"Should Christians Keep the Feast Days?" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

our message this morning is going to be maybe a little unusual we're talking about the Jewish feast days and more specifically whether or not it's appropriate for Christians today to be keeping these feasts now some messages you deal more with the milk of the word sometimes it's the meat of the word I know that doesn't sound like the health message let's say the almond milk and the tofu of the word today's more the tofu of the word and because this is really a very important subject and we're gonna learn a lot about Jesus in the process because in reality all of the feast days teach us something about Jesus matter of fact I've got an assignment for the kids in our myths I did this last week and some took it up with great gusto matter fact I surprised how many adults also participated starting now I want the young people if you want to try and keep track of me you're gonna be amazed how many times you hear me say the word feast that would include clewd the word feasts or some derivative of that but I'll be interested to know that it's gonna be a lot first thing I think we should consider is we live in a dimension called time and time is sort of ethereal unless we create benchmarks you know God gave us the Sun the moon and the stars and he says these are for signs and these are four seasons and sometimes we do things within time and certain days and dates to memorialize things you know that's we memorialize people like Christmas ostensibly I guess April Fool's Day would be in that category we memorialize events in history you know when you say 9/11 now it's something that's sort of becoming a memorial not a happy one but different dates become memorials think about all the holidays we have in America we got quite a few and it seems to be growing all the time you know first Christmas and get Easter and you got Halloween I'm not too excited about I was just home depot yesterday they already got the Halloween decorations they don't waste any time at all name the others Labor Day coming up fourth of July that's an important date Thanksgiving Memorial New Year's Columbus Day Presidents Day Secretary's day bosses day who makes these out they got a day for everything now right now in the Jewish economy they had seven major feasts and these feasts really helped them to outline the plan of salvation now you're gonna find these seven feasts in the Book of Leviticus chapter 23 but I just want you to know beyond the seven feasts there they have subsequently added a couple of others of course you've heard of Hanukkah Hanukkah was developed during the time of the Maccabees so it came much later and if you read in the book of Esther they developed another feast poem because of the great deliverance that happened while they were in Persia during the time of Esther but in connection with the Exodus there were these religious ceremonial feasts and there were seven of them and we're going to be talking about that today and I think it's important also to ask the question how do we relate to these things all of the feasts were about Jesus they all taught us about the Lord in his ministry in some way even Christ said John chapter five verse 39 you search the Scriptures for and then you think you have eternal life and these are they that testify of me in fact when you look at the life of Jesus the high points in the life of Jesus coincided with the Jewish feasts what was the first time you hear words from Christ in the Bible how old was he twelve years old I'm sure he talked before that but I mean the first recorded words in the Bible when did it happen at a feast he went with his parents to a feast he often went to the temple and he taught during the feast when that woman was caught in adultery he went to the Feast of Tabernacles when he said I am the living water he went to the Passover his death was during the feast his resurrection his ascension just before Pentecost the whole life of Jesus was often choreographed in connection with these Jewish feasts so they're very important for us to understand because they teach us a lot about the plan of salvation now probably will also help when we talk about the Jewish feasts to keep in mind the Jewish calendar was very different than our calendar today they had different names for the months we live under the Gregorian calendar it's the Roman calendar it's a solar calendar that Jews used a lunar calendar it was very accurate but they used a different heavenly body we know we've got 365 one quarter days in a year the Romans really actually messed with a calendar quite a bit because you think about it the days of the week that we have the names for are the Roman days Monday was Monday and Tuesday was tois Wednesday was Odin's day Friday frida saturday was saturn day sunday was the day of the Sun so the months the reason you've got a month named July is because of Julius Caesar and when Augustus Caesar followed not long after that he wanted a month named after him but July had more days and so Augustus Caesar took some days off February which is why February so short and that they ended up being totally out of order because September yep them all if you say seventh-day Adventist in Spanish it's yep the mode the adventist yep they're 7 September supposed to be the seventh month what month is it 9th month October octagon Oh ciao how many is that October is what month 10th month no waving November supposed to be the 9th month it's the 11th month dekha December the yes supposed to be the 12th 10th month but it's the Twizy I'm confused already the Roman calendars like the English language it doesn't make any sense at all yeah you know English words are very confusing if you're gonna learn a language don't learn English because a lot of it just doesn't make sense so but the Jewish calendar was they had 360 days in the year because there were 30 days to the month and you might say well pastor Doug but that doesn't make sense well they would add a special month everything six years because there's 365 days in the year if they only have 360 then they're short five every year or they compensate we compensate with leap year for the quarter day discrepancy you still with me and 360 is really a perfect number how many degrees in a circle 360 was a it was a great way to calculate do you want to hear just an amazing fact how many numbers on our roulette wheel the ride answered you know I was that's a quick question and you're all looking around going how many who knows thirty six how many degrees in a circle 360 right and you know if you're going 180 degrees you're going down ninety degrees is an angle right 270 you're going west if you count one plus two is how much plus three plus four keep doing that till you get to 36 you know what you get to 666 that interesting so it was a mathematically very interesting number any so their calendar was different they also had two calendars they had their religious calendar which started in the spring they had their regular secular civil calendar which started in the fall and so they had a whole stew separate calendars that kind of overlapped each other when during the Exodus Moses said this will be the beginning of months for you when they came out of Egypt it was their spiritual calendar but during the time of Noah in the flood you notice he's telling what month of the year was well they're talking about the civil calendar for the months when the different things happen during the flood you'll notice that in the book of Genesis so that's just a little background as we go into the feasts to understand these things now I want to just give you a slide that will help you we see an overview of what the feasts were these seven feasts and we'll put that up on the screen right now and so first of course you had the Passover that was in the spring that was the beginning of their months how are you gonna put that up I want it up where they can see it here in the church I can see it in my notes but I went there we go thank you very much so you got Passover that was that feast lasted one day immediately after that you had the feast of unleavened bread and immediately following that you're the feast of firstfruits there were three spring feasts then fifty days later you had the feast of weeks or Pentecost I was one day feast then you got into the fall feast connected with that fall harvest year the Feast of Trumpets the Day of Atonement and the day of Tabernacles you notice it's kind of interesting you got three got one in the middle you got three total of seven one stands out as unique you ever seen the Jewish menorah got three candles on one side one tall one in the middle three on the other side and they all did that in correspondence with their their spiritual feasts the feasts were dates these feasts were also annual Sabbath's they would rest during these ceremonial feasts they were not the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments now with that as a background go in your Bible real quick to the Book of Leviticus this is one of the places not the only place but one of the main places chapter 23 where you find the feasts we're not going to read the whole chapter but if you just look here at Leviticus 23 verse 1 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the children of Israel and say to them the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim our holy convocations these are my feasts when I post it online I usually post you know what I'm preaching about our teaching at my Facebook page and I mentioned I'm gonna be talking about your Christians keep the feast days I got like 30,000 response and you might be wondering wise pastor duck bothering talking about this okay there's a lot of dear people out there to believe that Bible Christian should be keeping the feasts and you know sabbath-keeping Christians we're wanting to keep the Sabbath and they're saying well if you're keeping the Sabbath why not keep the feasts because you notice the Sabbath is mentioned in the same chapter with the feasts the Lord says speak to the children of Israel eaves of the feasts of the Lord and this is the thing they put on line pastor Doug you're calling them the Jewish feasts they are the feasts of the Lord these are not for the Jews these are for everybody they are also called the feasts of the Jews in the New Testament in their Gospel of John but when it talks about feasts of Lord it simply means feasts that we keep to the Lord there's what they're saying first when he mentions verse three six days shall work be done but the seventh day is the Sabbath a solemn rest a holy convocation that word convocation means assembly it's where we get the word convention to convene to gather a holy gathering says you shall not do any work on the sabbath of the lord in all your dwellings now he has separated the sabbath of the ten commandments from the ceremonial sabbath because then he makes his preface statement in verse four these are the feasts of the lord holy convocations which he shall proclaim at their appointed times these are dates there's a big difference between the sabbath of the ten commandments and the Jewish feasts what are the differences when did the sabbath of the ten commandments come before or after sin before sin was it part of God's perfect plan perfect world yes and will we still keep it in heaven yes who wrote the sabbath of the ten commandments God did with what a pen pencil finger who wrote the Sabbath's the ceremonial satis moses what did he write on paper parchment what did the Lord write the Ten Commandments on stone where were the Ten Commandments placed in the Ark of the Covenant they are part of the Covenant where were the ceremonial law is placed in a pocket on the outside of the art they're they're very different one is a date it's part of the ten commandments it's something that comes weekly there has been no interruption in the calendar that affects the weekly cycle it is ongoing part of the moral law 2500 years later is when the Jewish feasts appear they are shadows that were to help us to recognize and identify Jesus when he came now I think there's a lot we can learn from them and so we're going and then it goes on and it lists the feasts and and it goes through the seven feasts here that I'm about to share with you I'm not going to read the whole chapter we're gonna run out of time let's begin to go through them here's a quick overview of the feasts first one beginning of the year was the Passover the Passover when they were born as a nation they came out of Egypt the whole Exodus experience was something that no nation would ever forget all the signs and wonders and miracles and plagues and things that happen and the miraculous way they were delivered and the great transition of a border they crossed from Egypt over the Red Sea into the Promised Land you know rivers are often borders different country now they're born as a nation they came in as a small group of family 70 people and now they leave millions and they needed to get organized then he gave him a calendar among other things he said this is a beginning of months the miraculous deliverance of the Passover had to do before they could leave Egypt with the sacrifice of the Lamb and the blood both symbols of Jesus remember an angel of judgment came through the land of Egypt firstborn was going to die in every family unless they had the blood of the Lamb around the lentil and the door posts of their home if the angel of death saw the blood this angel of judgment he would pass over them and they would be spared they would be under the blood there would be mercy because of the blood now do we all understand the biblical significance of that in salvation because of the blood of Jesus he is our lamb that judgment passes over had you accepted the the lamb so Passover is very important now I've often had people that say pastor Doug we should still be keeping the feasts they remind me that the Passover was called an eternal covenant said do this throughout your generations forever among your people so why wouldn't we still be doing it we do every time when the Lord instituted the Lord's Supper he said I've longed to eat this passover with you but do we kill a lamb now no and now it's going to be Jesus he is the land and spiritually we were new our covenant with Jesus through the grape trees and through the unleavened bread and so in a sense yes the Passover is eternal in that every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper we're remembering that all right next you've got the feast of unleavened bread which follows immediately after the Passover and of course there was unleavened bread at the the Lord's Supper when they got hungry in the wilderness and did God give them bread from heaven he did and it says in Exodus 34 18 the feast of unleavened bread you shall keep seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I commanded thee what does leaven represent now most of the time leaven in the Bible represents something that ferments and causes something to rise and it causes a problem and and Jesus you know having the unleavened bread means no sin the bread by the way was to be unleavened and the grape juice was to be unfermented that's important know Jesus at the Last Supper he said I will not drink this wine again until I drink it with you new in the father's kingdom new wine is unfermented grape juice and I say that because there's a lot of Protestant churches that still they've got the fermented stuff they pass around I know a guy that was a recovering alcoholic and all it took was he went to a communion service at one of these churches and they gave him a little taste of that it just kicked him right off the wagon again and so don't do anything to make your brother stumble amen so and then you've got it says for instance first Corinthians 5:8 let us keep the feast not with the old leaven or the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth notice how Paul is using spiritual language here this was in our scripture reading John 641 Jesus then complained I'm sorry the Jews then complained about him because he said I am the bread that came down from heaven and Jesus said I am the bread of life the leaven of the Pharisees was legalism and works mark 815 the leaven of Herod Christ talks about worldliness in presumption the leaven of the Sadducees is disbelief in humanism it's Matthew 16 and so this eleven the disbelief the worldliness were to have this godliness and holiness in our lives third feast the offering of the firstfruits this was the 14th day of the month Abib or Nisan and the Passover was eaten and the fiftieth day after this you end up with Pentecost and we're coming to that in just a moment and so this represented the firstfruits it happened on the day following the unleavened bread and on the day following Jesus being placed in the tomb you've got the resurrection what happened at the resurrection 1st Corinthians 15:20 but now Christ is risen from the dead and he has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep you noticed through the writings of Paul he continues to talk about the feasts and say how Christ is the fulfillment of that Christ is the Passover Christ is the firstfruits now where some firstfruits taken to heaven when Jesus rose first fruits were like they used to take a sheaf of grain and wave it before the Lord and thank him for the harvest Christ when he went to heaven have you read before in Matthew chapter 27 there was a resurrection earthquake resurrection and it says the veil of the temple was torn we'll get to that in a minute there was an earthquake and many of the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised coming out of the graves after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many and when he ascended they ascended to him and with him there's very brief appearance of this group that weekend of sunday when he rose and they went to heaven as a firstfruits we don't know who they were some of the Saints who had died around Jerusalem could have been Isiah could have been John the Baptist it could have been Jeremiah you know we don't know but some of the faithful may have been some thought when they were 24 like the 24 elders and they were the firstfruits went to heaven early resurrection then you have 50 days later you've got that feast that sort of between the spring and the fall you've got Pentecost now it's interesting it says Leviticus 23 16 count 50 days from the Passover to the day after the seventh Sabbath and he shall offer new grain offering Pentecost is the second of the three annual pilgrimage festivals there's some of these feasts a would actually had to be at the temple they would go for the sacrifice to Jerusalem and it was called the feast of weeks because it came at the end of seven sevens 49 one day after the fiftieth why do we call our big what's it called the big military building we've got Pentagon what do they call at that five science is because of five the books of Moses five books of Moses are called the what Penta took at a Pentagon it said that talking about five sides and so this was the feast when the holy spirit was poured out and let me give you something interesting according to the Jewish tradition after the Passover it took him 49 days to get to Mount Sinai on the fiftieth day God declared his covenant so you got 50 days after the Passover God declares the Covenant and Mount Sinai now you've got fifty days after Jesus blood Pentecost happens the Holy Spirit and the New Covenant is activated at that time you see how there's the things happening to the early church are matching up with what happened with God's people you get the the Jews and you got spiritual Israel and there's a an overland it's an overlap it's all matching up next and so Pentecost the Holy Spirit's pour it out and you go to the fifth feast now you're in the fall and it's called a Feast of Trumpets and the Feast of Trumpets was called Rosh Hashanah you've heard of that and you can find that Leviticus 23 verse 24 speak to the children of Israel in the seventh month on the first day of the month you shall have a Sabbath rest a memorial of blowing trumpets a holy convocation and this was a feast this was a happy time Bible talks about the Lord's coming descend from heaven with a Trump but it also says lift up your voice like a trumpet trumpet is a proclamation a lot of trumpets is military trumpets or trumpets of celebration and trumpets of feasts but after Pentecost next was the trumpet we are to be proclaiming the Lord until the judgment which is the Day of Atonement which is the next feast and so then you've got yeah and they would blow through a shofar or ram's horn during that Feast during some of the other feasts say it's silver trumpets then you go to the sixth feast I'm hurrying along because I've got a lot to cover we call it today Yom Kippur you'll see in many of your calendars you know you'll not only see Christmas you'll see Hanukkah you'll see Yom Kippur the Jewish festivals are often in even American calendars it's better known as the Day of Atonement that is the sixth Feast now this was it's not really fair to call the Feast it was a fast but they call it a feast because when they got done fasting they feast you've heard of Ramadan Ramadan is a time when Muslims fast but they don't fast the whole time they fast all during the day but once the Sun Goes Down they feast and they're really hungry at that point and so at the end of the time of the fasting during the Day of Atonement they were putting away their sin their humbling themselves it wasn't a total fast but they would seek God's forgiveness they'd want to have the sins separated from the people and it was the time of judgment now we're living right now historically in the similar phase of that feast which should be at the Day of Atonement we're in the last age of the church which is the age of Laodicea which means judging the people and Christ has gone from when we entered this church of laodicea in 1844 Christ then you give that from Daniel chapter 8 14 Christ finished his work in the holy place and he's moved into the Holy of Holies in his heavenly administration as our high priest up there and so that's the time of judgment yom kippur it was a solemn time and Christ you know when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane and he began to be exceedingly sorrow he went through this trial in this time of self-denial and the sins of the world were placed upon him what happened during the day of atonement they had two goats and he can find this in Leviticus 16 one goats was called the Lord's goat the other goat was called azl the Lord's goat was sacrificed and the blood was sprinkled represented Jesus they would symbolically take all the sins that had been stored through the ceremonial year the priest would then bear them he'd take them out he'd placed him on the hand of the scapegoat you've heard the expression scapegoat before then they give that goat into the hands of a trustworthy man who had lead it as far away from the camp as he could and traditionally they'd lead it up into a ragged Canyon cliff and he'd kick it off the cliff because it was a very bad omen if that goat came back to their camp now it doesn't say they kick it off the cliff in the Bible I've just read that and some Jewish traditions because they didn't want it to come back because it supposedly now was taking all their sins one was the Lord's go that was sacrificed this is more like the devil who is obviously paying for his own sin some people might think how does the devil bear sin well it's not that the devil is bearing the sins of people as a sacrifice if you're not saved who pays for your sin you do every man's rewarded according to his own works right is the devil is his sins and the sins that the devil has instigated are they covered by Jesus or does he pay the judgment for the is Satan cast into like a fire does it say he burns day and night knows well how long that's gonna beat this forever meaning until he's all gone but who's gonna deserve punishment more than anything or than anyone gonna be the devil and so um the whole day of atonement represented separating the people from their sins the sanctuary was cleansed from the sins that had been symbolically stored there through the year all right so that was the six feasts and then you get to the final feast the feast of tabernacles which was a celebration of their deliverance it was a time of rejoicing this was the happiest year the people would all gather and they get these palms and they gather and they'd say in booths our tents and it comes from the word soak off which means a booth and they would remember their wilderness wanderings and deliverance from Egypt and it was synonymous when when we are going to Tabernacle with God in heaven it was during that feast that they would pour out the water remembering that the water had been miraculously provided for them in the wilderness you read in John 7:37 by the way it's really interesting if you study the Gospels you'll find the word feast about 10 times more in the Gospel of John that all the other three Gospels put together John really accentuates Jesus as the fulfillment of the feasts it says in John 7:37 on that last day of the great feast Jesus stood in me cried out if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water because during that Feast of Tabernacles the priest went through a water ceremony where he'd pour water reminding them how water came out of the rock and in the middle of all that Jesus is high in the living water and so a lot of what Jesus did in his proclamations and what you find in the Gospel of John corresponds with the various Jewish feasts showing that he was the fulfillment of all of that which brings us to the really the core of what I want to make clear during this message with this as a background do we need to keep today the Jewish feasts I say no certainly not the way they did now let me tell you why first of all one thing I meant to mention there were three of the feasts that required going to the temple in Jerusalem and sacrificing lands you find that Deuteronomy 16:16 three times a year all your mail shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which he chooses they that was before Jerusalem with joy yet chosen at the feast of unleavened bread feast of weeks a feast of tabernacles so of the seven three and you know they were all required to come but by the time of Jesus they figured you were a good Jew if you at least made it to one the reason is the Jews had been been scattered around the Roman Empire and it was economically very difficult for them to come from the far reaches of the Mediterranean three times a year to the feast and so they said well you ought to come at least once and you know they say if you're a faithful Muslim you're supposed to make once in your life you make pilgrimage to Mecca well if you're a faithful Jew you needed to go to Jerusalem for the feast once a year you remember Paul he talks about that he says it's expedient that I get down to the feast and I'll say more about that in a minute all right I don't think that God expects us to keep the Jewish feasts because that was part of the ceremonial law that was a shadow pointing to Christ and when Christ came he's the fulfillment of it like with the Passover do we still sacrifice lambs or do we have the Lord's Supper Lord's Supper what would it mean today would you think there's something wrong a pastor Doug brought a lamb and then slaughtered a lamb here in church not only would that be brutal and I'd be arrested by PETA or somebody but beyond that you would think that is a denial of Jesus as the Lamb we don't need to do that now because we know that was a shadow until Christ's right same principle for the other feasts let me illustrate at the time of Christ after he ascended to heaven he sent up the disciples what was the religion of all 12 disciples they were all Jews right they were Jews who accepted Christ and I like to remind people you all know but some people watching I still consider myself Jewish my mother was Jewish I don't feel like I've ever had to give up being Jewish to be a seventh-day Adventist Christian not in fact I think I used to tell my grandparents I'm more of a Jew than you are because I was at least kosher and they weren't always and so and I kept the Sabbath and they were pretty sloppy about it and so you know the early church they were all Jewish to start with it wasn't until the stoning of Stephen in acts 10 Peter goes to Cornelius house the gospel began to go to the Gentiles so when the Jewish believers went out preaching they were so well what do we do with the law of Moses now that Jesus has come they were still sorting all this out Peter and the Apostle said that's all been fulfilled now and but some of the Jews that converted to Christianity they said no no no we can't give up Moses and they were forcing all the Gentile converts to keep the ceremonial law now Peter and Paul said look if you want to keep it that's fine even Paul kept some of the feasts to reach the Jews afterward but he didn't tell the conference the Jewish Congress you've got to keep the Jewish feasts quite the opposite you look for instance in Matthew 23 Jesus said verse 4 for they bind heavy burdens hard to bear and they lay them on men's shoulders but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers let's be careful not putting unnecessary burdens on people are we gonna make all our males go three times a year to Jerusalem or once a year acts 15 you know amazing facts of thinking about doing a trip to Jerusalem and I was talking her pastor Gilley the other week he said he might help us host the trip any of you interested Caryn's ever I've been there twice she's never been there so we need to take a trip just checking all right axe 15-5 noticed but some of the sex of the Pharisees who believed they rose up and said it's necessary to circumcise them and command them to keep the law of Moses you can see that contention this is you got to keep these laws acts 15 10 now therefore why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor nor we were able to bear they weren't able to keep up with all of it acts 15 24 since we have heard that there are some of them that went out from us having troubled you with the words unsettling your souls saying you must be circumcised and keep the law to whom we gave no such commandment so at least admit with me there was a problem in the early church where some of the Jewish believers were telling the Gentile believers there's additional laws you need to keep of Moses and the Apostles were saying that's not true there was some division they had a whole council meeting in Jerusalem to settle this issue you read in Acts chapter 15 just read the whole chapter and their final summary is that we're not going to require the Gentile converts to keep these ceremonial laws because they're fulfilled in Jesus now the Bible is pretty clear we have a new sacrifice we are now living with a new sacrifice do we sacrifice lambs anymore Daniel 9:27 speaking of the coming of the Messiah he will confirm the covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week that's in the seven years of the Ministry of Christ and the Apostles in the midst of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease did Jesus cause the purpose for the sacrifice to cease yes John 1:29 who is our lamb now John points to Jesus's and said behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world so we have a new sacrifice not only do we have a new sacrifice we have a new priesthood Matthew 26 25 the high priest when he condemned Jesus TIFs he got indignant he said he has spoken blasphemy what further need do we have of witnesses you've heard his blasphemy and he tore his clothes the high priest was never to rend his garments they were holy garments when Aaron's son died his sons died because of their sin Moses said through the Lord the Lord said to Aaron through Moses do not you know they used to mourn they tear their garments said do not until your garments because you're wearing holy garments they represent the perfect character of Christ the high priest is never to tear his garments Caiaphas first time in history he tore his garments representing the priesthood the earthly Levitical priesthood was over we have a new priesthood Jesus as our high priest we are a nation a kingdom of priests is that what it says 1st Peter 2:9 you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood he goes on to say a holy nation because we now are a new nation and that leads me to the next point I got a new priesthood got a new nation actually I got a new temple next Matthew 27 verse 50 got a new temple Jesus cried out again with a loud voice he dies on the cross he yields up the spirit behold the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom in the earthquake why did the veil rent in the temple was it just old and neglected and so torn you know the veil they say was as thick as a man's hand it was a heavy veil and a tour from top to bottom nobody on the bottom is very tall tore it it's supernaturally ripped no man was ever supposed to look into the Holy of Holies God Torte laid it open was there an ark in there no I didn't the ark had been hitting back in the days of Jeremiah when Nebuchadnezzar came and stole destroyed the temple before he did that they hid the ark it's never been found it's still hidden over there somewhere what was the significance of the rending of the veil it's not an earthly temple anymore how do we know that look at the words of G we heard him say destroy this temple made with hands in three days I'll build another made without hands Jesus did say destroy this temple in three days I'll raise it up and he spoke of his body what is the church call the body of Christ the Bible says you are living stones Jesus is the cornerstone we are built up together into a new temple Paul says what you don't know you are the temple of God so do we need to go to Jerusalem for the feast or is Christ now the temple say and the church is the temple you are the temple of God we are his body right not only is it a new temple new priesthood new sacrifice the Bible says it's a new nation I just read to you from Peter that your royal priesthood a holy nation Galatians chapter 3 verse 7 don't you know that those that are of faith they are the children of Abraham Galatians 3:29 if you are Christ then you are Abraham's seed according to the promise Romans 2 verse 29 I know I'm giving you a lot of verses I maybe I'll post my notes if you're interested he is not a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is not of the heart I'm sorry he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit not in the letter whose praise be not from men but from God now there are Jews that are part of this holy nation but anybody can be a spiritual Jew the Bible tells us many will come from the east and the west the gentiles and sit down in the kingdom with abraham isaac and jacob and the natural children can be an outer darkness jesus said to some of the religious leaders you're not Abraham's children you're of your father the devil because Abraham didn't try to kill me people who have the faith of Abraham are Abraham spiritual seed so all the promises God made to Abraham about inheriting the promised land they belong to you if you accept Christ you are adopted in Paul made it very clear the Gentiles are grafted into the stock of Israel we become a new nation and so it's really clear so many of these promises that are made of out Israel I believe God still has a special work for the Jewish people but you all become spiritual Jews when you accept Christ so you got a new temple new nation new priesthood you've got a new circumcision I to be careful picking a picture for this Romans chapter 2 verse 25 and 26 for circumcision verily profits if you keep the law but if you are a breaker of the law your circumcision is made uncircumcision Galatians 5:2 and 3 indeed I Paul say to you and listen to this this is to me very important Paul he says indeed I'm saying to you if you become circumcised Christ will profit you nothing does that was he saying that no Gentiles nobody from the time of Christ should be circumcised it's pretty commonly practiced in North America no it's not what he's saying Paul is saying if you are being circumcised for the benefit of salvation or being adopted it says Christ had no profit the whole purpose of Christ was to fulfill that you see what Paul is saying he says in 1st Corinthians 7 19 circumcision isn't nothing uncircumcision is nothing but keeping the commandments of God is what matters so is the moral law Ten Commandment still in place the ceremonial law circumcision was part of that is nothing circumcision came thousand years 2,000 years after creation even Jesus and Moses said circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart don't be hard hearted the new covenant is about having your heart committed to God so it's it's a whole different circumcision now a new covenant were under new covenant 1st Corinthians 11:25 in the same manner he took the cup after supper saying this is a cup of the New Covenant in my blood this do as often as you do it he didn't give him a date he just said as often as you do it do it in remembrance of me Hebrews 8 8 for finding fault with them he said behold the days are coming says the Lord I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel in the house juda by the way we were just talking about spiritual Israel does God have a covenant to save Gentiles where is the Covenant to save Gentiles in the Bible they're adopted into Israel because the new covenant I know I hear I hear a lot of my other Protestant friends they say we're not under the Old Covenant we're saved under the new covenant I said okay who did God make the new covenant with I will make a new covenant with the Gentiles no I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel so if you want to be part of that new covenant you must be part of the house of Israel does that make sense and so we are adopted in so it's really hard to say I'm gonna get adopted into the house of Israel and throw out the Sabbath day see what I'm saying you're wondering where I was going with that all right so new covenant Hebrews 8 13 in that he says a new covenant he's made the first obsolete not what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away so what is vanishing away well the old agreement doesn't mean the 10 commandments because the new covenant is all right my law Ten Commandments on their heart it's same law writ in a different place so something is vanishing away all the shadows and types were vanishing away now keep in mind there are two different laws when you talk about law - even while you got moral law 2 gets civil on you get health law and there's different varieties but you read in the Ten Commandments and you read in chronicles Nehemiah number of places it talks about a distinction made let me read for instance second chronicles I will not second chronicles 33 8 I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land that I've appointed for your father's if only they're careful to do all that I've commanded them according to the whole law and the statutes in all the ordinances by the hand of Moses the handwriting of Moses the Ten Commandments are written on stone Nehemiah 914 you make known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them precepts and statutes and laws by the hand of Moses your servant says you made known to them the holy Sabbath and Sabbath's Ten Commandments the precepts statutes and laws by the hand of Moses you still with me go to me I don't think I made it clear go with me to Deuteronomy chapter 4 Deuteronomy chapter 4 if you got your Bibles I always worry sometimes that you put the scriptures on the screen and you get used to it you don't look things up for yourself I'm gonna read verse 6 no I'm sorry verse 9 Deuteronomy 49 only take heed to yourself and diligently keep yourself lest you forget the things your eyes have seen let's say depart from your heart all the days of your life and you teach them to your children and your grandchildren especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God and Mount Horeb when the Lord said gather the people to me and I'll let them hear my words they may learn from me fear me all the days that they live on the earth and they may teach their children you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain and the mountain burned with fire in the midst of heaven in the cloud and thick darkness and the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire you heard the sound of the words but you saw no form don't make an idol you can see anything but you saw no form you only heard the voice he declared you his covenant that he commanded you to perform the Ten Commandments he wrote them on two tables of stone and then at the beginning of verse 14 there's a three-letter word and the LORD commanded me at that time to teach his statutes and judgments that you might observe there is a distinction between the Ten Commandments and all other law God made a distinction in the way he delivered it his own voice his own finger what he wrote it on where he placed it is every kind of distinction he can make the ceremonial laws were laws that all pointed to Jesus they have all passed away now is it wrong then for a person if they want to remember someone of the feast days No says in Romans 14 one man regards one above another another man regards every day alike let everyone be persuaded in his own mind if you're gonna keep the day keep it to the Lord there's nothing wrong if you said you know what we're gonna take our family camping and we're gonna camp under palm branches and we're gonna have a little feast of tabernacles as a matter of fact Alawite talked about some of the camp meetings and she said these are our Feast of Tabernacles but she never said he had to go to Jerusalem and she never said it had to be a certain date she said it's great for us once a year to get together for a convocation that's wonderful but you don't tell someone you're breaking the law if they don't do it you understand what I'm saying and so and yet we've got some sincere people that are mandating that it should be kept let me read a statement to you from this classic book on the life of Christ desire of Ages six five to desire of Ages six five - it's seen the chapter called in remembrance of me about the communion service and after Jesus said this is my blood and this is my body I got the order wrong this is my body this is my blood this is what it says Christ was standing at the point of transition between two economies and the two great festivals that's connected with the word feast he the spotless Lamb of God was about to present himself as a sin offering that he would thus bring to an end the system of types and ceremonies that for 4000 years had pointed to his death as he ate the Passover with his disciples he instituted in its place the service that was to be a memorial of his great sacrifice the national festival of the Jews was to pass away forever now that's hard to misunderstand unless you really want to misunderstand it the service which Christ established was to be observed by his followers in all lands through all ages Colossians 2:16 let no one therefore judge you in meat or in drink or he's talking about eating things offered to idols or not or in respect to a holiday or a new moon or the Sabbath days which are shadows not all not the seventh-day Sabbath Sabbath days which levitates he says the Sabbath days which are shadows of things to come there was the sabbath of creation there was not a shadow of christ coming it was part of the regular rest cycle and creation and then there were Sabbath's that were shadows of things to come but the body is of Christ he says don't let anyone judge you regarding those things I got another verse go with me to Ephesians 2 verse 14 and 15 I jogged this down today because it wasn't in my notes ofE shion's isn't the New Testament I went to the wrong ones Ephesians 2 verse 14 for he himself is our peace who has made both one and is broken down the middle wall of separation having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is in the law of Commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in himself one new man from the two of us making peace so he abolished this commandment of ordinances this Old Covenant and these old ceremonial laws they're wonderful things we can learn from these things if we want to go on a Granite Bay campout and take all the kids and say we're going to celebrate the Passover and we're gonna run from the Egyptians and you're gonna memorialize these things that's wonderful I think it's great there's things we can learn from that but don't go to your neighbor and tell them that you know you've got to start keeping the Jewish feast days because Paul's pretty clear the New Testaments pretty clear you have no right to do that and it is not required by the Lord in some ways it's a denial now let me tell you some of the reasons that people sometimes struggle with that there's a few verses I read one of them Passover was called an everlasting ordinance they say if it's an everlasting ordinance we need to keep it today my argument is we do keep it when we celebrate the Lord's Supper another statement you'll read in Zechariah 14 verse 16 it says it'll come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the Lord of Hosts to keep the Feast of Tabernacles they say look we're gonna keep feast of tabernacles in heaven why would we not keep it now well I think we do keep the feast of tabernacles this feast of tabernacles was remembering their deliverance from slavery we will forever gather together in heaven remember our deliverance from slavery it won't be on a specific date Isaiah 66 it will come to pass from one new moon to another from one sabbath to another all flesh will come and worship before me I think he's simply saying from week to week and month to month we'll all come worship before him now I got a theory this is my theory I can't prove it I think that when we get to heaven and the earth made new the Sun and Moon there still is a Sun it just says there's no need of the Sun in the city the cycle is gonna be slightly different I don't think that the years can be 365 1/4 I think it's gonna be 360 days I think it will be exactly twelve thirty day months I believe the week will be 28 the lunar cycle instead of 29 days it's gonna be 28 days I think when the flood happened the perfect seasons of the Lord the whole planet was thrown out of skew the whole rotation of the earth was affected by it was a cataclysmic geological event it even was somewhat astronomical and I think everything got thrown off I think when were in the earth made knew that just like a beautiful Swiss timepiece the seasons the years the months are all gonna line up so every Sabbath I'm sorry every New Moon if it's every 28 days is a Sabbath do you see that and I can't prove that but I like it it sounds good to me I'm you know I'm OCD I want everything right on schedule this 365 1/4 days and the needle leap year and I don't think the Lord made a leap year and so I just think the whole plan that the whole creation groans and travails I think something happened to the world and what was the other one Oh Acts people often point to Acts when they say you need to keep the fish stays because Paul said I'm gonna go to Jerusalem remember let me read it acts 18 verse 20 when they asked him to stay longer with them he did not consent they took leave and said I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem they see Paul kept the feast we should keep the feasts but listen to why Paul kept the feast he says first Corinthians 9:20 and to the Jews I became a Jew that I might win the Jews and to those who are under the law as under the law that I might reach those who run to the law I went along and did what they did that I might reach them Paul didn't say he kept the feasts because he thought everyone should keep them he said I'm gonna do it so I can try and reach the Jews and there at the temple at the feast they tried to kill him he started preaching to them and so you know these are the some of the arguments there are others but I think it's pretty clear from the Bible of these were shadows that have passed away now I share this with you and I realize most of you may not have any problem with this you may have wondered I hope it's been edifying if you know someone who's struggling I hope it'll take this message to them and there's a lot more good information but in summary maybe I'll close with an illustration let's suppose you've got a loved one who has traveled to a far country on a business trip for six months and you miss them you miss them desperately and you got their picture on the mantle and whenever you see the picture you miss them so much you go up and you kiss the picture and maybe that even looks like idolatry but you know what I mean and so you hug it you look at it you can't put it removing from one room the other is you can see the picture you think of them you miss them and then finally the trips over and they come knock at the door and you fling the door open you say you're here just a moment and you go and you run and you grab the photograph and you bring it you start to hug and kiss the photograph how would they feel if they're there in person and you're still hugging the photograph if these things were all shadows and types that pointed to the reality of Christ isn't it something of a denial of the reality if you cling to the shadow and so like I said there's good things we can learn about the feast days but for us to return to that how we can all go to Jerusalem and go to the temple sacrifice lambs well I don't mind a trip to Jerusalem I'm talking when you thought I mean keeping it the way they did we can't anymore those things have been nailed to the cross don't let anyone judge you regarding those things ten commandments yes the the ceremonial feasts no they're there to teach us they are fulfilled in Christ and some are still yet to be fulfilled and we're living in the day of atonement and the second coming will be that feast of tabernacles anyway as we close why don't we sing that song it's for I'm sorry 371 lift him up it's all about pointing to Christ lift him up and let's stand together as we sing [Music] No [Music] [Applause] [Music] dear father Lord we are we can just see your hand leading all through the the journey of your people we do believe that the Scriptures are all lifting up Christ and through all the the experience of the Exodus and the salvation of your people we see how you save us we're so thankful that Jesus has come now we have so much more to hang our faith upon because we have seen the substance and not just the shadows I pray you bless each one help us know how to apply this message Lord and I pray that we can just find gratitude in knowing that soon we'll be celebrating that feast of tabernacles with you soon the trumpets will blow and Jesus will come and we look forward to that day help us all be ready in the meantime may we lift you up is our prayer in Jesus name Amen god bless you you may be seated [Music]

Channel: Aaron

Views: 14,011

Rating: 4.6477985 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: 8q4rynGZ_1E

Length: 60min 18sec (3618 seconds)

Published: Tue May 22 2018