[Brian Shaw] I used to approach the Feast of Tabernacles like it was never going to end. Anybody else ever do that? How did that work out for you? It just seems, right, I mean it's depicting a time that just could go on forever. I know it's a Millennium, but it extends from there as well. I mean, I knew the Feast was going to end, I just didn't dwell on it, and I often didn't plan for it. For me, anyway, this led to epic cases of post-Feast blues and last day regret. One year, in my 35 years in the Church, it nearly cost me my job. I've since learned to temper my zeal with knowledge. I hope you all have, as well.

The Feast is a wonderful time, a beautiful time, but it is temporary. It's part of the lesson of the Feast of Tabernacles. It has an end. It came to a close last night. It is a big advantage to have in mind the end from the beginning. And this is not just good advice for a better Feast, but for a better life as well. And it is the design of this Eighth Day as well. Why is it so important to know the end from the beginning? If you like a title for your notes, that is the title of this Eighth Day warning message, "Knowing the End from the Beginning."

The Eighth Day of the Feast is the culmination of God's annual Holy Days and it points us to the outcome of God's plan for humanity. As the children of God, we must remain mindful of this outcome, not just today, but throughout our keeping His Holy Day cycle, and throughout the year as well. Knowing God's plan requires us to have that end in mind. The beginning of our conversion begins with that mindset as well. Being mindful of the end, from the outset, is godly wisdom for life as well. The more clearly an end of an effort is understood, the more focused one's direction and dedication will be from the outset.

I'd like to start here with just some practical verses, Proverbs 20:21. It's given from the standpoint of inheriting something. Proverbs 20:21 says, "An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning will not be blessed at the end." And the mindset there is, if you're focused on things that are coming to you, wealth and money, possessions, houses, lands and so on, and you have this anxiousness to receive it, you will overlook something incredibly important in receiving it itself. Think of the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. He demanded his inheritance before its time. And this is a parable, obviously, but it's told in such a magnificent detail by Christ, He may have had in mind an actual situation.

That son misunderstood the nature of his reward. He thought it was about what he would have or what he would gain. And he missed that that reward was much more about what he would become. And it took him some difficult situations in his life to actually see that. When we, as the children of God in this age, long for the gifts of the Kingdom, and overlook the character it will take to inherit that Kingdom, we make the same mistake as well. This is largely about what we are supposed to become.

Look at Ecclesiastes 7:2, Ecclesiastes 7:2. Mr. Kubik was here shortly the other day, and the message we received from Hawaii. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, "Better to go the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart." You see, a life lived with its end in mind, is better equipped to live. Martin Luther King was once… many times actually, his life was being threatened, and those who were helping him said, "You should be a little bit more careful. You shouldn't expose yourself, and so on."

His response to them was, "If you are not ready to die, you are not ready to live." It's good advice to keep in mind, especially for those of us who are planning to live forever, as a result of God's gift. We have to be mindful and remain mindful of the expected results. It helps us to focus on those results, and what we're supposed to do to prepare for them. It inspires the effort that we make in this life. And it greatly enhances the probability for our success and our readiness at that time. This is especially true for all those who have submitted to God's plan for humanity.

You see it's God who establishes the end from the beginning. He tells us this, we can't see this of ourselves. Even though we think we might be able to, it's something that misses humanity. Mr. Kubik touched on this as well, Ecclesiastes 3:11. Although he only read the first portion of this, I would like to read the whole verse here. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time." In reference to God, everything beautiful in its time. This whole section here is largely about timing. It's a great lesson for especially our young adults. "He has also put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."

See all humanity is created with something missing. God designed every human being to receive His Spirit at some point in their lives, to complete them, to answer this question: why do I long for eternity, why can I not imagine my existence disappearing and ending forever? You need God's Spirit to understand that. Humanity is created with that hole in us, and God, in this age, has filled that hole for us with His Spirit. We all have a desire or an expectation of eternal life, yet not even the wisest, apart from God's inspiration, can know how this will happen.

Look at Isaiah 41 here. Isaiah 41, I'll read verses 21 through 24. Isaiah 41:21, "Present your case" this is God speaking, "says the Lord, ’Bring forth your strong reasons,’ says the King of Jacob. ‘Let them bring forth and show us what will happen."' This is individuals who are predicting the future. "Then let them show the former things, what they were," the tendency of physical human beings is to see a pattern of things of how they've gone, and then project them going forward without any understanding of the influences on what may happen to those things.

I worked for years forecasting for a cable television company. And they wanted to see that nice straight line where, okay, we were here, we got to this point, so we must be able to just draw that line in customer growth and in annual revenues, straight up. I said, "No because things don't continue as they were. You have to see what's coming, competition, times of the season, interactions that happen within the marketplace." You got to understand all those things so you can understand how that line changes. But this is the tendency of mankind, this is the way it happened, this is the way it will happen going forward. "That we may consider them..."

Let me read 22 again. "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it all together. Indeed, you are nothing, and your work is nothing; he who chooses you is an abomination."

Anyone who predicts on his own what is going to come and others follow, without any kind of understanding of the changes that could happen, is making a completely wrong choice. Many investors have learned the hard way that past performance is no guarantee for future success. You've seen that on stocks that you purchased, I'm sure. They give you this warning to let you know, that just because it was great a year ago, doesn't mean it'll be great a year from now.

Look at Isaiah 46:9-11. Isaiah 46:9, God again, says "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.' Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it."

Only God declares the end from the beginning. But to those to whom he has revealed it, we are compelled to find ourselves within that. From the time of our beginning to the end, or the end that God has in mind. During that time, we often ask ourselves some important questions, as we should in preparation for that time. Where are we on this path, from where we began, from where God began us, the beginning of our conversion? How clear is our vision of where we are heading? What course corrections, at this point, are necessary? And we appeal to God to reveal those things to us so we can stay on the path, so we could continue preparing. This Eighth Day is largely about that.

In Hebrews 3:14, we read, "For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.” This is a reference to the faith God imparted within us, that He sparked with us when we first approached conversion. The process is repentance. He gives us the ability to repent, He imparts that to us. We have to respond. He also grants us the ability to believe. He turns that light switch on in our minds. But it's our responsibility to make sure we're living according to that light He's providing. We began with faith in what God says, but maintaining that faith requires we keep in mind the end from the beginning.

And this is not just for ourselves, personally. This day is not so much about us, it's about all of humanity. For those to whom the truth has been made known, there can be no more joyous revelation than the meaning of this Eighth Day. Let's do a little background work here Leviticus 23, Leviticus 23, we'll read verses 33 through 36 and then verse 39. Notice how this is all given within the context of the Feast of Tabernacles. We recognize that this is a separate holy convocation. And, in fact, it's referred to in the Scripture as a solemn assembly. We'll read that here. There's only one other day, one other Holy Day, that God calls a solemn assembly.

Verse 33, he says, "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.”’" This is a royal summons by God to appear before Him, a court. "You shall do no customary work on it." People wonder… people have asked me before, "Well, what's the difference between going before God on a holy convocation than going before Him in prayer?" Well, prayer is something that we initiate, in our time. That's our agenda, that's our meeting. And He has promised us, whenever we hit our knees, He's there listening to us. How privileged is that?

The holy convocation is His call, His summons, this is His time. We appear before Him in court. We hear this in opening and closing prayer all the time, Jesus Christ at His right hand, sitting before Him in court. All the 24 elders surrounded… and worshiping Him. You know, Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 5, "When you go to the house of God, don't offer the sacrifice of fools." The holy convocation is God's agenda, not ours. And we need to focus on that. There's something deeper in this day.

Let's go on. "On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. 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,” or a solemn assembly, depending on which translation you have. I have the New King James, “…a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it."

In Deuteronomy 6, I'm sorry Deuteronomy 16:8, this “solemn assembly” the same Hebrew word is atsarah, spelled A-T-S-A-R-A-H. atsarah is also made in reference to the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Those are the only two days that are called atsarah, that are a solemn sacred assembly. Now, verse 39, "Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have a gathering 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.”

All right, now, why is it called the Eighth Day? What's it the Eighth Day of? It's joined to the Feast in that way. It is a separate Holy Day, separate holy convocation, a solemn assembly. And again, the Last Day of Unleavened Bread is the same thing. What's that mean? Why? Well, solemn assembly refers to a sobering process. Okay, you've just celebrated for an entire week, I don't want to see another steak for at least three weeks. And we've been partying, basically, celebrating a time that has not yet come.

On the Eighth Day, he says, "Okay. Sober up. All right. Let's now… we're going back out into the world and we have this preparation to do. This is serious now. It isn't here yet, we need to focus on it.” Same thing with the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. You're kind of cocooned in this avoidance of leavening which typified sin, but now we're going back out into the world, and we're preparing for a time to celebrate that Feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit will be given, sober up. Focus on what lies ahead. Recognize the responsibility that you have for the privilege that you've been given.

In Hebrews 9:27, this sobering process is very very bold. Hebrews 9:27 says, "Every man will die, but afterward judgment." What? After dying, judgment? Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15. We'll try to summarize an extensive plan that we've heard a lot about this past week. 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, here we see a plan unfolding for those who having once died now move into judgment. 1 Corinthians 15:20, "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” As we heard in Mr. Moss’s sermonette, previously.

Verse 23, "But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterwards those who are Christ's at His coming." This is the first resurrection, “the better resurrection,” as it's referred to in Revelation 20. These are those who are working, in this age, to prepare, be given God's Spirit, His Holy Word, changing their character, growing in the mind of God and living His way of life, so they can teach it to those who will have their opportunity afterward. And verse 24 mentions that "Then comes the end,” but it's not an end like most human beings know the word "end." "Then comes the end, when He delivers the Kingdom of God to the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and all power. For He must reign until He's put all enemies under His feet. And the last enemy that will be destroyed is death." An end to the end. Is that all there is?

Let's go to Revelation 20 here. We mentioned verses 4-6, I think that was touched on by Mr. Shabi earlier in the Feast, maybe the opening day. So we'll start in verse 7. References to 1-6 talks about, you know, the first resurrection those who are resurrected at Christ's return. And let's start reading through on verse 7 here. This describes now the second and third resurrections, which is more about what this Eighth Day is about.

Revelation 20:7, "Now when the thousand years have expired..." Notice the time frame there, this is after the Millennium. This is beyond that point in time when the Millennium ends. “…Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together… whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet..." You'll you notice the word "are" there is actually in italics if you have the right translation. It actually means "were cast", they were cast there. "And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

Then and now after this war, it's interesting that the Millennium, which is a time of peace, begins with a war, at Christ's return, and ends with a war, when Satan is brought back and a huge part of the world is sent to destroy or try to destroy the holy city. Verse 11 now, we get into what happens after this. "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened." It's a reference to the Scriptures, “…And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life." Individuals who were obeying those scriptures, and preparing for this point in time, and overcome as we're instructed to do. "And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books."

These are individuals who have not had their opportunity yet. They will have their opportunity, just as we have, to live by those books. The process is no different. They will have to go through repentance and faith. They will have to be baptized. They're resurrected to a physical life. They will have their hands laid upon them, and the Holy Spirit imparted to them. They'll have to live, going forward, mindful of the resurrection and mindful of the judgment they are under. That's the way we live now. That's the way they'll have to live then.

Verse 13, "The sea gave up its dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them." This is the third resurrection. These are all the individuals. And this is not a good resurrection. These are the individuals that had their opportunity, both now and in that time in the future that we call the Great White Throne Judgment, which Isaiah 65:20, traditionally we have turned to, to kind of help us to understand how long that is. We believe it may be 100 years long, but that's our interpretation, our understanding of it.

They will have that period of time to live God's way of life. This resurrection of the individuals who've been presented that way of life and have rejected it, “…and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who are within them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." In this plan, as we see this time of it ending, which is… I think in a moment we'll see that's really not the right word. There may not be a correct word for it. Tens of billions who have died, and never knew God, will be resurrected to physical life, to learn God's way of life. This is the second resurrection, verses 11 and 12.

Each will have a period of time and be judged by their works apart… not apart from knowing God, but understanding God through Christ. And they will be judged by how they live by His word. In 2 [1] Timothy 2:4, we read this statement, "God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." That "all" is a serious word. That means all, everyone who has ever lived, every human being, they will be able to choose God's way of life. They will have that opportunity that they did not have in this age. And the vast majority will choose that way, but not all will. The physical end of those multitudes, who embrace God's way of life, embrace that opportunity that they've been offered, that we have now, will be given eternal life. That will be the reward in the family of God forever.

Knowing our part in this and helping them reach that, based on our experiences during our calling, our opportunity in this age is pretty sobering. That even though we rejoice on this day, looking forward, we recognize our sobering part in it now. But the end of the few individuals who reject this opportunity, to walk with God, to be part of His family, will be the same as all others who have done the same in this age, eternal death in the lake of fire. This is verses 13 through 15. And this is the third resurrection.

This is the plan of God, and this is the end God has in mind and has had in mind since the beginning. He designed it into His Holy Day pattern, as an annual reminder to us to keep those Holy Days. Those who do not, don't understand this. Here's my question though, is this the end? Let's look at a pattern. Let's look at our own pattern. What has been God's pattern with us and our conversion process? It provides us a fore type of knowing how God will work with those who will be given this opportunity after us. The end of life in the flesh is the beginning of life in the spirit. And this is what we experience right now.

There was an end to our life, that we've all experienced, those who've gone through this process, anyway. Romans 6. Romans 6 we'll begin reading in verse 3 and we'll read through verse 9. "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" We died with Him. When I counsel people for baptism, I tell them... When they show up at my house or we're in some hotel or we're in a very cold creek. Usually, I try to find somebody, an assistant to go with, who will enter cold creeks so I can stay dry and warm outside. Had that experience a number of times.

Early on though, I was the one that went into the cold creeks. In either case, I tell them before we go in, you're dying today. You, this is your death. This is where it ends for you. Make sure they understand that. Make sure that they understand there's a complete separation from the life they previously lived. I don't care if they were… you know, grew up in the Church or whether they're brand new, it doesn't matter, the conversion process is the same. It's a complete separation from what went behind, it's a complete forward look into what is ahead.

Verse 3 again. "Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been unified together in the likeness of His death, certainly, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."

If we think of it that way, when Christ said we are to carry our cross, pick up your cross, deny yourself, and walk with Him. When you're picking up your cross, there should be the old man on it. That's what we carry through the rest of this life. We fight it every moment, that old man. And quite often we see he somehow got off that cross and we got to put him back there again. That's the burden that we carry in this life. It's not the way of God. Christ said, "That's not a burden." His way is not a burden. We are our own burden. We have to learn how to separate from that.

Verse 7, "For he who has died has been freed from sin. And now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him." That end is not our end. In fact, if we do this right, we have no end.

Let's look at Colossians 3. This is the other place I like to go to on the night or the day of someone's baptism as that talks about the death that we go through which repentance and faith led us to, and then we receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit. The end of the old self was the beginning of a new life. The conversion process is the beginning of a new life. So, in effect, that end is not an end, it's a new beginning.

Colossians 3 now. This talks about how we are supposed to live once that new beginning is realized and understood and begins to be lived. Colossians 3, let's read this fairly quickly but verses 1 through 17, it's all relative. "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God." Our mind is on things above. That's where it should be at today. Spiritual things, the plan of God, our part in it, and why that's so important for us when we leave this place to take with us. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” That ended, "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." That's that first resurrection. "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."

We heard Mr. Shabi talking about some of these yesterday. “Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them." We don't live in them anymore. "But now you yourselves are to put off these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all."

We're going back to a world that's defined like this. We're not absorbed in it, we can't be. God says, "Don't take them out of the world." Christ said "Don't take him out of the world, keep him from the evil one." That's what defines that new life. And this day, this Eighth Day, gives us that picture, that encouragement of knowing there's a new beginning for everyone that's just like the new beginnings we went through. Verse 12, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering."

You remember Mr. Kubik said this is not about things. The temptation of the Feast of Tabernacles is to focus on things: what we want to do, what we want to eat, where we want to go, what we want to see, activities, touring, balloon rides. Not that any of those things are wrong, but if we prioritize the things over the relationships, we're missing everything. Relationships trump things, not only here, but in our lives. This practice that we've had of building those kinds of relationships this week should direct us throughout our lives after we leave here.

Verse 13, "bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love,” relationships "which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…”

I've really appreciated the music this week, I think we all have. But not necessarily because it was perfectly done, we have the blessing of having wonderful musicians here. The beauty in this music was its direction. They weren't doing it to entertain us, they were representing us in a sacrifice of praise to God. And what a sacrifice. Some of them have been studying their instruments since they were one, two, three, four years old. Others voice training and so on. Choir practice, not just this week, but throughout their lives, to be able to do that for those of us who don't have those kinds of gifts, on our behalf to praise God. That's what was so beautiful about it. That's what made it special.

Notice the direction here, “…in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." It's not just a show, this is an expression of the heart. Verse 17, "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him". This is what we've learned here. This is what we must take with us. The new life we received after baptism is now lived by the power of God's Holy Spirit in us, in anticipation of our resurrection, and living under God's judgment in this age now. Every human will have a chance to experience this new beginning.

The Millennium that we anticipate, that thousand-year period, that we just celebrated and worked on preparing for, is temporary. It is designed to end, but it ends in a new beginning, so does God's Feast. Took me some time to understand this better, to look forward to the end. But when you recognize it is a new beginning, it changes everything. Each of these end, the Millennium and the Feast, but our reward is eternal. It's forever, it never ends. And with each passing Holy Day cycle, we get continually closer to it. But sometimes I think we miss the reward. Like that prodigal son, we see it from the perspective of our physical surroundings, and the blessings we may have to celebrate with during this eight-day period. It's so much deeper than that.

Let's go back to John 17:1-3. John here... Christ is praying to His Father at the end of that Passover, just a day before He was He was murdered. Verses 1 through 3, John 17. Listen to how He phrases this, and this escapes the physical mind. I'm sure this is something, even Solomon with all of his wisdom would have missed. "Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said…" He's talking to God the Father here. "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You."

Is that our approach? Is that why we do what we do in this age? That's one of those questions we should be asking ourselves in this coming year, and for the rest of our lives. As God has glorified us, to place His presence within us, do we set our lives about glorifying Him? Verse 2, "as you have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him." This is the reward, life eternal, forever living in the family of God going forward.

Verse 3, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You…” just let that sink in, “…the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." If our reward is eternity, and it is, and eternity is knowing God and it is, then our reward is knowing God. Do we see that when we came… when we came to this Feast? It's hard for me to say this, but in 35 Feasts the majority of those, I didn't get that.

The privilege of being here is learning about God. The privilege of leaving here with what we know is knowing God every day of our lives. We've heard a lot of messages about how God dwells in His temple. My backup message, after I heard Dan Dowd's message on the first day... I was assigned to do the backup sermon in case anybody got sick… and I'm glad nobody got sick. There's still one more, Mr. Teitgen, so please stay healthy for this afternoon. But it was all about how the glory of God fills His temple.

Now, that's not just collective, don't just think of that as a group of people together, right? That was Israel. Every one of us made an individual commitment to God. So each one of us, individually, is the temple of God's Holy Spirit. Mr. Dowd talked about that. And every aspect of that temple design, every instrument that was in that temple is typified. It's a type of us, as individuals. I mean, think about this, what was in the ark of the Covenant? God's Law, which was the heart of the temple. That's what needs to be in our hearts, God's Law. It's written on our hearts. What was on top of the ark of the Covenant? Was a mercy seat, which is the symbol of God's authority and power. That's what we commit to in our heart, God's authority in power. And that veil was split in two by Christ. We have access to Christ into the holy of holies, which should be residing in us.

And then, that the Holy Place or the tabernacle of meeting, think of all the symbolism that's in that, study through this. The showbread, who's the Bread of Life? What about the candlestick? Aren't oil and fire symbols of the Holy Spirit, that lead us into all truth and light our path? What else was in there? Table of incense, constantly burning, never ending prayer. Prayer never ceasing. And another gateway door going into it, that was opened for us. And then outside, the laver where we are cleansed and the places where the sacrifices are made.

Romans 12:1, we offer ourselves a "living sacrifice" describes each of us. And again, not just collectively, this is individual accountability, to be the very dwelling place of God. This is what we've been assigned to teach, and we have to prepare for it. We have to understand the nature of this reward. As we grow closer to truly knowing God, we grow closer to our reward of eternal life, and this is our glory. Turn with me please to Jeremiah 9.

Jeremiah 9:23-24, "Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, righteousness in the earth. For in these, I delight.’” Notice how He describes Himself with such attributes of character. Same thing happened when Moses asked to see His glory.

I mean, Moses was actually covered so he couldn't see His face, as the Logos, the Word of God who became Christ, walked by Him. But all of those attributes, some of them are mentioned right here, He describes to Him as He walks by. And as Moses just sees His backside, he's hearing all these qualities of character. That's why this is not an image-based belief, it's not about pictures. It's not about what we see. It's why we don't have multimedia presentations trying to describe to you who God is. God is described here. And this is what needs to be in here, not visions, not pictures. Those are distracting. They shallow out our ability to know God.

Be careful of the movies that you go to, that depict Christ in whatever scene, because that will lock into your brain, and that's how you'll see Him in prayer. See Him here first. Try to make that exclusive, if you can. The great reward of knowing God's Holy Days is knowing God. And as He is eternal, we will have no end. I watched a documentary recently. You can find it on Netflix although I can't remember the name of it, I was looking it up. It had to do with Einstein's theory of relativity.

Recently, physicists and cosmologists... I almost called them cosmetology guys, because hair has everything to do with the universe, that's why God counts all our hairs. No. Two of the world's leading physicists and cosmologists were trying to build on Einstein's theory of relativity, and they've come to question light as the universal unchanging constant. You know the formula, E=MC2, energy equals mass times a constant square. Well, Einstein almost reluctantly put in light, or the speed of light, as the constant because he didn't have enough information of how light traveled throughout the universe and how things would affect it going forward.

Now, learning gravity's effect, these new physicists are recognizing that the speed of light throughout the universe it changes, it's different. Gravity has an effect on it. Black holes can pull it, slow it down. Other things can happen. So if we're learning more about the universe around us, through telescopes and all these other things that Einstein didn't have a hand to or be able to use, he recognized that if we put in the speed of light, that that needed to be evaluated, and that's what they were doing. So these physicists are now questioning the theory of a single big bang, which is based on a lot of physics that came from Einstein's theory.

So many today assume that that big bang theory, which is what science produces… doesn't produce facts, it produces theories, hypotheses that get challenged and that's what they were doing. They assumed, and this makes sense, they said that one big bang would push all things away. So if there was a big huge explosion at the beginning of the universe, and everything was being pushed away, a couple of things would happen that they're not seeing. First off, this would leave a huge hole in the universe, an expanding void at the center that just isn't there. They don't see that anywhere.

The second thing is, they would see an ever expanding universe but a universe that is slowing down because after the initial burst it would then slow down, as it got further and further away from that core. They're not seeing that either. Now, thinking is now moving away from a single big bang, to an ongoing endless cycle of bangs. And that struck me because I thought "Isn't this how an eternal Creator would create?" An endless cycle of bangs, a constant pulse of new beginnings. New beginnings, at the core of the universe, an ever growing never ending universe.

Now, this is all theory, speculation, and science but someone with, you know, with the framework of God's Holy Days and His plans and knowing God, wouldn't this be how He would design? I thought it was a lot of truth in it. If this theory is true, this pulse of ongoing creation may help us understand a prophecy that is found in these fall Holy Days for most of our recent history. I was asked this question once, Isaiah 9:6-7, and I couldn't answer the question.

Let's read this verse. Isaiah 9:6-7, "For unto us a Child is born..." references to Christ, "unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His Kingdom, to order and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." No end.

The Eternal God is Creator, and so is Jesus Christ. They are beginners. They are initiators, not enders. They're not about demolishing things. They only work through endings to bring about new beginnings. This Eighth Day can seem to be an ending to us because we're all going home after this, but it's not an ending. The Eighth Day is God's annual promise of a new beginning. Let me say that again, the Eighth Day is God's annual promise of a new beginning.

Now, let's go to finish reading Revelation 21:1-7. And I have never been able to read this or sing it without getting choked up, so I'm going through another practice of it. Revelation 21:1 "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea." This is beyond what we consider to be the end but it is actually defining a new beginning. "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." We heard that at the beginning, in the special music that we heard at the beginning of the service.

Verse 3, "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done!’” It has ended, it is over. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and He shall be My son.”

We can only see dimly beyond the end of the plan of God. But when we keep in mind this new beginning for all humanity, from our beginning, in this age, the more likely we will live our lives worthy of being there. Brethren, tonight we will all leave Steamboat Springs because God will remove His name from this place, and we will all go back to our homes. But in this celebration of His Eighth Day, He gives us the encouragement we need to continue our preparation, from our new beginning in this age, to the new beginning that all humanity will have in the next. To be personally selected by God for this is indeed a joyful privilege, but it's also a sobering responsibility, and that frames this Eighth Day. Let's allow what this Last Great Day reveals to frame our lives in our continuing preparation over the coming year, and let it enable us to grow worthy of knowing the end from the beginning.