pure oil of sorry pure oil of pressed olives for the light to make the lamps burn continually outside the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of meeting aaron shall also be in charge of it from evening until morning and so forth and so forth verse 4 he shall be in charge of the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the lord continually pure gold very precious pure olive oil symbolizing the holy spirit you know your body is the temple and there are many things that again symbolize our body the temple but here we have the holy spirit symbolized by oil in gold lamps which are very precious producing light that symbolism it should be meaningful to us we're precious to god the light that we produce is by its nature pure because it's produced because of the holy spirit in us there is good that people can do in the world without god's holy spirit that is true but true goodness true goodness is measured by god's law and is produced especially when there's trial and conflict and pressure true goodness is measured by god's law and it's produced by god or christ living in us and that's what the pure olive oil pressed olive oil uh pressed olives that's what that picture is the holy spirit and so these lamps that produced pure light from precious golden lamps in the holy place the holy of holies they burned continually we should burn continually and this was the purest of oil that was used the levites took special care in producing this oil that's an interesting study on its own go get you know i'm not against bible concordances and bible commentaries for historic type research i'm always a little nervous when they start talking about things like you know the the nature of christ or heaven and things like that but get his get get a bible commentary and read about these lamps and the the process that we think they went through to produce the oil very precious the word pure here describing the oil is the hebrew word zak z-a-k and that indicates clean pure like a righteous believer's faith pure and clean like a righteous believer's faith let's turn to job chapter eight you see another example here of this um this metaphor job chapter eight and let's begin in verse 3 job 8 verse 3 talking about pure faith righteous pure clean you know there's no pollution there's no no sediments in our faith our oil is pure and the light we produce is pure job chapter 8 verse 3 does god subvert judgment or does the almighty pervert justice no he doesn't what you've learned at the feast and the last great day this is the truth god's law and god doesn't pervert justice these are rules and laws and principles that we can live by um if your sons have sinned against him if he has he has cast them away for their transgression if you would earnestly seek god and make your supplication to the almighty if you were pure so there's this this request that you know if people behave purely and they're that word against zach it's that pure righteous behavior that pure character of those who are truly converted if you were pure and upright surely now he would awake for you and of course we know that this is part of job's you know his friends giving him some advice and sometimes it wasn't the the right the right advice but this is a true statement here at least just specifically the way i'm using it that our character should be pure god does not pervert justice our character verse 6 should be pure and upright and if it is god will be pleased with us pleased with us so the third use of light was in the holy of holies and it pictures the um the the light that represents the holy spirit in our behavior the fourth use of light god helps us to see the truth through the use of light god helps us to see the truth through the use of light and we're very very familiar with that let's turn to psalm chapter 36 psalm 36 psalm 36 and verse 9. for with you is the fountain of life in your light we see light it's a beautiful couplet it's a beautiful couplet psalm 36 verse verse 9 you know god has life in him christ came into the world and the world did not perceive or understand him they did not understand the light and we have that light and that life in us through god's holy spirit as it symbolized through the olive oil burning in those lamps in the holy of holies very precious to god you know i didn't want to take the time but you know what would happen if somebody went in and profaned the tabernacle right you went into the holy of holies that you'd be struck dead that's how precious those instruments were and what they symbolized word to god why because it pictures something that christ is doing in his believers it pictures what he's doing in us and so verse 9 for in you is the fountain of life in your light we see light we see the truth through god's word we see the truth through god's word anything that doesn't align with scripture anything that contradicts scripture now scripture doesn't tell you how to you know repair your microwave right but scripture tells you how to have a good attitude with the repair man when he comes and he over charges you right so anything that we see or encounter or do that doesn't align with scripture that contradicts scripture uh needs to be filtered out from our behavior from our approach god helps us see the truth through light we're in psalms let's go over to psalm 37 we'll see a fifth point a fifth point which we've already touched on if we commit ourselves to god he will bring forth our righteousness as light he will bring forth our righteousness as light if we're committed he will cause our lights to shine psalm 37 verse 5 commit your way to the eternal often people will ask you know what can we do to help the work and there's a lot of things we can do during the holy days not just the feast of tabernacles the last great day but during the other annual holy days or the weekly sabbath can we encourage our brothers and sisters can we give rides to people can we send thank you notes to uh to people can we send get well cards to people can we make phone calls to people can we have people over once in a while for a friday evening dinner i know we're more spread out but there are things we can do that are very very helpful very important to strengthen the body sometimes people get a little confused and they think well i don't have a million dollars to give well that's great if we do but there are these other things we can do that can make frankly a bigger difference the catholic church has more money than we have so if you're measuring it based on wealth you know the impact you can make that's the wrong measurement psalm 37 here we are in verse 5. commit your way to the lord have you committed your way to the lord you're here at the feast we've committed our way to the lord and wait patiently i'm sorry trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as noon day it's a promise it's a promise that if we commit ourselves to the eternal then he will let our light shine what greater joy reward happiness you know maybe after you know our own inheriting eternal life maybe that's the bigger joy but what greater joy than helping point the way to god to others what greater joy than you being a good light to others and you knowing that through something you did or didn't do or said or didn't say you know you've you've not you've not only not been a stumbling block right but you've been a help and a light you've reflected christ to someone else if we go through life and that's all we accomplish we don't accomplish anything that great you know we just live a regular life and nobody knows really who we are but our immediate family and just sort of here and gone but you help one person you turn one person to righteousness through your friendly welcoming behavior at church through your ability to answer a question at a twp because you've been studying your bible right you're able to give an answer for the faith or the hope that lies within you or that one card you sent or that one comment you made or that one comment you didn't make wouldn't that be just so wonderful to know in the kingdom wow i because of what i did i let my light shine and that really god used that to help that one person be here and he promises that if we commit our way to him and trust in him verse 5 he shall bring it to pass he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light now the fulfillment of this is the kingdom of god but again what did the lamps in the holy of holies picture what does the holy spirit in you produce produces light so don't undervalue yourself don't under appreciate what you can do the impact you can make i didn't say go walk down the street and knock on doors and hand out flyers but be able to give an answer smile be a light when god gives you the opportunity to be a light if we commit ourselves to god he promises that he will let our light shine verse i'm sorry the sixth point so god creates light but god also allows calamity he allows darkness so this is the sixth point and i i make this point for a specific reason i'll tell you in just a moment if i am the eternal there is no other and really that that is the reason i make the point but i'll explain it more in a second there is no harm that can come upon you that god cannot deal with brethren the beast power the government sickness there's no harm that can come upon us that god is not much much more powerful and able to deal with isaiah 45 verse verse isaiah 45 5. i'm the lord there's no other there's no god beside me and what does he promise isaiah 45 verse 5 i will gird you though you have not known me we may not fully understand god but god is sovereign he's eternal and he will strengthen and gird us that you may know from the rising of the son who is saying that there's no other beside me i'm the lord there's no other and then here verse 7 god even talks about how he forms light and creates or allows darkness he makes peace and he creates or allows trial or calamity he's sovereign when you run into a trial in the coming year it's not because god couldn't control satan it's not because you're helplessly adrift god's in charge god is in charge he may allow us to fall into tests but he won't test us beyond what we can endure that's how powerful our god is he is supreme mr ames talks about that he doesn't create evil this verse does not mean he's evil does not mean he is evil or creates evil means he allows disturbances and trials and calamity he allows satan to cause trouble but he is supreme seventh uh point regarding light is that we are to be lights in the world tomorrow we're ready lights in the world tomorrow isaiah chapter 60 verse 19 isaiah 60 verse 19. the feast of tabernacles pictures the world tomorrow the millennium and the last great day of course points to the great white throne judgment which comes after the thousand years and then all those things and righteous government going on forever and we again we want to be part of that that's what we're in training forward we're not only in training to live and have joy during the thousand year period we're in training for that and beyond right forever let our light shine forever our goal is not just only what the feast of tabernacles pictures our goal is that and beyond it will never end what god has in store for us will never end isaiah chapter 60 verse 19 isaiah 60 verse 19. the sun shall no longer be your light by day and this is a a prophecy that it matches up with what we read about in revelation nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you but the lord will be to you an everlasting light and your god your glory and it's a parallel to what we read about in revelation when god will be present the father over christ is overwhelming as well but you know we won't just have christ who's equal just under you know in in in authority but he's of the same essence of god he was god but god the father and christ will reign forever and ever their lights will shine forever and ever and our light will shine forever and ever with them that's what we've been called to so i want to give us four keys quickly that we can hopefully take home that will help us to live lives that are reflective of christ where we're shining a christian light and i want to remind us and keep encouraging us to remember that the goal is not just to get to you know the next feast or even to only attain the first resurrection it's it's all of that and beyond god has a plan that's going to go on forever he doesn't reveal everything that that that's in store for us so the first admonition or first practical application and we've already touched on it we must understand that god's commandments are a lamp to our feet we must understand that his commandments are a lamp to our feet i mean this is christianity this is truth 101. i i won't even turn to psalm 119 105. we all should know psalm 119 105. just write it down and if you don't know it look it up later psalm 919 105. let's turn to proverbs chapter 6 verse 23 proverbs chapter 6 verse 23 to the law brethren to the law proverbs 6 verse 23 god's commandments are a lamp to our feet god's commandments give us direction they are light the commandment is a lamp the law is a light reproofs of instruction are the way of life brethren let's love god's law let's go home and study god's law let's study the bible every day don't let a day go by without opening up our bibles we should open up our bibles every day study our bibles every day paul says in romans 7 verse 12 the law is good the commandment is holy just and good romans 7 verse 12. we know we live in a world especially the christian world that tries to tell us the professing christian world that tries to tell us you know god's law is bad and done away with and harmful in bondage and all that and we all know that's not true but love god's law we do love god's law but i want to just you know i want to help us grow to love it more i need to love to i need to grow to love it more it's it's wonderful to use talk about these the future and the millennium and lions and tigers and all these things and those are good but the way there the path there is god's law the path there is god's law i mean that's literally what the scripture says just in slightly different words right the law is a commandment the law is a light and a lamp to our feet it helps us walk it it gives us direction and where are we where are we headed we're headed toward the kingdom of god where god's law will be taught and we'll be teaching god's law mr weston wrote in the very recent living church news this is just from july august 2019 uh mr weston wrote uh the following the commandments enlighten us you know people go look for enlightenment uh in in other places and there's some self-help books are helpful and you know i like to read history and uh we should read biographies and so forth but you know that's all fine um i was in management you know we read management books and there's there's a lot of helpful things there and we should we should try to grow and you know we should try to learn things but true enlightenment comes from god's law it god's law reveals his mind the commandments and lightness mr weston says he says they give us understanding and he cites isaiah mr weston continues demonic spirits do not bring light we've seen that what did satan bring what did satan cause when he rebelled tohu bohu darkness what was the first thing god did he let light you know shine through the mess what's the first thing we should do when we encounter a trial back in the when we return home we should let our light shine how do you let your light shine by living and applying god's law and god's law is not just i keep the sabbath i'm a good pharisee better than you i tithe of this and that better than you right i say that with a smile i know you don't do it but sometimes we're tempted to think that you know we're doing okay and then turning the other cheek is what we fail to do or murmuring is what we do or stirring up strife is what we want to do i'm not criticizing us i'm just saying that's human nature but it's human nature human nature oh interesting what was in the lamps what burned in the holy of holies it wasn't human nature it was god's holy spirit represented by that press pressed olive oil and so mr weston he continues demonic spirits do not bring light nor does human reason unless it is aligned with the word of god there's some human reason that's aligned with the word of god it's it's helpful the source of that light is god in jesus christ he continues we see the connection between the light of the law and its source in first john 1 verses 5 through 8. in other words who god is determines what makes certain things right or wrong pause who god is determines what makes certain things right or wrong so as we go through the coming year god wants us to apply our understanding of who he is to how we deal with things we encounter does it say somewhere in the bible you know that um you know you have to do such and such on a certain day you know and and whatever go go visit you know aunt you know brenda and take her some chicken soup it doesn't say that right but does the bible talk about give and does the bible talk about service and does the bible talk about you know a way of give mr armstrong would talk about how many times did we hear you know the two trees and the way of give and the way of get i grew up with that a lot of you did too two trees those were good sermons there's two ways there's satan's way which is darkness and take and you know and then there's god's way which is light and give and so like mr weston said the source of that light is god in jesus christ we see the connection between the light of the law and its source in other words mr weston writes who god is determines what makes certain things right or wrong the precepts of god are merely statements of who he is god's law arises from his holy righteous character god's law arises from who he is the statutes the judgments the precepts the law the principles of god arise from his mind who he is he created the universe he created the laws that govern the universe he gave us the laws in the bible based on who he is and who is he he's a god of love and give and kindness we it's not a mystery to us jesus said you've seen him you've seen the father so that's how we should behave it's you know we've been called to reflect that it's simple right christianity is really very simple god revealed his mind in the bible god gave us his laws in the bible do it keep doing it when it gets hard do it more keep doing it more keep doing it then you die then you're resurrected in the first resurrection right that's that's it okay to put another way mr weston i'll continue conclude with this to put it another way we learn about him through his law the law instructs us on his value system what he values then he mr weston says god is love as law teaches us what it means to love so god is love and god is righteous second so the first practical application is to learn to love god's law understand that his commandments are a lamp to our feet secondly we must remember we've been called out of darkness it's not just enough to love his law and then be sort of blissfully ignorant that we you know we still live in satan's world right that because then you're setting yourself up for you know for for bad surprises we have to be wise as serpents and remember that uh that god called us out of this world let's turn to acts chapter nine i think this is revealing how christ interceded intervened in paul's life at this time you know saul acts chapter nine paul is on the road to damascus acts 9 verses 1 2 3. so he's still called saul here and he's you know bad attitude and killing christians and um so verse one and saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the lord went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of the of damascus so that if he found any who were of the way whether men or women he might bring them bound to jerusalem and as he journeyed he came near damascus and suddenly a light shone on him right bright light and that's how christ interceded now christ could intercede and intervene in other ways it could be sometimes he used a strong voice you know with moses but at this point showing paul that he wanted to get his attention and he was going to change him from this corrupt way of of really of satan i mean he was he was murdering he sent this bright light and he called him out of this world he called him out of the wrong way of thinking the wrong understanding ephesians chapter five that that really impacted paul and paul uses light in his epistles and in his preaching not only because of that but i think i think in part because of how christ revealed himself to paul and we see light being used a lot in paul's writings now again not just because of that i think paul uses light because god uses light it's a it it's one of the tools and techniques that god uses but we turn to ephesians chapter 5 verse 8 ephesians 5 verse 8 just one example where paul tells us for you were once in darkness but now you are light in the lord walk as children in the light brethren we all were at one point in the world even if we grew up in the church at one point we were in the world we weren't our minds weren't fully opened and so we need to understand and remember that we are to not be of the world part of the world that we live in a world that is dangerous to christians and so we need to let our light shine but that's not just you know nice fancy words that means that we need to avoid bad things avoid darkness don't go along with the world i'm not going to get into lots of little details right but they're not you know sometimes those little details reflect sometimes when people stumble in little details it's because they don't understand deeply the mind of god okay i'm not going to give examples because if you give an example i don't want to go down that path but even some of the little things that are contrary to god's mind they're contrary to god's mind and so we grow god's patient and young people grow and old people grow let's not just love god's law let's also understand that we live still in a world that's dominated by satan the devil a world of darkness we've been called out of that world isaiah chapter 8 isaiah chapter 8 and verse 20 a very important scripture isaiah 8 verse 20 where god is orientating us he's orienting us to his law and he's kind of warning us about getting wrapped up in the world now again mr weston said it and i agree and i i would say it mr smith would say it and mr stevens and mr harrison and we would all agree that there's some good books out there you can read and they're helpful but they've got to align with god's law right they've got a line with god's law and what doesn't align with god's law you dismiss to the law and the testimony isaiah 8 verse 20. if they do not speak according to this word it is because there is no light in them we have to remember we live in a world that is satan's world and what is he he's a counterfeiter he counterfeits and so i don't want us to go home you know nervous or or or overly scared but i want us to go home and be careful to understand that that oil that we have in the lamps god doesn't want us mixing that oil with anything else does that make sense now you can't only read you know the bible i get well you can i mean but it's there's other things you need to read right you're going to watch the news you know again use the microwave oven example you got to repair your microwave oven the instructions aren't in the bible on how to repair your microwave oven so there's other things you have to read right there might be good there's some good philosophy books um there's some good history books but we have to be very careful not to let anything that's contrary to god's pure instruction pollute us we have to remember that we live in a world still controlled by satan remember the old book back in worldwide and what did it have i forget the exact title but it had the the the jail bars on the front a world held captive i think yeah world have captive and it had little prison bars and so we live in a world where you know we've got to be careful and filter everything over the coming year through what we understand god's law and god's mind to be isaiah 8 20 tells us to the law and the testimony if they don't speak according to this there's no light in them so we need to look for the truth in god's word and anything that doesn't measure up against that we dismiss we reject third point a third point we need to visualize our goal we need to visualize our goal we absolutely should visualize our goal we've had good sermons and sermonettes at the feast this year and we need to visualize the coming kingdom of god and we need to know that god wants us there he's on our side let's turn to isaiah chapter 11. we've been to isaiah 11 a couple times and that is fantastic isaiah 11 and i'm just going to only uh read verse 9. this whole passage is very uplifting but the third key is to visualize god's goal the first key was you know god's law to command his laws and commandments or lights to our feet they give us the path to eternal life second key is remember you know we are in satan's world there's still darkness this the world's a world of darkness yes we have to function in it but don't don't compromise right that that holy oil that's the holy spirit that oils the holy spirit in you and so we we also then need to apply principle three which is visualize the kingdom uh they shall not hurt nor destroy in my holy mountain i know we've read this but do we really look forward to that time when there's no more suffering no more crime no more war no more pain all those bad things that are going on in in the world today and why will those bad things go away well the answer is right there for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the lord as the waters cover the sea the earth will be full of the knowledge of the lord his law will cover the earth his law his law his law his law we really have to love and grow to love even more god's law i think we do but let's let's gird up ourselves and let's study his law more over the coming year what is the road to eternal life is it speculation about exactly what's going to happen in the x bowl to this you know part of the country the ex-bowl judgment you know or is it is it speculating on exactly you know when does um you know is is peter the place of safety i was going to give you one more obscure but i don't want to really stirs things up but um you know those things are great god we have a spirit of prophecy god says the church does but the law is the path to eternal life and the more we keep the law and love the law the more god will give us understanding do you think there's a correlation between how much god helped mr armstrong to understand about prophecy and how much mr armstrong loved god's law do you think there's a correlation between how much dr meredith loves god's law loved and how much he gave him understanding about prophecy i think there's a correlation with mr weston do you think there's a correlation with mr ames how much they love god's law and how much they understand about prophecy it's interesting isn't it so meditate on that think about that do you want to understand what's coming do you want to understand more about the timing of the events and and what's going to happen to you know people that used to be in the church and this and that and you know love god's law meditate on god's law the more we love god's law the more we obey him the more he gives us understanding the more we love god's law the more we obey and the more he gives us the holy spirit you know i'll talk to people sometimes on the phone none of you and they'll you know they're they're not keeping god's law at all i'm not talking about church members they're not keeping god's law at all and they're convinced they have the holy spirit and some of them have a spirit you know you can tell who god's people are not by them claiming they have the holy spirit by but by how they live how they live and often they're quiet and often they're not really well known but god knows them in their lights in their community maybe they're light to just one or two people the law we must visualize the kingdom but to get to the kingdom we've got to love god's law revelation chapter 21. we began uh the sermon today in in revelation 21 verses 1 2 3. but i want to go to revelation 21 and real quickly look at verses 22 23 so a little later in the chapter let's visualize our goal let's visualize the future it's good to visualize the future proverbs says where there's no vision the people perish the people cast off restraint revelation 21 verse 22 it's also good to read prophecy and good to meditate and visualize what's coming i saw no temple in it for the lord god almighty and the lamb are its temple so this is after the thousand-year period this is after the millennium this is after satan's rebellion this is when the father and the word um are dwelling together in the temple in the new jerusalem the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of god illuminated it and the lamb is its light you see that theme of light going through there again and the nations of those who say who are saved shall walk in in its light and the kings of the earth and so forth verse 27 nothing will go in there that's you know contrary to god's law let's visualize that time not just the millennium when we'll get to play with you know uh i'm not making light of it it's great you know but you know the kids or we will get to play wouldn't it be cool to play with a big gray wolf you know those are impressive animals gray wolves they're the big timber wolves our canadian friends you know they uh they they they have them more up there right and they're big powerful animals that's fantastic i mean they're one of god's creation but but that's you know that's nothing compared to the new jerusalem the father the 24 elders the archangels the heavenly hosts millions and millions maybe eventually billions of other members of god's family and god doesn't give us a lot of detail but we need to think about that future visualize our goal the fourth and final uh practical application so again number one god's law number two we live in a world still of darkness number three visualize the goal number four and the fourth and final is let's remember to apply the keys that we always hear about of prayer bible study fasting and meditation let's remember to apply the keys of prayer bible study fasting and meditation i'm not going to give a sermon or a little sermonette on each of those keys but let's remember to apply those keys of prayer fasting bible study and meditation in the coming year why should we apply those keys because the more we apply those keys those are practical steps god gives us that help us become more like christ so like i said i wanted to give some practical admonition for the coming year so the fourth and final key apply the keys of prayer bible study fasting and meditation there are many scriptures that we could turn to i'm not going to turn to them let's apply those keys in the coming year brethren we've been told to let our lights shine let's we have a few more scriptures before we wrap up let's go back to matthew chapter five matthew chapter five and i could stand up here and tell you to let your light shine but without those practical keys i'm not really being fair and giving you you know some helpful instruction it's it's it's instruction we know we know we know we need to keep god's law love god's law study god's law is point one we know we live in satan's world we need to not be dumb about it and just go through blindly and oh i'm gonna sign up for this and go see that bad movie and become of that become part of that you know group that's breaking god's law and and do this on the sabbath and become you know be friends with these people or breaking god's law and take this job that's gonna make me compromise the sabbath we know that right but it's worth mentioning sometimes that's point two and then point three of course is to visualize the goal we do this for a purpose and point four was those practical steps of prayer bible study fasting and meditation we know that if we apply these keys then we can fulfill christ's instruction to be lights to the world matthew chapter 5 and verse 16. matthew 5 verse 16. moreover when you oh sorry chapter 6 matthew 5 16 let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven none of what we do is for our own glory now good works are good and to shine your light is good but the glory is to god when people ask you why are you happy there's a couple you know fine answers but you should include some version or some variation of i understand god's law i understand you know god's given me his law you know i'm a christian i try to live as a christian it's not i'm just a good person when people ask you why do you serve when people ask you why do you forgive when people ask you or me you know why do we do what we do it's because we've been called out of this world into a different better way of life i'm not telling you to all go home and again get real preachy and in the face of all your neighbors but when people ask if god gives you the opportunity well i've i i really believe in the bible and i try to live by by the bible true christianity and god can let that person be inspired to say well tell me more or not usually they they don't care right so let your light shine before men that they may see your good works we don't hide our you know our works under a bushel under a basket and glorify your father in heaven we've been called to glorify god through our good works god has given us seven days plus this eighth day to be fed it's been a break from the world and i think you've done well and i think god's pleased for what i've heard at the other fee sites you know things have gone well and that's that's good so let's go home and keep doing well and let's do better this year than maybe even uh last year we know a time is coming and i won't talk i won't turn to it but joel tells us a time is coming of darkness and gloominess the day of the lord joel 2 verses 1 and 2 a time is coming of darkness and gloominess joel 2 verses 1 and 2. and we know there will be a time when the work will be temporarily shut down we know there will be a time where the church will flee to a place of protection when those events happen let's us be able to look back and say you know maybe i could have done a little better but i you know i did i i stood up for for the truth and i let my light shine and i grew and i was a good example and i studied my bible and so when god gave me an opportunity to answer a question at a twp because some guest came up i was able to give a decent answer or my boss or my teacher you know challenged me and i was able to give them a decent answer let's be able to look back on our lives and say we let our light shine before men for the glory of our father in heaven let's turn to john chapter 14. john 14 visualizing the future a little bit john chapter 14. we know jesus christ was willing to endure death because of the promise and the future that lied ahead and we know that he wants us to be part of that he wants us to really be part of that he he cares about us and you and me and so as we go back into satan's world as we let our light shine today tomorrow and hope that our lights will then shine into the millennium and shine forever let's not let our hearts be troubled it's fine to be a little bit you know we're a little bit sad you know ecclesiastes says there's wisdom in the house of mourning now i'm not saying we should mourn a whole lot but you know i mean it's a little sad the feasts and last great day are coming to an end we have one more service this afternoon but look at what christ's motivation was and his vision what was real to him let not your let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions you know it's a very famous verse in christianity but people think it's just metaphor they don't know what it means but we understand that there really are many positions many jobs many roles awaiting for us in god's kingdom if it were not so christ says he would have told them he went to prepare a place for his disciples for us verse 3 and if i go and prepare a place i will come again and receive you to myself and that's our hope we wait for our elder brother to return and he's been working and he's excited and he knows we don't know what's in store we barely right what's the bible say it says you look through a glass darkly you really barely understand what's in store it's got to be pretty awesome because god's pretty awesome and christ endured death for it and he's excited about it here in john chapter 14 he's telling the disciples you're going to go through trials most of these guys got killed right and christ was going to get killed and he says the kingdom the kingdom the kingdom i go to my father and i'm going to return i'm going to return i'm going to prepare a place for you and i will come again and receive you to myself that where i am there you may be also we look forward to being with lord jesus with our elder brother and again it's not just the first resurrection or the first few decades of the millennium or just the millennium it's that into the rest of eternity when our lights will shine forever as mr frittle mentioned this is not the only day of salvation this might be our day of salvation but the last great day pictures the great white throne judgment and that's a day of salvation for potentially billions it just gets more exciting do you want the feast to end did anybody say you know is it i just boring i don't like it it's old it's boring i just no right we wanted to go on we're going to want god's kingdom to go on it's never going to be boring you know we have the millennium it's going to be awesome then there's the great way through judgment with billions of people we're going to work it with i mean that's even bigger what's beyond that daniel chapter 12 in conclusion daniel chapter 12. so again brethren the the title of the sermon and the admonition is to shine your light forever shine your light today tomorrow but our goal is to shine our lights forever no more sorrow no more sickness no more pain no more satan no more confusion just joy happiness peace nothing profane anymore our goal is to shine our lights forever and so in conclusion god gave daniel a little glimpse into this daniel chapter 12 and i'll just read verse three verses one and two talk about some end time events and brethren i want to encourage us to be wise you know how do we get wisdom by fear of the lord how do we live righteously live wisely by applying god's law so hopefully this is us hopefully we've been fed at the feast and we'll go home and we'll be a little wiser let our light shine a little brighter so that god can trust us to let our light shine in his kingdom forever those who are wise shall shall shine like the brightness of the firmament god speed that day i mean that is going to be awesome and those who turn many to righteousness were part of that like the stars forever and ever godspeed that day we look forward to when our lights will shine forever you

Channel: Living Church of God

Views: 4,115

Rating: 4.8195491 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: n--arIOUWpA

Length: 78min 2sec (4682 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 10 2020