Welcome—Feast of Tabernacles 2011

Fred R. Coulter—October 12, 2011

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to the Feast of Tabernacles, 2011! For many of you this will be the opening night message, and for some of you it will be the first message on the day portion of the first Holy Day. The Feast of Tabernacles has manifold meaning, and it is a time to really come together

• to fellowship together
• to love each other
• to focus on the purpose of:
• what we’re doing
• where we’re going
• why God has called us

and all of these things become the very important factors in our life.

Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” We have the greatest vision in the world! We have the greatest purpose in the world! But also, there are those in the world who have a vision of their own world government, of their own kingdom. These are the elite that run the world; they are called the ‘synagogue of Satan.’ We find that the Church of God is encountered twice with the ‘synagogue of Satan’:

• First of all, with the Church of Smyrna, where it brings persecution and death.
• Secondly, with the Church of Philadelphia where God says that He’s going make the ‘synagogue of Satan’ come and worship God before our feet’ so that they will know that God has loved us.

Let’s look at it another way: the world has their elite; God has His, and weare the elite of God! We’re going to see why this becomes the most important thing that we can do and have, and have as a vision before God. The vision that God gives us! The future, the hope, the goal! But let’s understand the futility of the vision that the world has. The world has a vision, and how does that vision start out? Who is behind it? It is the vision of Satan the devil and his elite to rule the world! We can see that is coming without a doubt!

We need to understand as we done many, many times before, Revelation 12:9, so that we get a bearing as to how God sees as to what the vision of the wicked is, because we’re told the two visions:

1. The vision of the world and the wicked
2. The vision of God and the chosen elite to rule in the Kingdom of God

This is why we keep the Feast of Tabernacles. We come together for these seven days and we focus on our

• goal
• purpose
• calling
• what we are to do
• how we’re to change the world
• how the world’s system is failing

Here’s the one who brings the vision to the world, Revelation 12:9: And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent… [Goes all the way back even before the creation of man, where Satan wanted to become like God as we have seen pictured by the Day of Atonement and his removal. It says of him, what he is actively doing today] …who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…”

Everything we see today, what we have been focusing on, through the Holy Days of God and the prophecy sermons that we have covered, it’s all nations; the whole world! All the inhabitants; everyone, is going to be involved in one of two things:

1. the vision of Satan the devil deceiving the whole world, using his elite to set up his world government
2. the vision of God for His people as to what we are called to and what we are going to do.

Satan has his counterfeit kingdom. Satan has his counterfeit way, because he’s always wanted to be God. Let’s see what happens with that and with this deception. All, except the super elite, are blinded! The majority of people! The majority of leaders!

Come to Isaiah 29—here’s exactly how the world is, and here is how it is to them. When they’re given the Bible, when they’re given the Truth, they scoff at it. How many more atheists are there? How has the downslide of the Christian church and the world accelerated? That’s why we have the new book: Lord, What Should I Do? I want you to know, brethren, we have thousands of copies with the CD to go with it, so you can give these to new people. There are going to be more and more people being disillusioned with the Christianity of this world and God is going to be calling some of those. They need a witness as to what is happening. We’ve covered that in other sermons, so I’m not going to dwell on it here.

Here is the sum effect of how it is, Isaiah 29:8—listen to these words.

• think about the world
• think about what is happening
• think about all of the disasters
• think about all of the deception
• think about the collapse of the Christian religion of the world—even the problems within the Church of God

That’s why it’s so important. We’re going to understand that having the vision that God wants us to have will keep us close to Him, will keep us in a relationship with Him, will keep us constantly looking to Him. Here it is in the world:

Isaiah 29:8: “It shall even be as when a hungry one dreams, and behold, he eats, but he awakes and his soul is empty…” Didn’t happen! The reality of this world is a deception! It is a scripted reality on television. Every single thing you watch on television is scripted. Every program! Every news outlet! Every soap opera! Every documentary—documentaries have some truth in them, but they’re still scripted. Everything is scripted so that Satan can keep the world constantly and perpetually deceived to usher in his kingdom.

“…or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint and his soul is longing. So shall it be with the multitude of all the nations who fight against mount Zion” (v 8). They have to be all deceived first—right? They keep chasing after their fake vision. It’s like a man in the desert. He looks out and in his delirium—because he’s dry and thirsty and looking for water—he looks out over the horizon and it looks like just over the next sand dune is a lake full of water, but then he crawls up to the top of that sand dune and behold, it’s gone! It’s a mirage!

God says, v 9: “Be stunned and amazed! Blind your eyes and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink, for the LORD has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes… [That’s the way it is with the world, because they’re unwilling to come to God. When that happens, He closes their eyes. They’re blinded! Their day will come later. But, brethren, our day is today! Our day is now! These things should not apply to us, but to the world.] …He has covered the prophets and your rulers, and the seers” (vs 9-10). Isn’t that true? They don’t know. Ask them what’s going on. Well, they can give you a partial answer, or you have false prophets.

Supposedly, Harold Camping says that October 21^st is going to be the ‘end of the world.’ That just happens to be the day after the Last Great Day. Also, this summer he had a stroke and he’s not able to speak very well. Hummmm! I wonder how that came?

Verse 11: “And the vision of all has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to one who is learned saying, ‘Please read this,’ and he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’…. [‘Well, how can I understand this?’ The reason you don’t is because you’ve rejected God!] …And the book is delivered to him who is not learned, saying, ‘Please read this,’ and he says, ‘I am not learned.’” (vs 11-12). ‘How do you expect me to know if the experts can’t figure it out?’

Here’s what happens: 92% of people believe in God. A good number of them go to churches, synagogues, cathedrals, or mosques. But they don’t believe in the true God, and they’re not willing to repent. Here’s what God says:

Verse 13: “…‘Because this people draw near Me with their mouth… [‘Oh yes, God blesses. We are God’s people. We can save ourselves. We’ll trust in God.’ Yes, with your lies! But you can never come to the true God with lies; never happen!] …and with their lips honor Me, but their worship of Me is made up of the traditions of men learned by rote, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandments of men… [Here’s what’s going to happen, because they don’t know and they have no understanding, and it’s going to come upon them suddenly!]: …therefore, behold, I will proceed to do again a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise ones shall perish, and the wisdom of their intelligent ones shall vanish.’” (vs 13-14).

Every plan of man is going to fail! And the reason is because they don’t understand the sinfulness of human beings and human nature. Everything that they try to do—which appears to be right—fails, because they have the wrong vision!

Verse 15: “Woe to those who go deep to hide their purpose from the LORD!…. [The elite of the world! Yes, those wealthy, those rich who directly worship Satan the devil.] …And their works are in the dark, and they say, ‘Who sees us? And who knows us?’…. [So, what have they done? What has this world become?] …Surely, you have turned things upside down!…. [Everything is backward—good is evil and evil is good; right is wrong and wrong is right; lying is true and truth are lies!] …Shall the potter be regarded as the potter’s clay; for shall the work say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me?’…. [‘Oh, we came from slime and mud. Yes, isn’t that wonderful? Next time you see a big rock or tree, give it hug, it may be one of your relatives long lost—who knows! Be kind to it? Yes! Worship it? Yes! Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘He had no understanding?’” (vs 15-16). God is going to send Christ; He’s going to return; going to come in power. We had better have the vision, and we had better be ready.

Let’s see what else. Let’s see what the leaders do. Let’s see why political things can never solve spiritual problems. Let’s come to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 14. Ezekiel was sent to the captivity camp by the River Kebar among the Jews; there were some of the ten tribes of Israel there. It was before the destruction of the temple. Everyone was saying and hoping, ‘We’ll get back.’ God pronounced 70 years in captivity, and after that only a few came back to Judea. People want to know: What does God say? So the political leaders of Israel come to Ezekiel and said, ‘Oh, we know you’re a prophet of God. Can you give us some news?’

Ezekiel 14:1: “And some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts…” (vs 1-3). Isn’t that something? “…idols in their hearts…” That’s why we’ve got to have the right vision. No idolatry for us. We worship God the Father and Jesus Christ. They “…have set up their idols in their hearts…” Their political schemes; their religious schemes. Way to make money, multiply goods, put people in debt, bring the world to ruin. Those are their idols in their hearts!

 “‘…and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I [God] at all be inquired of by them?…. [‘What obligation,’ God says, ‘Do I have to answer them when they reject Me?’] …Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Every man of the house of Israel… [every human being] …who sets up his idols in his heart…”’” (vs 3-4). That’s what happens. Your own vision—lying vision, blind vision, satanic vision—of what your life is going to be and how successful you are going to be while you reject God!

This past summer they had NBC doing a recording of children saying the Pledge of Allegiance and they took out—edited out, deliberately!—‘one nation under God.’ See how people want to get rid of God! Others want to ‘honor’ God with their lips, but not obey Him. That will never work! That’s how the world is deceived!

“‘“…and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him according to the multitude of his idols…. [Whatever the vision of the reality that a person has in the world, it’s coming to him and it’s going to destroy him; it’s going to blind him.] …So that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart because they have deserted Me for their idols—all of them”’” (vs 4-5). We have lots of idols today—don’t we? Yes! All in the hearts and minds of people—right? Yes! Look at all the high-technology things that we have: Smartphones, Blackberries, iPODs, and other similar notebook pods and so forth; pornography, cheating, stealing, false religion. Who is there, really, in the world that wants the Truth? Who is there really willing, in the world, who is ready to say, ‘I repent, I’ve made a mess out of my life’? No! When they get caught they repent and ‘flatter’ God a bit, but they don’t repent to the cleansing of the heart. That’s why God says to them:

Verse 6: “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Repent and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger who lives in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to a prophet to ask of him concerning Me; I the LORD will answer him Myself”’” (vs 6-7). The judgment of this world is coming! Make no mistake! It’s a whole lot closer than we may like to think.

What happens? The truth is this, brethren: We have to do everything God’s way! Human beings like to come along and say, ‘God, we like this that You have, and we like this You have. But I like this what I have. Let’s combine it together and have a nice little package that we can have.’ NO! It doesn’t work that way, brethren. God is offering us eternal life! We are not be like the world. We’re not to go to the world and say, ‘Oh, how do these lovely Methodists or evangelists, evangelicals or fundamentalists, how do they worship Jesus? Let’s see what they have. Oh, what do they think grace is?’ We fall right smack into it, and that’s where too many in the Churches of God are going. Mark those words! God says:

Verse 8: “And I will set My face against that man, and I will make him for a sign and for a proverb. And I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and you shall know that I am the LORD.” Let’s understand how very important that that is. I want you to think about what has happened to the Churches of God. What happened to the greatest, largest Church of God; The one that had more money than any other church in the history of the Churches of God? What did God do to it? Exactly what His Word said here! Everybody set up the idols in their own mind—didn’t they?

{If you don’t have the message Invisible Idol, Visible Man and gone through that, you’ll never have a clue as to why God did what He did.}

Verse 9: “‘And the prophet, if he is deceived, and he speaks a word, I the LORD have deceived that prophet…. [‘Because he’s rejected Me,’ God says.] …And I will stretch out My hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeks unto him…. [Why? Why are all these things going to happen?]: …So that the house of Israel may never again go astray from Me, nor be defiled again with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people, and I may be their God,’ says the Lord GOD” (vs 9-11).

When will that happen? At the beginning of the Millennium! Not until then! So, the vision that the world has is going to culminate with its antichrist who will rule the world and destroy it.

Let’s come to Jeremiah 14_{[transcriber’s correction]} and let’s see some other things that are important. The people of Israel have been through this how many times?

• How many times has God blessed them?
• How many times has God led them?
• How many times has God sent prophets?
• How many times has God made His Word available to them?

But they would have only what they wanted of God! Yet, they wanted to receive all the blessings while they lived in their sins.

Jeremiah 14:10: “Thus says the LORD to this people; ‘Even so they have loved to wander… [All Israel and even in the Church!] …they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them….’” How are we accepted of God?

• Through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice!
• Through repentance and humility!
• Through baptism and God’s Spirit!
• Through changing, growing and overcoming!
• Through loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and being!
• Not any old way that we desire!

“‘…therefore the LORD does not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins.’ Then the LORD said to me… [This day is coming, and it’s right around the corner. Think about this]: …‘Do not pray for this people for good…. [Whoa! What a statement!] …When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and a grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague.’” (vs 10-12). We’re going to see that happen, brethren! Not too far down the road!

Verse 13: “Then I said, ‘Ah, O Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets are saying to them, “You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine; but I will give you true peace in this place.”’” What is going to be the cry at the end? ‘Peace, peace, when there is no peace! Peace and safety, but sudden destruction comes upon them!’ Yes, indeed!

Verse 14: “And the LORD said to me, ‘The prophets prophesy lies in My name… [‘Thus sayeth the Lord,’ when He never said—right?] …I did not send them, nor have I commanded them, nor did I speak to them. They prophesy to you a false vision and a worthless divination, and a thing of no value, and the deceit of their heart’”—because Satan hasdeceivedthe whole world!

If this message, per chance, goes to some Sunday-keeping minister, let me ask you a question:

• Why do you continue teaching lies?
• Why do keep telling people there’s going to be a ‘rapture’?
• Why do you tell them that everything is right and Sunday is the day of the Lord?

Which God never, ever, under any circumstances sanctified! You need to understand that. What are you going to do? Maybe you ought to have a lesson and read about false prophets in the Word of God. What are you going to see?

• You’re going to see your future!
• You’re seeing the punishment right now by the absolute swift destruction of the Sunday-keeping ‘Christianity’ of this world!
• You have ministers in the pulpit that do not believe in Jesus Christ.
• You have ministers in the pulpit who are Jesuit secret agents.
• You have those who believe in a one-world religion.
• You have those right in the Southern Baptist Convention who are rejecting the last vestiges of what Biblical Truth the Southern Baptists have.

Here’s what God says, v 15: “‘Therefore the LORD says this concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, and I did not send them, yet they say, “Sword and famine shall not be in this land—By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem… [or whatever city you live in] …because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, neither them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour their own wickedness upon them.”’” (vs 15-16). That’s what’s coming in the world because of the false, lying visions of Satan the devil.

Now, let’s see what our vision is. Let’s come to the New Testament and let’s see this, and let’s see what Peter writes concerning our destiny to rule and reign with Christ, and how the apostles understood that. Jesus gave the vision to them, to write these words for us.

Let’s be encouraged with these things, because God is going to give us the greatest blessings possible. We have the greatest mission that has ever been to straighten out this world, to rule and reign with Jesus Christ, and to bring peace for a whole thousand years. Not the way that men would like to see it done, but the way that God is going to do it. We have been selected as the chosen, the elite, to bring this about.

God wants us to build Godly character of Truth, righteousness, goodness, love, faith, hope and understanding. Relying on God, fellowshipping with God the Father and Jesus Christ through a personal relationship to prepare for that time. Notice the difference compared to what we read of those who reject God to what we need to do:

1-Peter 2:1: “Therefore, having put away all wickedness, and all deceit, and hypocrisies and jealousies, and all slanders.” That talks about a clean sweep of human nature—does it not? Yes, indeed! That’s why I gave the series of sermons: The Washing of the Water By the Word. We have a companion series that we’re going to put with it: The Addicted Society. The addicted society is a result of the wrong goal, the wrong vision, the wrong perspective. But here is the right one. God wants, with the washing of the water by the Word to put away all of these things.

Verse 2: “As newborn babes, yearn after the pure spiritual milk… [and on beyond that to the pure spiritual meat] …that by it you may grow” in knowledge, understanding, strength, conviction, and see and understand the vision that God has for us.

Remember what happened when Jesus took Peter, James and John went up onto the Mount of Transfiguration? They were given that vision by Jesus Christ, which remained with them all their life long and was the motivating factor behind their loyalty, their love, their service, their dedication—and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—to write the Word of God and these fantastic epistles that we now have today.

“…the pure spiritual milk… [and then meat] …that by it you may grow, if you yourselves have indeed tasted that the Lord is gracious” (vs 2-3). Of course! God is merciful, kind and forgiving. Listen, we need not be burdened down with sin. Repent everyday!

• Ask God to help you!
• Ask God to cleanse your mind!
• Ask God to help you draw close to Him.

We’ll see that in the fellowship that we are to have.

Verse 4: “To Whom coming, asto a living Stone… [Yes! Jesus experienced the same thing that every one of us did. He was rejected, despised!] …rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, and precious… [Notice how he carries this over to us, for us to have vision as to what God wants us to do.]: …you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house—a Holy priesthood…” (vs 4-5). That’s what we will be. We are to act that way now in our prayers,

• praying for one another
• praying together
• serving and loving God

That’s why the Feast of Tabernacles is so good. That’s why we need to fellowship. Fellowship with those that you know; fellowship with those that you don’t know. Get to know everyone at the Feast. Make this a wonderful, fantastic, marvelous, loving gathering of the true children of God.

Put away all hypocrisy and guile and private agendas and all of that sort of thing. Rather, we are “…—to offer up spiritual sacrifices… [Those spiritual sacrifices are the prayers and the way that we live and the way that we love and serve each other.] …acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (v 5). That’s what we are to do. Yes, indeed!

Let’s come over here to 1-John 3, and let’s see that we have been called to be the very children of God. As I’ve mentioned before, just like you hold a little seed in your hand—what will that grow into? At the resurrection we’re going to begin that true, fantastic spiritual growth, because the seed of the character that has been developed through the Holy Spirit in your life now, is then going to be resurrected and blossom into the fullness of what God wants from you.

As a child of God today, and as a glorious spirit being—our bodies transformed into the likeness of Jesus’ own glorious body. Then we will be ready for the greatest work to ever take place in the history of the world since the creation of the universe and the creation of man. Think of that! We are God’s elite!

1-John 3:1: “Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us…” Think about that!

• God the Father loves you!
• Jesus Christ loves you!
• He laid His life down for you!
• He’s forgiven your sins through His sacrifice!
• He has called you!
• They have both given the Holy Spirit to you!
• The Spirit of Christ!
• The Spirit of the Father!
• The begettal, to become the very spirit sons and daughters of God!

“…that we should be called the children of God! For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him…. [Don’t worry about what the world thinks about you—stay close to God!] …Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be… [at the time that John wrote this] …but we know that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is” (vs 1-2).

We shall be like Him! That is a tremendous vision. That is a tremendous goal. This is what we need to be heading toward, looking to. Let’s see how all of that is going to be accomplished. That is the fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Remember, God the Father—the greatest Ruler, the Sovereign of the universe—has called you and me, and all those He has called, to this tremendous destiny, to this purpose:

• to love and serve
• to rule the world
• to get rid of Satan the devil and the demons
• to bring peace and happiness to all human being for a thousand years
• after that the second resurrection.
• after that as we get to the Last Great Day, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven

We’ve got to keep all of these things in the forefront of our mind. Notice how John begins to write here in the beginning of 1-John 1:1: “That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our own eyes, that which we observed for ourselves and our own hands handled, concerning the Word of life” Remember:

• God has called you!
• God loves you!
• Christ loves you!

Verse 2: “(And the life was manifested, and we have seen, and are bearing witness, and are reporting to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us)… [that is to the apostles] …that which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you in order that you also may have fellowship with us; for thefellowship… [this is an exact translation—the fellowship—that’s our primary fellowship:

• through prayer
• through study
• through living
• through grace and knowledge

“…—indeed, our fellowship—… [notice this carefully]: …with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ. These things we are also writing to you, so that your joy may be completely full” (vs 3-4).

Regardless of the circumstances outside in the world, in your mind you’ll have

• the peace of God
• the joy of God
• the love of God
• the hope of God

That’s the vision that we are to have.

Now, let’s come to Rev. 20 and let’s see where our job description is defined. We are going to take over the whole world. We are going to rule under Christ. We are going to bring peace to this world and these are the things that we are going to learn during this Feast of Tabernacles, 2011.

Revelation 20:4: “And I saw thrones… [‘Thrones’ are a sign of government and authority. But we have developed the character first before we’re resurrected to take over here.] …and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given to them; and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and those who did not worship the beast, or his image, and did not receive the mark in their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

Think of that! Then after that, into all eternity! Brethren, that’s why we are here. This is the vision that we need to have.

Notice what it says here—we’ll talk about the rest of the dead when we come to the latter part of the Feast of Tabernacles—v 5: “…This is the first resurrection…. [Brethren, that’s what Pentecost pictures.] (here’s what we will be called): …Blessed and Holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power…. [because we will live forever] …But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (vs 5-6)—then on into all eternity!

That’s why, brethren, we need this vision of God. We need not be like the world where they have the wrong vision and they’re going to perish. We have the vision of God:

• our calling
• why we’re here
• where we’re going

Through this Feast of Tabernacles we’re going to go through many different aspects of that.

Let’s love one another, fellowship with one another and rejoice in the fantastic blessing of the Feast of Tabernacles—which God has given—so that we can grow in grace and knowledge and love Him, and look forward to the Kingdom of God forever!

Scriptural References:

1. Proverbs 29:18
2. Revelation 12:9
3. Isaiah 29:8-16
4. Ezekiel 14:1-11
5. Jeremiah 14:10-16
6. 1 Peter 2:1-5
7. 1 John 3:1-2
8. 1 John 1:1-4
9. Revelation 20:4-6

Also referenced:

• Book: Lord, What Should I Do? by Fred R. Coulter
• Sermon: Invisible God, Visible Man
• Sermon Series:
  • Washing of the Water By the Word
  • Addicted Society