Greetings Everybody! I can’t tell you what a joy it is to be here among you for the Feast and to share this Feast with you. It’s just wonderful being here.
I want to say a particular “Hello” to the Brethren in Sooke. That is a little town west of Victoria on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia . They’re listening in right now. And then also to some Brethren in Canada —in Calgary , in Alberta Canada, the Lakecrafts and others. And then especially our friends in Kellogg, Idaho . We have about twenty-two maybe twenty-five Brethren there in the panhandle of Idaho just west of Spokane . And the people that are there are parts of two congregations. We have a group in Moses Lake which is right in the center of the state and then another congregation south, a little north of the Oregon border, in a little town called Prosser.
And John Pollock said—he called the group there in Moses Lake , he was the first one to coin the term “The Lakers” (laughter). And one of the “Lakers” who was giving a sermonette began to muse saying, “Well, if we’re the “Lakers” of Moses Lake , then what are the folks in Prosser? What do we call them?” Well Prosser is at the tip of the Yakima Valley and the Yakima Valley is second to California in production of wine and wine grapes. So he posed the thought that, “Well, if we’re the “Lakers” maybe they should be called the “Winers” (laughter). And then one of the smart alecks said, “Well, it’s better than a wino” (laughter). So, I don’t know what we’re going to call them. If you have any ideas, you can let me know. But I want to say “Hello” to all of them.
And for those many of who have asked, Dorothy came through her knee surgery just fine. She'll be very happy to raise her dress and show you the scar (laughter) if you want to see that. No, she was walking unassisted on that leg eight days after surgery. And then two months later, the doctor cleared her to do anything she wanted to do, any kind of exercise or stretching or whatever. So she's doing just fine. Thanks to God! And thanks for all your prayers.
And we also want to just tell you the heartfelt thanks that we have for all the cards and the letters many of you have sent us regarding the recent distress. We are more appreciative than words can say and we very much appreciate that and just thank you for the warmth and the love and the unity and the peace that we have here. It's very, very, very much appreciated.
Okay, we will now launch into the sermon.
At the start of the Feast we're told to rejoice and as we've heard all three speakers so far mention that. And I had a Scripture but there's no need to mention it again. We all know that we're here to rejoice. And God has a way of weaving themes through Feasts. And apparently this is one of them. So we know we're here to rejoice and to picture in our attitude, in our behavior, in our words, and how we spend our time, we picture a time yet to come. It hasn't arrived yet.
And during the next eight days—today included—the next eight days, we have choices to make. We have choices to make about what we think. We have choices to make about what we say. We have choices to make about what we do and we have choices to make about how we treat other people. In fact, our entire life is full of choices, isn't it? Every day, every minute we have choices to make.
And I don't know if you've ever thought about it, but God's plan for His firstfruits involves three periods of choosing. That's what we're going to talk about today: Three Periods of Choosing. And we are going to see what the choices can be and have been and we're going to see why. But Three Periods of Choosing.
Point Number One—
And I work from an outline. That's the way my mind works. I give points. Some people give me heat for it, but I can't rearrange my brain. That's just the way it works. So you'll have to put up with me if you get tired of points. My good friend Stewart Fricke's out in the audience somewhere and he gives me a horrible time for it, but we'll turn the other cheek. We'll walk the extra mile, Stewart.
So, Point Number One (Three Periods of Choosing):
I. In the beginning, God chooses. God is the one that chooses. Mr. Buchanan talked about that this morning.
Look at Romans 8 and verse 28. We quote this Scripture primarily for the first part of the verse, but we want to focus on the latter part of the verse, Romans 8 and verse 28. When we go through trials, many times we turn to the Scripture where it says in the beginning that:
Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, (KJV)
We firmly believe that. We've experienced that.
But notice the last part of the verse, Romans 8 and verse 28:
Romans 8:28b. to them who are the called according to His purpose. (KJV)
God's purpose! So the beauty of our calling is that there's a purpose behind it. It's not the role of the dice. It's not some random event, but God has a purpose for each and every human being that He calls and has called over this six thousand year period of judgment.
Let's go to 1 Peter 2 and verse 9—again quoted earlier—but we're going to focus on the latter part of this verse again. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9 again it talks about a choosing, but in this case, God is the one that is doing the choosing—not men, not a man, but God Almighty. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9 it says:
1 Peter 2:9. But [you] are [What?] a chosen generation, (NKJ)
A generation that has been picked out, selected.
1 Peter 2:9b. a royal priesthood, a holy nation, (NKJ)
I read out of the King James. The King James says:
1 Peter 2:9 cont. a peculiar people, (KJV)
And that's in some ways more accurate than not (laughter). We tend to sometimes be half a bubble off center sometimes.
But The New King James says:
1 Peter 2:9 cont. His own special people, (NKJ)
"His own special people" because of that calling.
1 Peter 2:9 cont. that [you] should shew forth the praises of him who [has] called you (KJV)
Here's that word again. And what were we called to do?
1 Peter 2:9 cont. [called] out of darkness into his marvellous light: (KJV)
"Out of darkness into light" and that's an extraordinary calling. It is absolutely extraordinary. And it is even more extraordinary because we're going to find out that God called us by name. Not just to some person over there—"Hey, you!" No, it's by name.
Let's go to John chapter 10. And chapter 10—we won't read the whole parable—begins with the Parable of the Sheepfold. And the sheepfold in those days generally it was a rectangular fold. It was made out of rock. I grew up in west Texas and we used fences, barbed wire and fences, but then it was made out of rock to keep wolves out and to keep the sheep in. It was rectangular with a gate at one end. Now we won't go through the whole parable, but look at verse 11, just to identify in this Parable of the Sheepfold who is the shepherd. It says:
John 10:11. I [Christ is talking. I] am the good shepherd: the good shepherd [gives] his life for the sheep [which He did]. (KJV)
But notice verse 3 talking about the Good Shepherd.
John 10:3. To him [referring to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ] the porter [opens]; (KJV)
And there was a gatekeeper who would open, in this case for the Chief Shepherd.
But notice this!
John 10:3b. the sheep hear his voice [Christ's voice]: and he [Christ] [calls] his own sheep by name, and [He] [leads] them out. (KJV)
I believe with all my being that that tells us that God knows us, has called us by name. And if you talk to—around the table quite often on the Night to Be, we sit around the table and one of the things we do is go around the table and have each one tell their story of how they came into the Church. And it's quite evident that God began dealing with people long before—in my case—you turn on the radio and hear a man on the radio, Mr. Armstrong, or before you pick up the Plain Truth lying on the ground.
(A good friend of mine his first exposure to God's Word was in a double-hole outhouse and there was a Plain Truth on the floor (laughter). And that's how God called him!)
And He calls us though by name, by name. And so let's understand that. You can check also Isaiah 43 and verse 1. We won't turn there, but that's another Scripture. But it's extraordinary that God would call, as Mr. Buchanan talked about earlier, a group of people by name. That means it's an individual calling and there's an individual relationship between God and the one He calls. God does the choosing.
Look at Hebrews 9 and verse 15, talking about the purpose of the calling. God chooses for a purpose. And we can't ignore this. We can't just take it for granted. Sometimes it's so easy amid the trials and tribulations and problems that come our way to take for granted what we read here in Hebrews 9 and verse 15.
Hebrews 9:15. And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, (KJV)
Last part of Hebrews 9 verse 15:
Hebrews 9:15b. they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. (KJV)
Eternal inheritance! Again, Mr. Buchanan talked about that earlier.
So let's understand that in the first choosing God chooses. God chooses us. God chooses us by name and He chooses us to have eternal life with Him as part of His Family.
Now that leads us to the second period of choosing, the second time of choosing for the firstfruits. In the first time God did the choosing. But guess what? During the second period of choosing, we do the choosing. God's people do the choosing.
Now Adam and Eve had a choice to make and it affected human history from that point on. Israel had a choice to make. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 30 and we're going to read verses 15 through 19. This is the choice that Israel had to make. Deuteronomy 30 verse 15:
Deuteronomy 30:15. See, I have set before [you] this day life and good, and death and evil; (KJV)
You think that would be an obvious choice.
Verse 16:
Deuteronomy 30:16. In that I command [you] this day to love the LORD [your] God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that [you may] live and multiply: and the LORD [your] God shall bless [you] in the land [where you go] to possess it. (KJV)
What a wonderful choice to make!
Verse 17:
Deuteronomy 30:17. But if [your] heart turn away, (KJV)
That is if you make a different choice.
Deuteronomy 30:17b. so that [you will] not hear, but [shall] be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18) I denounce unto you this day, [that you] shall surely perish, and that [you] shall not prolong your days upon the land, where [you go to pass] over Jordan to go to possess it. (KJV)
He repeats it again!
Deuteronomy 30:19. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore (KJV)
He says—guess what?
Deuteronomy 30:19b. choose life, that both [you] and [your] seed [your children might] live: (KJV)
And guess what Israel did? It just boggles the mind, but we know why. Look at Proverbs 1 and verse 29. Israel consistently made wrong choices. They consistently made choices that satisfied the flesh, but did not fulfill what God said about life and the abundance of life and blessings. They would rather choose to satisfy the flesh. Proverbs 1 and verse 29, He says:
Proverbs 1:29. For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the [Eternal], (KJV)
What a shame! How sad it was! But they didn't have access to God's Holy Spirit generally speaking. They did not. They didn't have, as Deuteronomy 5 tells us, they didn't have the mind; they didn't have the heart to do that. We do. And today God is allowing His people to choose.
Now this is just my opinion: But in the last fifteen years among the greater Church of God , wherever God's people are found, all over the world, in the last fifteen years there have been—all the restraints have been removed. It would be like analogous to teenagers leaving home for the first time. Because in the Worldwide Church of God we had very strict government, very firm rules. We were all together. Then Mr. Armstrong died and things happened as we all know, and then the leaving and splitting occurred. And God obviously allowed it. God saw it happening. And, as I said, all of a sudden now people were free to do whatever they wanted. They were free to come and go, do this, do that. And as we know, tens of thousands went back into the world. Maybe they were called; maybe they were never called. And so they made choices.
A good analogy—I didn't invent this—but a good analogy a minister made one time was that God is allowing us to "file" ourselves. Think of life as a big file, pull-out file cabinet, and hanging file folders. You have them in there and each one has a label on it. And so over time, God is allowing us to file ourselves in certain folders. And God is watching us to see what kind of folder we're going to file ourselves in. Some folder might be labeled "Self-righteous;" another folder might be labeled "Condemning and Judgmental;" another folder might be labeled "Merciful;" or another one "Kind;" or another one "Gentle;" or another one "Loving." Some folders are very profitable and some folders are very dangerous.
And yet God is giving us the freedom. Just like Israel had choices, He's giving us the freedom to choose. Nobody's got a gun at anybody's head. I haven't seen any deacons running around with armbands or anything like that. And God is allowing us to choose.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I want you to read this Scripture from this perspective of choosing. 1 Corinthians 11 we're going to read verses 18 and 19. Paul, as you know, was writing this Church that —if you put it in modern day terminology—was a Church very much like if you combine New York and Las Vegas . That's what Corinth was. All of the temptations, all of the goings on that you find in those two great cities—"great" I mean "great" in the sense of large and worldly; not in the sense of from God's perspective. But Corinth was a pretty raunchy raucous city. And so in verse 18 of 1 Corinthians 11 Paul is dealing with people who came out of that environment and he says:
1 Corinthians 11:18. For first of all, when [you] come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; (KJV)
Now that Greek word for "divisions" here is schisma or (skhis'-mah)—depending upon how you want to pronounce it—where we get the English word "schism," a division.
And he says:
1 Corinthians 11:18b. I hear that [there's] divisions among you; [and He says:] and I partly believe it. (KJV)
And later he said, "Some of you say you're from Paul and some from Apollos" and so on and so forth. (1 Corinthians
Verse 19, he says:
1 Corinthians 11:19. For there must be also heresies among you, (KJV)
Now the Greek word for "heresy" is the Greek word hairesis (hah'-ee-res-is) and it's Strong's number 139. And guess what that means? It can mean a choosing or a choice.
So when he says:
1 Corinthians 11:18b. I hear that [there are] divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19) For there must be also [choosings or choices] among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest [or apparent to] you. (KJV)
So he says, "Yes, there are divisions." And when there are divisions, it allows you to choose. Where are you going to go? Who are you going to fellowship with? What are you going to believe? How are you going to conduct yourself? And so with that understanding, this verse takes on a meaning that is very applicable today.
And it says the last part:
1 Corinthians 11:19b. that they which are approved may be made manifest [or apparent] (KJV)
Now the word for "approved" is the Greek word dokimos (dok'-ee-mos). And it means "accepted," but it's got a particular shade of meaning. It says: "accepted, particularly in coins or money." Now what on earth does that mean—"accepted as far as coins or money"? Let me read what Donald Barnhouse has to say about that. I'm quoting now.
In the ancient world, there was no banking system as we know it today and there was no paper money. All money was made from metal, heated till liquid, poured into molds, and allowed to cool. When the coins were cooled, it was necessary to smooth off the uneven edges.
Because of the crude molds that they had in those days—not like they have today. So you'd get a coin and pop it out of the mold and there was some "flash" around—they call it flash—around the outside on the perimeter of the coin. And so they had to smooth that off, file it off.
He said:
The coins were comparatively soft and, of course, many people shaved them closely. In one century more than eighty laws were passed in Athens to stop the practice of shaving down the coins then in circulation.
So an unscrupulous moneychanger—the coin over time would gradually get smaller and smaller and smaller, because the filings from the coin that he shaved off were then put in a bag and then they were re-melted to make more coins. So maybe the coin you got was ninety percent of what you should have received. And they shaved the coins.
He says, "But"—this is the important point that we're getting to.
But some moneychangers were men of integrity who would not accept counterfeit money.
They wouldn't accept a shaved coin, a small coin.
They were men of honor who put only genuine full-weighted money into circulation. Such men were called dokimos, which means accepted or approved.
They were men of honesty and integrity and so they were accepted bankers or moneychangers or approved bankers or moneychangers.
So when God says here in verse 19, "There's going to be divisions and you're going to have choices to make, so that they which are dokimos," or approved or filled with God's Spirit, full of integrity, full of honesty, full of humility—as we're going to see—"they will be made apparent." (1 Corinthians 1:18-19 paraphrased.) They will be visible for all to see.
And so God is watching us to see if we choose and make choices that lead us to be dokimos—lead us to be accepted by Him or approved in that way by Him. And we choose every minute of every day who we are going to serve. God called Israel . What are you going to do when He does the same for each one of us?
Every glance, we choose; we make a choice. Every thought, we choose; we make a choice. Every word we say, we choose; we make a choice. Every deed we do, we choose; we make a choice. Will we serve God or will we serve ourselves? And then when we serve ourselves, we ultimately serve Satan. And God watches us during the second period of choosing to see what choices each one of us make every minute every day of our lives.
And here at the Feast, we have choices to make. We walk in let's say tomorrow morning and you see somebody already sitting down. Most people are standing up talking. You see somebody sitting down and they're by themselves. And maybe they look a little sad and they're not rejoicing as we've been told to do. Well, the question is we have a choice at moment in time: Do we blow past them? Go talk to our friend or somebody we know. Or do we take the time and go over and sit next to them, introduce ourselves, get to know them and make a new friend or to cheer somebody up that might be down a little bit?
We see somebody that's looking a little sad, not their old selves. Do we just ignore it? Or do we talk to them and see how they're doing? Try to encourage them and uplift them?
Do we see a teen or a young kid? Teenagers generally run in herds, groups (laughter). When you see them, they're all together and like this and just having a ball. But occasionally you'll see a teen off by themselves. Teens are members of the Church too, just as much as we are. They're part of us. And so, if you see a teen off by themselves looking kind of sad, what do we do? What choice do we make? "Well, they're not really a member of the Church. They're not baptized." I've heard years past. Don't think we'd hear that here, but would we take the time to go and make a choice that involves talking to a teenager?
For some people that can be a scary thought (laughter). I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I love talking to teenagers because they're full of joy and zip and zeal. And they've got ideas and things you've never thought of before and it gets your brain going and all of that.
But my point is: We have choices to make! Do we ignore or do we pay attention? Do we encourage or do we blow somebody off? Maybe hearing that for somebody here at the Feast, money's a little tight. Do we ignore it? Do we make a choice to ignore it? Or do we make a choice to do something about it? Take them out to dinner; take them somewhere. Maybe even shake hands with a bill or two in your hand. What choices do we make? Even hearing that somebody is at home—couldn't make the Feast. And hunt up an address; hunt up a telephone number; hunt up an e-mail address. And get a bunch of people together and get a card. Fifty people, a hundred people sign the card and send it to them. That will make a huge difference in their keeping of the Feast if they're at home.
Each one of these examples that I've given is a choice. And we make choices every day. And God watches the choices to see if we're dokimos or we're not. And that's something that we should keep in the back of our mind every day during the Feast.
Now I'm going to read a Scripture that's often overlooked relative to making choices. And it's a Scripture that I think all of us know. We just read it and we generally apply it to other people. And what we want to do is apply it to us here at the Feast today. Let's go to Matthew chapter 25 and we're going to begin in verse 31. This is a scary Scripture. If we apply it to ourselves, it can be very scary, but it can also lead to great joy among God's people. Matthew 25 beginning in verse 31:
Matthew 25:31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, (KJV)
What a day! We look forward to that. We're here to picture the time after that occurs.
Christ comes with His holy angels:
Matthew 25:31b. then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: (KJV)
Matthew 25 verse 32:
Matthew 25:32. And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, (KJV)
Again we come back to the analogy of the shepherd.
Matthew 25:32b. as a shepherd [divides] his sheep from the goats: (KJV)
Two categories of people—we're going to find there's the sheep or the dokimos and the goats or some group that we don’t' want to be part of.
But let's go ahead. Verse 33:
Matthew 25:33. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34) Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, [you] blessed of my Father, (KJV)
Remember what Christ, the God of the Old Testament, said to ancient Israel ? "I'm offering you blessings, if you will make this choice." But we're told here these are already blessed because of the choices they have already made in their life. He says:
Matthew 25:34b. Come [you] blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35) [He says, Because] I was [hungry], (KJV)
And this is physical stuff. Now it could apply to be spiritually hungry too. It implies both. It's dual in that sense. But we don't want to diminish the physical aspect of it either.
Matthew 25:35. I was [hungry] and [you] gave me [something to eat]: I was thirsty, and [you] gave me [something to] drink: [He says] I was a stranger, (KJV)
He says, "I didn't know where to go. I didn't have a place to stay."
Matthew 25:35b. [And He says, you] took me in: (KJV)
Matthew 25:36 paraphrased. He says: "I was naked. It was cold out and I didn't have proper clothing on. And you clothed me. And I was sick and you came to visit me. And I was in prison," He said, "and you came unto me."
Matthew 25:37-38 paraphrased. And these righteous people said: "We didn't do that to You." They said, "When did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or cold or whatever? And when did we take You in?" They're talking.
And verse 39:
Matthew 25:39 paraphrased. They said: "When did we see You sick or in prison? When did we come to You?"
Matthew 25:40. And the King shall answer and say unto them, [Truly] I say unto you, Inasmuch as [you] have done it unto one of [Who?] the least of these my brethren, [He says,] [you've] done it unto me. (KJV)
And the apostle James tells us we should not be respecter of persons. And he gives the example of—we would say today—the guy that rolls up in his Mercedes and has a $2,000 suit on and $500.00 pair of shoes. And then somebody comes in with a grocery cart and looks like the "bag lady" and are you going to make a choice here based on those appearances?
He said, "If you've done it to the least of these My Brethren, you've done it unto Me." And the people were amazed but they were blessed. They were dokimos.
Then verse 41:
Matthew 25:41 paraphrased. He says to those on His left hand [Notice this!] He says, "I want you away from Me." He says, "You get out of here! You depart from Me. You are cursed to everlasting fire for the devil and his angels."
Matthew 25:42-43 paraphrased. And He said, "I was hungry and you didn't make that choice to feed Me. And I was thirsty and you did not make that choice to give Me something to drink. And I was a stranger and you didn't take Me in. You had other things you wanted to do. You had other pleasures you wanted to follow." And He said, "I needed clothing and I was sick and I was in prison. And you made choices to not involve yourself with Me," He was saying.
Matthew 25:44 paraphrased. And boy, they answered the same as the others! "When did we do this to You?"
In verse 45:
Matthew 25:45: [He says, Truly] I say unto you, Inasmuch as [you] did it not to one of the least of these, [you] did it not to Me. 46) And [you] shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (KJV)
Choices that people make! And all these actions of the sheep and goats were made over time. They were choices made over time. Not one instantaneous choice, not one choice that you make and it means you either have life or death. These are choices, series of choices, patterns of choices that are made over time.
Because God is very patient with us and very kind and very loving—and I look back in my life and just think of some of my behavior, some of my thoughts and I just marvel that God did not just blast me into cinders, but he didn't. And He gives us time to come to ourselves and to change and to grow and to change from the old person to the new person, to change from the mind of Satan to the mind of Christ. And so during the second period of choosing, we are the ones to make the choices. God gives us time—many decades in most cases. He gives us time—many years. He gives us time to make choices so that He knows our heart.
And so at this Feast God is watching. We want God here. God is here. He's placed his name here. And so what we need to do is to make choices that the sheep made—not the goats—the choices that the sheep made. And that means getting our mind off of ourselves. That means looking after and taking care of one another every minute of every day.
And I am convinced, as Mr. Buchanan pointed out, God gives. He wants a Family. We are only truly happy when we are making others happy. If we're selfish and we take to ourselves—you see people like that out in world and they're just not happy. But if we give and if we make other people happy and we share what we have, that makes us happy. And I believe God designed that in our DNA—so to speak. Designed it in the way we're wired.
All right, first period of choosing: God chooses. Second period of choosing: we choose. But in the end—the third point, Number Three now—the third period of choosing:
III. God and Christ once again choose. They do the choosing.
Notice Matthew 22 and verse 14. God and Christ choose again. God chooses in the first period and in the third period. And in the middle, we do the choosing. Matthew 22 and verse 14 notice. It says:
Matthew 22:14. "For many are called, (NKJ)
That's the first period of choosing. Many are chosen, called during that time.
Matthew 22 now the latter part of verse 14, He says:
Matthew 22:14. but [What?] few are chosen."(NKJ)
And we don't have time to go into the context of this, but the context is a marriage feast. And the context is somebody coming to a marriage feast without a wedding garment. Now think about that. And so many are called, many are invited, but few are chosen to be there during the ceremony. God and Christ do the choosing.
Look at Matthew 24 now—two chapters over. We're going to read verses 37 through 41, talking about days yet future. None of us knows how much time we have left, but there are days yet to occur. Matthew 24 verse 37:
Matthew 24:37. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38) For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and [they were] drinking, [and] marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, (KJV)
And we've been through a rough year economically. And yet in many ways—yes, people were cutting back. Yes, people lost their jobs, but you still see a lot of eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage over the last year even though things were a little bit tighter than they were before. But this is nothing compared to what is going to happen in the future.
Verse 39, it says:
Matthew 24:39. [They didn't know] until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (KJV)
It's going to be very unexpected. And life will go on—has been going on as normal.
Matthew 24:40. Then [in verse 40] two [will] be in the field; [and] one [is going to] be taken, (KJV)
Now we're going to emphasize the word "taken."
Matthew 24:40b. and the other left. (KJV)
So one is purposely left in the field and the other one is taken out of the field.
Verse 41:
Matthew 24:41: Two women [are going to] be grinding at the mill; one [is] taken, and the other [is] left. (KJV)
Matthew 24:42 paraphrased. And He says, "You better watch for you don't know that hour when the taking and the leaving are going to occur. You don't know."
None of us know. Now some people in the past said they knew. Some people thought they knew. Back in the seventies I thought I knew, but I didn't know. You learn once. You don't want to repeat that mistake again. So, none of us know.
But the interesting thing about the definition of the word "taken" in the Greek, it means to receive near. So somebody takes to bring somebody near to them. Thayer has this to say: "to take with oneself, to join oneself to an associate or to a companion." So when one is taken—the one in the field or the one grinding—somebody takes them to bring them near to him as an associate or as a companion.
And the other person is left. Now the definition for "left," Thayer's says this: "to leave and go way from one person in order to go to another place." Place of safety—maybe? "To leave one person and go to another place, or to leave one by not taking him as a companion"—just the opposite of the definition of the one taken! The one left, it's just exactly the opposite. Or it can mean "to abandon or to leave destitute."
So let's understand that the end of days can go just like normal. And things are going be apparently on the surface normal. And then some taking and some leaving are going to occur. Christ is going to make a choice to take some to be near Him and leave others by themselves, destitute and alone.
But my point is: Only God and Christ are going to do that—not a man! Not a man! And there are some who believe that they are going to do the choosing. The man is going to do the choosing. That they're going to decide who is going to be the Bride of Christ. And to me that is the height of human arrogance to think that they will decide who Christ is going to marry. When you think about it in that terms, who is a man who is going to decide for Jesus Christ who He's going to marry? God and Christ are going to decide who Christ is going to marry—not a human being! But yet some people believe that—that men are going to decide who goes to a place of safety or who is going to be in the Kingdom of God .
Now let's think about this: every major flight in the Bible has come with supernatural intervention. You go back to any major flight in the Bible supernatural intervention is involved.
When Lot fled Sodom —fled is not the right word. He had to be dragged kicking and screaming out of Sodom . But there were two angels—right—that drug him out of Sodom to fulfill God's purpose. Israel coming out of Egypt : look at the miracles, the supernatural intervention. Look at the death angel, angelic involvement. Remember when Peter was in jail in Acts chapter 12? He was asleep and all of a sudden this angel whacks him on the side and says, "Get up!" out of a sound sleep. And if that happened to us, you'd be in a fog. And he says, "Get your sandals on. Get your cloak on. It's time to go." And then what does the Bible say? The chains dropped off. The locks opened. The doors opened. Then they went out into the outer hall. The big gate opened. They went out. Now Peter's looking back and he's outside the jail and he looks around and this person that was with him is now gone.
Every flight involving God's people down through history has involved supernatural intervention and supernatural protection, even the New Testament flight from Jerusalem in 70 AD. Let me—this is not scriptural, this is not canonized—but let me read from Josephus' War of the Jews, Book VI, Chapter v, Section 3.
(299) … Moreover ….
This is referring to this time. The Roman Army is ready to just destroy Jerusalem .
(299) … Moreover, [I'm quoting.] at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the] temple … they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking … (300) and … heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence."
"Let's get out of here." And they did. And the Church fled.
So let's understand that when God decides He wants His people to go somewhere, God gets involved. And He has millions of helpers. That's been the history of the Bible. It's not up to a man to decide. So in this third period of choosing God chooses—not men—who is going to be the Bride of His Son Jesus Christ. A man does not choose.
So what we've seen here in the first three points of Three Periods of Choosing, God chooses in the beginning to call those He will. Then the second period of choosing, God allows those He chooses to make their own decisions, to categorize themselves, to file themselves, to make choices where God begins to understand our character and our heart. And then in the third period of choosing, God will pick who is sheltered and who will be the Bride of His Son Jesus Christ.
Now that leads us to the Fourth Point. This is where, as they say, the rubber meets the road.
IV. On what basis do God and Christ choose? What is the basis for Their choosing in this third time of making choices of who is protected and who becomes the Bride of Christ?
Let's go to Luke chapter 21. We're going to read verses 34 through 36. Luke chapter 21 verses 34 through 36. It's a warning. We're here at the Feast to rejoice. And yes, we're going to eat. Yes, we're going to do things with kids and have a good time. But the Scripture starts out with maybe a little warning to keep things in balance. That's all. Verse 34 of Luke 21:
Luke 21:34. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. (KJV)
And we should rejoice and be happy and serve others and give to others and give a good Feast to other people.
Verse 35, keeping in balance though:
Luke 21:35. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. (KJV)
Verse 36:
Luke 21:36. Watch therefore, and pray always, that [you] may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (KJV)
Now the Greek word for "worthy" is axioo. And the root word for that means to think somebody is fit or to think somebody if right. Or it can mean to judge someone to be worthy or to judge someone to be deserving.
Christ judging somebody's life and the choices they make to be protected or not based on the choices that they make. Now we know none of us are worthy of anything. None of us deserve anything. Salvation is a gift. Protection is a gift. We understand that. But God does look at the choices we make in our lives and to see whether "I want to protect them or not protect them. I want them to be the Bride of Christ My Son or not."
And it goes on to say "Watch." And that's Strong's number 69. It means to be sleepless, to keep awake. So there's an admonishment there.
Now let's ask the question. We're leading up to the characteristics that God looks to in us to base His choice upon. But let's ask the question. Will God choose us to be protected or will God choose us be the Bride of Christ just because we attend a certain group? Some people think so. Just because we're in this group does that mean then we're automatically ushered into the Kingdom of God because we are part of a certain group? Well, if that's the case, then my main job in life is to find the right group. I can take the Bible and put it on a shelf or something and then my whole focus is to find that right group, because if that's what it means, if that's what it takes, then I should be part of that group and then I've got it made. And I'm here to tell you that some people believe that. They believe that.
But, if we read the Bible correctly, it tells us that we have to make ourselves ready to be the Bride of Christ. The Book of Revelation tells us that. "The Bride has made herself ready." (Revelation 19:7–KJV paraphrased.)
And so, that's not to say—don't get me wrong—that's not to say that being with the right group isn't important. It is important, because we all have an influence on each other. The group you're with influences us. And that's why we don't want our young teenagers running with the wrong crowd because we're afraid for them that they will be influenced in a wrong way. And in a similar sense, we have to be very careful who we associate with in that sense if you don't want to associate with people that will lead you astray. You want to be with likeminded people, obviously.
But believe me I'm not saying exclusivist or anything. I mean that not at all, because all of us in all of the groups, there are converted people there. There are converted ministers there. God is with people in various groups and there's no one group that is the exclusive repository of all knowledge. And there's no one group that God is only working for—working through I mean. Sorry.
But let's understand where we want to be as far as fellowship is we want to be with a group of people that will help influence us to be the Bride of Christ. And that's just logical. You want to be with people that will help you along the path to be the Bride of Christ.
But my point is: That God will choose because only He knows our heart! A man does not know a heart. And as a minister sometimes you wish you could know somebody's heart like God does, but we can't. Only God does.
Look at Romans 11. We'll read verses 33 through 34. Romans 11 verses 33 through 34. God has insight and wisdom and vision and understanding that we can't even approach. Romans 11 verse 33 it says:
Romans 11:33. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! (KJV)
That we can't even come close!
Romans 11:33b. How unsearchable are His judgments, (KJV)
Now do you think a Being like that would turn over a judgment of who is going to be the Bride of His Son to somebody like us? Not gonna happen. Not gonna happen!
Romans 11:33 cont. His ways [are] past finding out! (KJV)
And we know even in judging the future king of Israel —we won't turn there, but in 1 Samuel 16—remember that Samuel called Jesse's family together. And God had told him to pick a king for Israel and so Jesse started parading his sons. And the very first one came along and he apparently was a big, strong, strapping guy, good-looking guy and Samuel thought to himself, "Surely this is the one. Surely this is the one!" And God whispered in his ear and said, "I've rejected him." And He says, "Man looks on the outward appearance." He says, "But I don't see the way man sees. I look on the heart."
And so we have to ask: God looks on heart; on what basis will He choose? On what basis will He choose?
First one—Point A—is obedience, obedience. We have to prove to God that we want to be like Him. We have to prove to God that we want to obey Him.
Look at John 12 verse 48, John 12 and verse 48. We're told here that we are judged according to the word of God.
John 12:48. He that [rejects] me, [he that receives] not my words, (KJV)
Notice how he is judged.
John 12:48b. [has] one that [judges] him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (KJV)
We are judged by the words in the Bible, God's law in the Bible.
We won't turn there, but you remember the very famous story in Matthew 19 where this young man comes and says to Christ, "What good thing shall I do?" He says, "Now it's important. What good thing shall I do to inherit the kingdom?" And Christ said, "Why do you call Me good? There's none good but one." And He said, "You have to keep the commandments." The man said, "Well, I've done that all my life." And then Christ lays out some of the commandments, part of the latter six. And He says at the end, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." "What shall I do to inherit the kingdom of God ?" "Love God with all your heart; love your neighbor as yourself." That ties in with Matthew 25 that we read the sheep and the goats.
Look at 1 Peter 1 and verse 17. As I said earlier, God judges our works over time. Thankfully we have time to change, time to grow, but there is a time limit. At some point the trumpet sounds. At some point Christ is going to return. And at some time it's over with. And for some of us—in fact, many of us probably—our physical life will be over before Christ returns. 1 Peter 1 verse 17:
1 Peter 1:17. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons [unlike humans] [judges] according to every man's [or every woman's] work [what we wind up doing], pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: (KJV)
"Take heed," we're told.
So the question is: Have we internalized the two great commandments? Loving God with everything that we have? And loving our neighbor as ourselves? Have we really internalized that?
And do we understand that all the epistles in the New Testament are the statutes and judgments of the New as the statutes and judgments of the Old Testament told us how to apply God's law and how to put into practice everyday? The epistles give us example after example of the thinking of the apostles as inspired by God, giving us examples on how to apply the law in the New Testament. And we learn from the Old Testament too. I'm not denigrating that.
So obedience, we're judged on that.
Point B, the second one:
B. We're judged on faith, our faith. Because we're told in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7 "We walk by faith not by sight." And David tells us in Psalm 118 and verse 8, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put [your trust or] your confidence in a man." And too often that has happened. Confidence has been put in another human being instead of God and Jesus Christ.
And so, we need to understand that we have to have faith that God will take care of us, that God will look after us. And as we go forward into very uncertain future—economically, the wars that we're fighting ( Afghanistan is unwinable. We're not going to win there. They're kidding themselves if they think we're going to win in Afghanistan . It's not going to happen.)—and we don't know what internal turmoil is going to happen with us.
But what did Christ say on the Sermon on the Mount—Matthew 6?
Matthew 6:25-34 paraphrased. He said, "Don't take any thought for your life. Don't worry about what you're going to eat, what you're going to wear." He said, "Consider the lilies of the field. They're clothed. So don't worry about your clothing." He says that "The birds of the air, they find, they put away. I provide for them." He says, "Don't you think I'm going to provide for you? Don't you think that you're more important to Me than the animals, the Plant Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom? Well, of course!" Then He says, "Don't take any anxious thought for tomorrow, because tomorrow's going to take care of the things for itself." [And this we know. We've experienced this.] He said, "Sufficient unto the day is the trouble thereof."
Well, we've learned that. We're learning that every day.
So we have obedience that we're judged by; faith we're judged by—and Mr. Buchanan mentioned this in his sermon—the C—the third one—is humility.
Humility is hard to come by sometimes. And human nature is— (I'm getting signals from the back. So I've got to rev this buggy up a little bit.) Humility is such that we should not be so arrogant to think that we have a lock on the place of safety. We should not be so arrogant to think that we have a lock on the Kingdom. We're told in Proverbs that before "honour is humility." (Proverbs 15b:33, KJV.) And what an honor! I can think of no greater honor than being at the marriage supper. But before that comes humility.
And Micah tells us that "What does God require of you?" Remember that? "To do justly, to love mercy". But what was the last one? Micah 6 verse 8: "to walk humbly with your God"—to walk humbly with God.
And God knows—how would you like to take to the place of safety a bunch of arrogant people that insist on their own way? You'd have the biggest cat fight. It's like putting five cats in a sack and see what happens. It wouldn't work (laughter.)
And so, let's understand that only the humble. God looks to those who are humble. Let's understand that. And, of course, in Matthew 5 what did Christ say in the Sermon on the Mount? Some of the first words out of His mouth, "Blessed are" what? "The meek for they shall do" what? "Inherit the earth." Let's understand.
And the last, of course, and the most important is love. Let's understand. Romans 13 and verse 10 says: "love is" what? "The fulfilling of the law." It can't get any simpler than that.
And in Luke chapter 10 the man—the certain lawyer—was trying to tempt Christ and said:
Luke 10:25-27 paraphrased. "What do I do to get eternal life?" And Christ said, "Well, what do you read in the law?" And he said, "Well, you need to love God with all your heart, your mind, your soul, your being; and to love your neighbor as yourself." And Christ said, "Hey! You've answered that right."
But did you notice what He said at the end of that?
Luke 10:28 paraphrased. He said, "Go out and do it."
Not just talk about it. Not just think about it. But go out and do it!
And God's way really is so simple. 2 Corinthians 11:3 talks about the "simplicity of Christ." "Love God with all your heart, with all your being. Love your neighbor as yourself." Keep the Ten Commandments. Read the statutes and judgments. Read the epistles to know how to apply God's Word.
And then, if we do that, then God will choose those who are righteous and have the righteous holy character of Jesus Christ. They've taken the old man off; thrown the old man off; and put the new man on as we read in Colossians chapter 3. God will choose those who have demonstrated that they want to be the Bride of Christ. They want to be in harmony with God. They want to be like God and Jesus Christ. They want to be loving, and kind, and gentle, and merciful to their fellowman. They want to be that way.
And so, we have seen now Three Periods of Choosing. God chooses in the beginning. God chooses those He wants to be called during the six thousand year period. Then there's a second period of choosing that we are the ones who do the choosing. And God watches us to see where our heart is, where our mind is. Will we follow Him? Do we want to be like Him and Jesus Christ? Or do we want to go the way of the world or the way of Satan. And then third period of choosing is God chooses who is going to be protected and who is going to be the Bride of His Son. We've also seen on what basis these choices are made.
So as we begin the Feast here in 2009, let's rethink the choices we might make at this time and place. That by our choices that we make here at the Feast of Tabernacles that we can show God that we love Him above all else and that we will love our brothers and sisters as much as we love ourselves; and thereby, what we're doing is showing Him "I want to be part of Your Family. I'm making choices today to show you that I want to be part of Your Family and I want to be part of Your Family for all eternity."
So as we read in the beginning, let's rejoice. But let's rejoice in the decisions and choices we make here at the Feast of Tabernacles and in the coming days ahead.
Transcribed by kb December 23, 2009