Happy Feast of Tabernacles to All
The Feast of Atonement is today, October 4, 2014
Leviticus 23:4 These are the Feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
Leviticus 23:27 On the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls.
The Feast of Tabernacles begins on October 9th, and the Last Great Day is October 16th.
Leviticus 23:34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.
Leviticus 23:36 …On the eighth day [Last Great Day] shall be an holy convocation unto you.
John 7:37 In the Last day, that Great Day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Father of Lies
Dear Brethren,
In John Chapter 8, Jesus was having a rather heated discussion with the Jewish Pharisees.
John 8:13-14 The Pharisees therefore said unto [Jesus], Thou bear record of thyself; your record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true:
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:40-41 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God...Ye do the deeds of your father...
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Satan, the Devil, is the father of lies. Today is the Day of Atonement. Atonement is a Feast Day filled with deep meaning. Today we fast from all food and water – from evening to evening. But Atonement is not an exercise in hunger and thirst. Atonement is a spiritual Feast.
The Feast of Atonement shows God’s plan from the foundation of the world to have the sacrifice of Jesus Christ applied to the entire world, redeeming all mankind from the sentence of death. What an awesome sacrifice! Jesus Christ, the Creator of the world, died to save mankind from death. That is because at one time our sins stood between us and the Father – preventing a right relationship with Him, but Jesus Christ has resolved that breach through His blood. Notice:
Ephesians 2:13 Now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off [from God the Father] are made near [to Him] by the blood of Christ.
In the same way that the Feast of Passover reconciles converted Christians to God the Father, the Day of Atonement pictures the coming reconciliation of the entire world. Christ’s death at Passover reconciled us to the Father – that is the story of Passover and the process of reconciliation of the Church brethren. But, the Feast of Atonement pictures how all the world will escape the bondage of Satan and be reconciled.
Isaiah 59:2 Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you.
“The whole world is in bondage to Satan.” What this world believes and practices, is not the Word of God, but the philosophy of Satan. This is Satan’s world. God will therefore hold Satan accountable for his sin on the fulfillment Day of Atonement after Christ’s return. The people of the world are separated by sin from the Father. Sin separated one from God. Everyone in the world is in bondage to Satan.
Jesus' sacrificial death was necessary to break mankind's bondage to sin. The Feast of Atonement pictures the release and freedom of humanity from the subjugation and suppression of Satan.
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Let’s realize that everyone is hopelessly bound in Satan's clutches – unless and until Christ frees them. True Christians have been reconciled to God the Father through Jesus Christ. But people in the world are not yet reconciled to God – that will come when the Day of Atonement comes to the full.
Thankfully, we who are baptized and have been reconciled to God the Father have become Children of God by receiving God's Holy Spirit – we are no longer cut off from God.
The Feast of Atonement tells the story of how mankind was separated from God at the foundation of the world – beginning with the sin of Adam and Eve – and how all mankind will ultimately be set free from captivity to sin and be reconciled to God.
Atonement will take place soon after Jesus returns to this earth in great power – and prior to the beginning of the millennial rule of Jesus Christ – making it possible for all mankind living thereafter to have a direct reconciled relationship with God their Father – that same reconciled relationship with God the Father that only the brethren of the Church of God enjoy today.
The entire world will be reconciled to the Father. Atonement will make it possible for all mankind – for a thousand years – and into the Great White Throne Judgment – to enjoy God’s justice, His Law, His love – and eternal redemption.
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Sermon: |
"Father of Lies" |
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