[Len Martin] We know and we've heard already that this time that we're together, this Feast of Tabernacles, pictures 1,000-year period of time when Jesus Christ and His saints will rule over mankind. It will be the Kingdom of God on earth. We have special music that was befitting, it was beautiful. It's a time that we look forward to. A beautiful time when so much sorrow and misery will be done away and we will be pursuing peace on earth.

Now, we come here symbolically as if we're coming into that Kingdom. We make it a goal to set this period of time and try to picture that over the next seven days, and certainly, the Eighth Day, Last Great Day, as Mr. Aust mentioned. And so we strive over the next seven days to have a small taste of that period of time, and yet we know we can't fully appreciate what it's going to be like. But we do our best, and we try to enjoy the time that we have.

But how do we do that? To enjoy living in the Millennium or do we focus on practicing to provide a millennial experience? You know, as a child growing up, I thought about living in the Millennium, what it would be like. And then you realize, "Well, wait a minute, the firstfruits are preparing to provide a millennial environment." We're working now to be able to provide that.

You know, there's two groups that'll be existing at that time, Jesus Christ and His saints, the firstfruits, who will be providing that environment, and there'll be those alive in that millennial period of time. So which do you identify with? The time that we have here, we should be striving to consider, "What I can do to provide a millennial experience." For those that are here together with us.

Now, I know, as I mentioned earlier, some are unable to be at the Feast for very serious reasons. Some of you may have made it here but are still dealing with any number of sore trials. They could be employment-related, they could be relationship-related. And the fact that you made the effort to be here may even complicate those as well. And so we are mindful that there are people that make that effort to be here and still have things weighing on them.

And, yeah, we have a responsibility as brothers and sisters in the faith, as Mr. Delamater mentioned in the message on the Sabbath for those that were here. The part of our responsibility is what we can do to help each other experience the Kingdom of God on earth in the time that we have. It is important to God that we're here. He knows we need to be here.

Join me in Hebrews 10, I'd like to begin there. This is a scripture I've gone over on several occasions in the local area. There is a scripture that we often quote, that we've memorized over the years. It's in verse 25. It speaks of not forsaking the assembling together, as is the manner of some. Hebrews 10:25. It says, "Not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

But sometimes in our efforts to remember that and memorize that, we miss the why. It's the verse right before that tells us why we gather together on the weekly Sabbath and even here at the Feast. It says, "Let us consider one another," that person to the right of you, and to the left of you, and sitting in front of you, and right behind you, consider them, "to stir up love and good works." You know, each and every Sabbath and certainly the time we have here at the Feast, we have an opportunity to consider one another. "To stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together," as it says.

And so let's now ask the question. How many of you know the question I'm going to ask, hey? Why are you here? That's the question I heard my whole life, to the point where I almost looked forward to hearing that question at the Feast, you know, "Why are you here?" Why did you come to the Feast? Why did you come here to Panama City Beach as opposed to some other location? What is your focus? What's on your mind right now? Is it, "Oh, how long is he going to go because we've got plans after services?" I used to do that at one point in my life, too. I'm not… Okay. What is our focus? Why are we here?

In the time I have today, I want to examine more closely what God expects of us. What does God expect of us while we're here? We have many reasons to be here. Many reasons beyond simple obedience. So what are some of the reasons that we should be here? I took the liberty to lighten this up a little bit, entitled the sermon after a famous TV pitchman used to say, "But wait, there's more." “But Wait, There's More” that's the title of the sermon.

Again, the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, which began at sunset, pictures that 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ on earth and the firstfruits who will be reigning with Him. That is certainly something to rejoice over. We were talking earlier this morning about things that we would like to see, what is something in the Millennium that you look forward to? And I commented that just the misery and suffering of humankind ceasing. You know you turn on the news, and you look at what's going on around the world, and people are suffering. And I look forward to when that ends.

Notice something in Romans 14. You know, sometimes we put so much focus on rejoicing at the Feast, we overlook some of the other things that God expects of us while we gather here. There's a simple statement over in Romans 14. Here in Romans, Paul is addressing a certain self-righteousness that develops when people begin to set up narrow standards of Christian fellowship and behavior. And he goes on to exhort that, you know, while some things are lawful, not all things are expedient. And sometimes we choose not to do things that may be fine to do for the sake of relationships, as Paul is kind of discussing. He goes on to admonish everybody to avoid doubtful disputations, as he says in verse 1, and rather pursue those things which work towards peace.

We've heard a lot about peace already as the Feast has begun. Peace was in the special music, Mr. Aust spoke about peace last evening if you were here. But Paul's admonition in Romans 14 is that we would do those things that would pursue peace, things that would edify the body, he says, in verse 19. But notice this statement in Romans 14 and verse 17 because in the midst of all of that, he brings this statement forward, "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but it is righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." Righteousness, peace, and joy. If we really believe that the seven days ahead of us picture a time when we are ruling with Jesus Christ in the kingdom, we all ought to remind ourselves that the next seven days is not about eating and drinking, but about peace, and joy, and righteousness, as we read here in Romans 14 and verse 17.

So then, why are we here? Number one. Certainly, because God commands it. Certainly, because God commands it. We do what God says to do. It's the simplest definition of faith, is to simply believe God and do what He says. I know there were times in my life as a child growing up, there were things I didn't understand but I did them anyways. Why? Because God said it, that's all I needed to know. That's what faith is, believing God and doing what He says. But it's the do, the second part of it, the doing, that sometimes we struggle. Because we can know, we can believe, we can understand, but then when it comes to putting it into practice, sometimes that's where we stumble.

Notice Leviticus 23. The feasts of the Lord are spelled out for us in Leviticus 23, beginning with the weekly Sabbath, which is the first one listed, and then each and every one of the Holy Days is spelled out for us. Leviticus 23, beginning in 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 to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.”'" He begins with the Sabbath, "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is a Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings." Verse 4, He goes on, he begins to speak of Passover and Unleavened Bread.

But the word for Feast is Moed. Moed. An appointment. An appointed time. You look at the definition, it means an assembly as convened for a definite purpose. An assembly which is convened for a definite purpose. So the logical question that follows is, what is the definite purpose? If there's an assembly that's convened for a definite purpose, what is that purpose?

Let's go down a little bit further in verse 33, Leviticus 23. Specifically speaking of the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. Leviticus 23, beginning at verse 33, "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, saying: "The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work."'" That's where we're at. We're at a holy convocation on this first day, which began last night at sunset. Verse 36, "'For seven days, you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. And on the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.'" So we begin to see that there is expectations that God puts upon us. This is very special time, its holy time, it's a holy convocation.

Now, if you join me in Numbers, we'll notice that during this period of time, the Israelites had to present offerings. And as you begin to see what they had to do, you begin to realize, there was a lot of preparation that they had to do in their offerings. So let's consider the amount of preparation they had to go through in order to keep the feasts.

Numbers 29, we're going to break into the context of the chapter here. Because for all the preparation I had to do, and my wife, and all of you had to do prior to the Feast, I think we'll appreciate that we probably don't have to do nearly as much as they did in Numbers 29, beginning in verse 12. It says, "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work, and you shall keep a feast to the Lord seven days. And you shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, as a sweet aroma to the Lord." And then He begins to lay out what they need to bring as those offerings, "thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs in their first year. They shall be without blemish." So when you were packing, did you remember? I didn't. I have a trailer, I guess I could shove them in there. But we see here that they had to make these preparations and make sure they brought these.

We'll go on a little bit further, we won't go through all of it. Verse 14, "Their grain offering shall be a fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams.” Now, if your house is like I try to get away with, I'd hand my wife the shopping list, and say, "Make sure you pack all this stuff," right, as I get the car ready to go, whatever.

Well, you begin to see that it began with 13 bulls, 2 rams, 14 male lambs for burnt offerings, and a goat as a sin offering. Now, we won't go through it all, but each day thereafter, the number of bulls was reduced by one, and so the next day, it'd be 12 bulls, 2 rams, 14 male lambs, and a goat. And then the next day, it'd be 11 bulls. And so they had to gather up all those animals in preparing for the Feast. So we don't have it quite so difficult, do we? You know, we struggle over our housing. I know sometimes we have housing issues, and I know back in the day we used to have that… you know, we still do. You can't call before this day. You know, there used to be a time you're standing there with your finger on speed dial, right, ready to go.

So, if you add it all up, they would have to gather 71 bulls, 15 rams, 105 lambs, 8 goats. All of those were offered in addition to grain offerings and free-will offerings. So did they have to prepare to keep the Feast? Sure they did. But you and I do as well. You and I have to prepare to keep the Feast as well. But sometimes, we can put so much focus in our physical preparation, booking our housing and our airfare, and car rentals, and making sure we pack all the right clothes and all that, that sometimes if we're not careful, we forget the spiritual preparation that we should do before we arrive. Sometimes we forget that aspect of it.

During the time leading up to the Feast, did you set aside any time to develop a plan to accomplish what you want to accomplish spiritually at the Feast of Tabernacles? What is your goal spiritually now that you're here? You know, each year before the Feast, I have different goals I want to accomplish. I won't tell you what they are, but there's certain things that I want to do in my relationship with God and Jesus Christ, in my studies. Things that I know I want to do. And I usually make time during the Feast to begin that because of the Feast is a good time to kind of stop all the other things that we're busy with and focus on that.

But do you have spiritual goals that you've shared with God that you've come into the Feast that you want to do while you're here? It's a great time to begin. You don't have to go to work, right? It's a good time to start that. Have you prayed that you'll hear the messages and how they apply to you individually? Just about every man that gives the opening prayer asks that prayer on your behalf, but have you prayed that for yourself, "God helped me hear what you want me to hear at your Feast this year?" And, again, have we prayed for that humility to receive it and change if we need to in our own lives?

You know, just reading about God's purpose, just reading about the kingdom, wanting to be there, yearning to be there, looking forward to being there isn't enough. We have to prepare to be there. We've been called to be a part of teaching and ruling, and we have to prepare ourselves for that responsibility. So what sacrifices are we willing to make in our own lives in order to prepare for that?

I used to be in engineering years ago, and so I have a lot of metaphors related to around the construction industry. And, you know, a builder or construction manager has to know the end product before he even begins. Because he's got to know how heavy this building is, what the size of it is, before he even starts laying out a foundation, grading the ground for that foundation, he's got to know what the end product is going to look like. And that builder has to go through a lot of his own personal sacrifice to develop the knowledge to do that. And like, man, you and I have to know where we're headed and then bring that back to today. And it's like, "You know, what do I need to do in my life to prepare to be in that responsibility?”

In Romans 12, the apostle Paul wrote… because I asked the question of what sacrifice are you and I willing to make? As we look forward to what these next seven days and the Last Great Day picture for us, what sacrifices are we willing to make to ensure that we are there? In Romans 12:1, we'll just read one verse there, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you would present your bodies," just one thing, "a living sacrifice." Just one thing, “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." The word for holy is agios. There are several different definitions but worthy of awe. Present your bodies, a living sacrifice worthy of awe. It can mean physically pure, morally blameless.

Spiros Zodhiates' word study of the New Testament has a definition that I like when it relates to the word holy. And it means, "It's the fundamental idea of separation and consecration, but it is sharing in God's purity and abstaining from earth's defilement." I love that definition, “abstaining from earth's defilement, holy.” So Paul says, "That's all we're asking, one sacrifice. But it's a living sacrifice, holy.”

Have we prepared ourselves spiritually to come before God at this time? Because, again, it is commanded. And we're here, so we know we've at least followed that command. Psalm 51. Israel had to make plans to bring their daily sacrifices. You and I do. Isaiah 51. The Psalmist here is David repents, and it's recorded for us. We see this heartfelt repentance and plea as his words are recorded. Psalm 51, notice verse 16 and verse 17. Oops, I said Isaiah, then I said Psalm. It is Psalm. I mean, Isaiah. Stay put. People that are in the congregations I serve, they catch me doing this all the time, I apologize. Psalm 51. It says, "For you do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; you do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices…" So here, we begin to see what we should be prepared to bring to the Feast of Tabernacles, "These sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— these, O God, you will not despise.”

And so we are here, to answer the question, "Why are we here?" certainly because God commands it. We are obedient to our heavenly Father. And He commands it, and so we are here. And, hopefully, we've made the necessary preparations physically through tithes and making all the plans we have, but hopefully, spiritually, as well as we begin the next seven days and the Last Great Day, that we're going to get the most out of this. Hopefully, we've prepared. And so we're here because God commands it.

But wait, there's more. Number two is to rejoice. To rejoice. Yes, rejoicing is something God wants us to do. Back to Leviticus 23. It is something He wants us to do. He has us put away our tides for that reason so that we can come here and rejoice in a way that maybe we can't do it throughout the year because we have limited resources. It is something He wants us to do. Leviticus 23, notice verse 39 and verse 40, "Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days." He wants us to rejoice.

You know, I often think the way the world is going, it's probably an aspect of the Feast we need probably more than ever, to just rejoice. The world is really going sideways in a way that… you know, just even the last five years, things have developed that I just never saw coming. But He does say that He wants us to rejoice. The Feast is a time of celebration for the abundance that God gives us through our tithing. As He commands us, He wants us to be here, but He says, "I'm going to give you a way to do it. Set aside that tithe. And then when you go there, you'll have that, that you can come and you can rejoice.”

Now, I've often thought that rejoicing isn't a topic we have to spend too much time on. I mean, most people love to rejoice. That's something that probably comes easy to people. But we need to be sure that our rejoicing is in line with what God wants us… or maybe how God wants us to rejoice. Notice Deuteronomy 12. Deuteronomy 12, there's very specific instructions given to Israel before they cross over to the promised land. And we can learn from these instructions. Deuteronomy 12, beginning in verse 1, "These are the statutes and judgments you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord the God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree." Let's continue on to verse 3, "And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods, destroy their names in that place. And you shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.”

You know, the underlying premise that's being taught here is that God wanted them to go in and destroy all those distractions, to give God their undivided attention and devotion, and eliminate all those things that would cause your eye to wander. I call them distractions, life is full of distractions. I know when I was still in the corporate world and as technology advanced, it got to the point where they knew you had a cell phone, they expected it to be on all the time, and they expected you to answer it. Some of you are probably in there, right? It's hard to get away. Oh, you can explain all you want about going and, "I'm unplugging." But when the phone rings, they do expect you to answer. God wants us to come here and give Him our undivided attention. That we would think about our days, and our activities, and our evenings, and getting rest so that we're back tomorrow morning bright and early, I believe it's 10:00 a.m. If I'm wrong, then, hopefully, it's 10:30. I think it's 10:00 a.m. So plan out your days so that that is our focus. God wants us to make Him our focus, give Him our undivided attention.

Let's continue in verse 5, "You shall seek the place where the Lord God chooses," we see other things spelled out here, "out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go there. There, you should take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.”

But notice, then, verse 8, He also adds, "You shall not at all do as we are doing here today— every man doing what's right in his own eyes— for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you." We want to be careful that our rejoicing is not according to what we think is good, but it's rejoicing that is appropriate. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I'll leave it there for now. We are to come here, we are to rejoice. But it should be in a manner that is appropriate, not everyone doing what they think is right. But what does God say is right as we will rejoice?

Some other things we see here. We don't have time, I won't spend time on them. But, certainly, we see that we seek the place where God has placed His name. You know, I wonder how often people really think about that? I had an occasion to work with… you know, Mr. Melear is our primary person who does all of our negotiations. And I had an opportunity to travel with him once when we were looking for a Feast site. And he really does work hard at finding a place. Like, "Is this where God wants us to have the Feast?" We still look to God to make it evident, this is where He's placing His name. And we should do that as well. That we go to where God is placing His name. And there we go for the Feast, as we've just read here in Deuteronomy. Verse 5, it says, "Where the Lord your God chooses, there you shall go." Not everybody to wherever they want to go, but to where He places His name.

And as I say that, I'm not certainly, of course, speaking to those who are unable to go because we all are aware of those situations. We also see here, rejoicing, verse 7. And third thing we see, though, is not to do whatever we think is right in our own eyes. So as we rejoice, it's certainly why we are here, let's be sure we're doing it in a way that is certainly appropriate. And so we see here that we come here, to answer that question because God commands it and to rejoice. But wait, there's more, to reveal our heart. To reveal our heart to God.

Isaiah 66:2. You know, we just read the 51st Psalm. But notice Isaiah 66:2. In the 51st Psalm, we read, "A broken and a contrite heart, God will not despise." Isaiah 66:2, “'For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,’ says the Lord. ‘But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My word.’" You know, when we come here, God learns a lot about our heart. He learns a lot about my heart, He learns a lot about your heart. It's showing up, all that we do. We've heard a couple of comments made. I think Mr. Delamater's message on the Sabbath, you know, are we coming here to serve or to be served? Because God knows your heart. God knows your heart. While we're here, God learns a lot about us.

Deuteronomy 14. At first, it was probably about five or six years ago that it first occurred to me to look at this scripture in a slightly different way. Deuteronomy 14:26. It's, again, speaking of the tithe that we set aside to go to the Feast. And I'm just going to break right to the key verse here. Verse 26, Deuteronomy 14 says, "And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires." And someone is going, "Yeah, baby. I'm going to spend it on whatever my heart desires." It says that, it does say that. It says, "For oxen, or sheep, or wine, or similar drink, whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.”

It was about five or six years ago that it crossed my mind that is it possible, is it possible that God says that, and then He sits back and He watches what we do with our tithe? "Is it all about me? I'm spending it on me?" I don't know. I look at it that way now in a way I didn't years ago, to be careful that, yes, God says, "Spend it on whatever your heart desires." But maybe in my spending, He learns what my heart desires, "It's all about me." Or maybe I make sure that I'm, as we've already heard mentioned, "I'm looking out for those that maybe I could help. I could invite them to dinner with me, I could maybe help them because I know they're struggling." What does God learn about our heart while we're here? He says to spend it on whatever your heart desires, but what does He learn in our spending and our focus? And so it's something to think about because I think how we handle that reveals our heart to God. We heard about the widow and the orphan, I believe, on the Sabbath. So, again, our actions with our tithe does reveal our heart to God.

And so, again, we have an opportunity while we're here to look at revealing our character, revealing our heart to God. We had an announcement yesterday needing help with serving. I believe it was ushering. There may be other needs. Maybe you're not serving right now. Maybe you could go back and let somebody know that if there's a need somewhere, you're still willing to help out, it's not too late. But what does God learn about our heart while we are here? It's something we should think about. Serving here at the Feast helps in providing the millennial environment we all look forward to. As I said, our responsibility is going to be providing that in the Millennium. Why not start learning to do that now by providing it here in some manner to serve or to help out? There's a lot of ways that we can do that.

Romans 12. Roman 12. So, again, we should ask ourselves individually. We still have the whole Feast ahead of us, we've only just begun. We have a lot of days ahead of us. I tried to do the math really quick, I think we end up with, like, 20 messages that we're going to hear, not counting Bible studies, that we can listen, and learn, and glean, and grow from. But beyond that, what can I do to help make this Feast here this year, 2019, in Florida, the best Feast ever for someone else? How can I provide what this period of time pictures for someone else? I can try to learn to do that today. Romans 12:10. It says to “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, and honor, giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints… distributing to the needs of the saints," did you catch that? “Given to hospitality.” What can I do at the Feast in 2019 to provide a millennial experience for someone else? Think about that, see how you can answer that question in your own life.

In 2 Timothy, notice what Paul writes to Timothy. I always enjoy Paul's writings to Timothy. I look at them, they're tender, they're enduring. He is just a very loving teacher to Timothy. In 2 Timothy 3, it reminds Timothy and, certainly, it's retained for our learning to “know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, and boasters, and proud, and blasphemers, disobedient to parents, they'll be unthankful, and unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control,” He goes on and he says, "brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power." He says, "And from such people turn away!”

We want to be lovers of God, not lovers of pleasure, not lovers of money, as listed here. You know, in the latter days, as this becomes the attitude of society, if we're not careful, it can become the attitude in our lives as well, as we could tend to just focus on ourselves. We want to be lovers of God, not lovers of pleasure. Lovers of God love God's way of life. That way of giving, not getting. That's who lovers of God are. They strive to serve each other, to provide a millennial experience to one another. Our true character, our heart is going to be revealed to God in the next eight days. We come here, and God says to spend your tithe on whatever your heart desires, "And I'm just going to sit back and watch how you handle that." It's something to think about.

But wait, there's more. We've looked at we're here because it's commanded, we're here to rejoice, we're here so that God will know our hearts, but we're also here to learn to fear God. We're here to learn to fear God, Deuteronomy 14:23. You see, there's a lot of reasons we should be here, it's not only rejoicing. Deuteronomy 14:23, we'll just look at the one verse there, "And you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where He chooses, to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always." So in your preparations and thoughts for why you are here, did it occur to you, did it cross your mind, did you remember that one of the reasons we are here is that we would learn to fear the Lord our God always?

In Deuteronomy 31, during the reading of the law every seven years, notice what it says, pick it up in verse 11. Now it's not the fear of dread. We'll cover that here in a moment. Deuteronomy 31:11. Deuteronomy 31, beginning in verse 11, "When all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and little ones, and the strangers within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”

You know, as I said, we see that word fear and we immediately have a connotation that comes to mind that's a negative one. You know, of just fear, and being in trembling, and scared. But, you know, the true love of God and the true understanding of the fear of God go hand in hand. They're really not mutually exclusive, they go together quite well. You know, we live in a time today when our society has no fear at all, certainly of God. They do all kinds of things, they don't fear in that way. But there's certainly a time in life when you should fear God's wrath if you're not living appropriately. But that's not what God wants of us as we gather here during the Feast of Tabernacles for the next seven days.

Notice in 1 John 4. So, in 1 John 4, we'll see the word fear that people often bring to mind. We'll go through this quickly. The word there in 1 John 4 we should look at is phobos. We get the word phobia from it. 1 John 4, beginning verse 16, "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love," I'm sorry, "casts out fear, because fear involves torment." This fear here being spoken of is phobos, phobia. It's like a dread. It's the fear that most people bring to mind. "But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.”

You know, as I said, the fear of God, when we understand what it truly is, and the love of God go together. Because the word for fear when God says to fear Him is yare, and it means to revere. Awe, to revere God. That we would come here over the next eight days, and we would learn even more to just revere God. That's the word that's used there. It is a reverence, it is a respect, and it is awe. And we come here to learn that.

You know, there's a popular contemporary Christian song titled "Awesome God" by Michael W. Smith. The chorus repeats over and over. It goes, "Our God is an awesome God." I don't think he really fully even comprehends to the depth that we can. "He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God." And it is true, our God is an awesome God. And part of what He wants us to learn when we come here at the Feast is that He is an awesome God.

We can learn that in a lot of ways. Certainly, we can learn that through sharing stories of life, and trials, and overcoming. And you hear somebody's story, and you go, "Wow, our God is an awesome God." When you hear people share how God has worked in their lives. And so, God's command to keep the Feast is so that we would learn to revere Him. That's one of the things that we're here to learn.

Notice Deuteronomy 13. Because God is an awesome God, and it's not just words to a contemporary Christian piece, He truly is. And He wants us to come here and learn that principle. Verse 1, "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods’— which you have not known— ‘and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him." Awe, it's that word again. "And keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him." Verse 3 says, "God is testing us," as the word's used here, "to know if you love Him." Do you love Him with all your heart, do you fear Him, revere Him, awe, and reverence Him? So we have time here the next seven days. It's one of the things we can learn, why are we here? To learn to fear God, to have an awe and a reverence for Him.

We won't go there for the sake of time, but 2 Timothy 1 speaks of, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind." We should not have fear as other people may fear. Fear is an awe and a respect for our God. The God of the universe, who… He called you. I keep bringing up the fact that, you know, presently there's, 7.6 billion, I believe is the number, 7.5 billion people on earth today, and He called you. You know, in United, we have average weekly Sabbath attendance, a little over 7,000. When we add up all attendance for, like, the Feast, we'll have 14,000. It's still small compared to 7.6 billion people, but He called you. It's an awesome thing. It makes that calling so precious that out of 7.6 billion people on the earth today, you. And we should revere Him, and thank Him. And learn to fear, and respect, and awe, and reverence Him.

You know, Ecclesiastes 12, Solomon came to the conclusion that all of life was vanity. Ecclesiastes 12, right at the end of the book, verse 13, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter." What does he tell us? Fear God. Revere Him, awe, reverence Him. Fear God and keep His commandments. He says, "This is the conclusion of the whole matter for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment including every secret thing whether good or evil." We are here and we are commanded to learn to fear the Lord our God. So that's something you can add to your list of things of, "Why am I here," Or why should you be here? This is one that we can add.

There are several other scriptures I won't go to for the sake of time. But there are some healthy ways to look at understanding of the fear of God, there are some benefits. I'll just give these to you, you can look them up later. The fear of God is for our good. We'll go to this one, Deuteronomy 6, "It is for your good." Deuteronomy 6. Looking at the clock, I think I've got a couple of more minutes so let's go there. Deuteronomy six. You know, when God tells us to come here to learn to fear Him, Deuteronomy 6 says it's for our good. You know, God doesn't tell us to do anything that's really not for our good. Deuteronomy 6:24, "And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day." Verse 25, "Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us." The fear of God is for our good, we should learn then to fear Him. That's, I think, the way that reasoning goes. Some other scriptures you could add on this topic on it's for our good. We won't turn to these. Proverbs 3:1-8, Proverbs 14:26-27, and then Deuteronomy 10. You can read through Deuteronomy 10, it's repeated there as well, verses 12 and 13 and beginning in 17. So other verses you could go to on this principle that it is for our good.

Another thing is, the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge, Proverbs 1 tells us that. Let's go there, Proverbs 1:8, it's the beginning of knowledge when we learn to fear God, revere Him, look to Him for answers, for truth. Proverbs 1:7. Again, all these things that we asked that question, why are we here? These are reasons we should be here. They're all in the Scripture why we should be here. Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." So we see here, it's a choice because it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom so some choose not to fear the Lord, they don't pursue that wisdom.

And another aspect of it is the fear of God is something we should delight in. We should delight in it, Isaiah 11. So on this, I think this is my fourth point on why are we here? That we learned to fear God, we should realize that we should delight in this aspect. Isaiah 11. If we begin in verse 1, Isaiah 11, "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." Notice verse 3, “His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, or decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.”

And, of course, we get into that symbolism that we often read here at the Feast of Tabernacles. I think it's been read already, "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the viper's den. And they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

And so we are here first because God commands it. We are here to rejoice, we are here so that God can know our hearts, and we are here to learn to fear God. But wait, there's at least one more, we're here to honor God. We're here to honor God. What does it mean to you to honor God, how do you honor God, what ways can you honor God?

When the scribes and Pharisees challenged Jesus, and joined me in Mark 7, as to why His disciples did not follow their traditions. Mark 7, notice how Jesus replied. Now, He is quoting Isaiah 29 and this is also recorded in Matthew 15. But Mark 7:6, we'll just read one verse, "He answered and said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”’" He goes on to say, "In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Do we really understand what it means to honor God, or are we only giving lip service? Do we honor Him with our lips and our heart is far from Him? In some cultures, dishonoring the family would be the most egregious offense. To honor God is going to be the topic for the Bible study on Friday, so that's my segue. If you want to know more of what it means to honor God, we'll be having a Bible study on Friday evening at 7:30, we'll cover that topic.

But, brethren, why are you here? Why are you here? It's a question I remember being 10 years old. The Feast is intended to picture a type of God's Kingdom, a glimpse of what the world will be like. We're looking forward to serving with Christ in that. But we don't have to wait till then to begin serving, we can do that now. We can strive to create a millennial environment for one another in the days ahead of us. Did you come only because God commanded? Did you come here only thinking of rejoicing? Did you come here with a proper heart? Did you come to learn to fear God? Or did we come here to honor God?

As I said in the beginning, how each one of us answers this simple question, "Why are you here?" is going to determine how fulfilled you're going to be at the end of the Feast. We have all these days ahead of us. I pray we all leave here after the final message on the Last Great Day with a better understanding and a stronger, deeper resolve that the Kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking, but it is about pursuing holiness, righteousness, peace, and joy.