Holy Days Keep Us Focused

Introduction – In a little over four weeks, we will be entering another fall Festival season.

How much are we looking forward to the fall Holy Days?

Why are God’s Holy Days so important?

What kind of problems and pressures have you been through the past year?

I ask this question because there is a connection between that and the previous question.

NLT 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, 16-18  We continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke."  14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 

16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  17 For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  18 So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

The hope of eternal life in the family of God is the focal point of God’s plan that enables us to continue enduring all the hardships of physical life.

NKJ Luke 21:34-36 But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 ¶ "For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."

The grammatical form of both verbs, “take heed” & “watch” indicates not just a one-time event but an ongoing process.

Vigilance and focus are two separate but related qualities we need in order to navigate the trials and tribulations of life and stay on course to eternal life.

Vigilance = remaining alert to the dangers

Focus = looking to God and His promises to see us through the difficulties

It is possible to become virtually swallowed up by our environment to the extent that all we can see are the problems and pressures.

Some will remain vigilant, many, including most of the world, will not.

Why? Because they are so wrapped up in the pressures and problems of life.

SPS – God’s Holy Days help us remain vigilant and focused on the plan of God.

Spring Holy Days = individual focus – on Christ’s sacrifice for us

Pentecost – church focus = Holy Spirit, NT Church, Firstfruits

Fall Holy Days = international focus – other aspects extended to the entire world

Trumpets = return of Christ (turning point in history – middle of Holy Days)

Atonement =  atonement of nation of Israel & eventually all mankind

Tabernacles = God’s law extended to the entire world

8th Day = other aspects extended to all who have lived and died

NIV Hebrews 6:17-19 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

An anchor prevents drifting off course.

Likewise, the Holy Days keep us on the path of God’s plan.

The Holy Days remind us of, focus & strengthen our hope (future destiny).

QUOTE ‑ Feasts of Jehovah by John Ritchie p 9-10: “The Feasts of Jehovah all pointed onward to subjects of eternal interest … which in due time and order, were to take their places in that marvelous chain of events which, when completed, will show the infinite wisdom and love of God, in all His purpose of grace toward the sons of men. They are each ‘a shadow of things to come,’ of which Christ is the body (Col. 2:17), foreshadowing … great events of the future, part of which have since been fulfilled, and part of which are yet to be.”

NRS 1 Corinthians 15:19-22 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 ¶ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.

Focusing on the hope of eternal life is what keeps us going when the going is tough.

“When the going gets tough, the tough keep going.”

That toughness is not just because of some internal toughness of our own, but the motivation of the goal of eternal life.

NIV Romans 8:18-22 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Only someone who is focused on the goal of eternal life could make such a statement.

19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Paul understood about the firstfruits.

We keep going in anticipation of being delivered from “the bondage of corruption.”

We know the truth of the resurrection is the solution to our “groaning.”

 

NIV Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

We keep going in anticipation of being delivered from “the bondage of corruption.”

Colossians 2:16-17 The festivals, new moons and Sabbaths … are a shadow of things to come.

The Holy Days are like stepping stones that keep us focused on God's plan or trail markers to keep us on the path to eternal life by providing an annual review of historical stages of God's plan of salvation.

Passover = forgiveness of sin via Christ our Passover sacrificed for us

Days of UB = deliverance from/coming out of/putting out sin

Pentecost = coming of the Holy Spirit, NT Church, spiritual firstfruits

Trumpets = return of Christ at 7th trumpet

Atonement = putting away Satan, world becoming at one with God

Tabernacles = millennial rule of Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God

8th Day = second/general resurrection of all mankind

Hebrews 6: 4‑5 says, “We have tasted of the good word of God and “the powers of the age to come.” How?

Pentecost = taste of firstfruits of Holy Spirit, reminder of our calling.

Why are we called first?

We must rise above the values and focus of this world and be ever-mindful of the world to come, which we are destined to help bring about.

FT offers a foretaste of that world

The other 2 fall Holy days (Trumpets & Atonement) remind us of events that must take place before the “wonderful world tomorrow” can become a reality.

NKJ Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD.

The Sabbath & new moons will be kept in WT by all nations.

We will be some of the teachers to help these people learn the plan & laws of God.

NLT Isaiah 30:20-21 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. 21 Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, "This is the way you should go," whether to the right or to the left.

 Zechariah 14:16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

All nations will worship the LORD by keeping FT.

We may be helping coordinate and conduct these Holy Day observances.

We need to recapture, renew and maintain the vision hope provided by the Fall Holy Days—for our sakes and for the sake of a world suffering the birth pangs of deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.

“The whole wide world is waiting for the sunrise” (song lyrics).

“The whole wide world is waiting for the saints to rise from the dead.”

NIV Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Faithfully observing God’s Holy Days will help us to hold onto that hope.

A change of environment can help us maintain/regain our focus.

The Feast of Tabernacles affords us that blessing for 8 days a year.

NRS 1 John 3:1-3 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

“behold” = (a) see 24.1  (b) pay attention to 30.45  (c)  understand 32.11 (f) learn about   (Louw-Nida lexicon) 

 “purifies” = make morally pure (same root as “holy”) – also progressive

 “And everyone who has this hope continually set on Him is constantly purifying himself just as that One is pure” (Wuest).

NRS Colossians 3:1-4 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

“The things above be constantly seeking.… The things above be constantly setting your mind upon, not things on the earth” (The New Testament, an Expanded Translation by Kenneth Wuest).

like periodically setting clock that needs resetting

We need to be constantly resetting our minds on the things above for the same reasons.

Over time our spiritual mechanisms get out of adjustment.

This is why we have 7 Holy Days every year – to help us constantly maintain our focus.

God mercifully foresaw the need for these ongoing opportunities to focus on His plan.

Conclusion – Thank God for his gracious calling and the precious knowledge imparted by His Holy Days.

We have the opportunity in this life to observe God’s Holy Days to learn about, review and rehearse key aspects of His plan and to help us refocus and set our minds on these spiritual truths.

Let’s be sure we always appreciate these unique blessings and use them for the purpose God has given them to us – to keep us focused on His great master plan and our part in it;

And to keep us from getting bogged down or discouraged by the pains, problems and trials of this temporary physical existence by keeping our vision focused on eternal life in the Kingdom of God,

and the opportunity of helping to bring this message of hope to a suffering world

and having a part in administering the benefits and blessings of God’s law to ultimately all mankind (portrayed by Feast of Tabernacles), beginning at the return of Christ portrayed by the Feast of Trumpets).

I will ask again the questions that I posed at the beginning of the sermon, and I trust that you will know why I asked them and what the answers are.

What kind of problems and pressures have you been through the past year?

Why are God’s Holy Days so important?

How much are we looking forward to the fall Holy Days?

The words of the Apostle Paul in Acts 18:21 should be how we look forward to the Feast, "I must by all means keep this coming feast….

This should be our motto and heart’s desire every festival season.

Let’s be sure to prepare our minds and hearts to benefit fully from the Fall Festival season so that by keeping the Holy Days, we will remain vigilant and focused on God’s plan and actively preparing to fulfill our destiny in the family of God.