God's Plan For His Family

Ronald Weinland

October 21, 2005

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon

The title of today's sermon says so very much. The content of what we will be covering tells an age-long purpose, if you will, that Almighty God has had for His family, and how that family will come to be, to exist.

It's an awesome thing, understanding (as God lets us grow more and more), understanding how He works with us as human beings. And it's an awesome thing, the process we go through. And although we know a lot of that process, God enhances that, magnifies it. We're able to build upon things as we go along, and certainly we're able to do that as a result of this Feast here.

I've talked to different ones here and think about Passover and the seasons that are coming in the following year, and they'll just have a little more richness than what they've had before, a little deeper appreciation and gratitude and understanding. But still building upon the very things we've always had.

It's just something that we grow in, in a relationship with God as He helps us to draw closer to Him. And a lot of it has to do with appreciation. The more we really see God, the more we see ourselves and are in awe of what He's doing, the more thankful we are, the more a love is able to grow and develop within us, and a maturing process that God so longs for and works for as He molds and fashions us.

The sermon today is entitled, God's Plan For His Family.

Although we've been skirting around this and discussing it in part, today we're going to have a special focus. This is very much, again, about what God has been doing, is doing, and will continue to do to bring about the beginning of the fulfilment of His family, which will first become manifest when Jesus Christ comes back to this earth with 144,000.

I keep mentioning this day after day because we need to understand that we're focusing very deeply on a specific area of scripture and things that God wants us to. And that's about Him and His Son, and yet it has everything to do with God's Kingdom, with His family, with the beginning of a millennial period, and throughout the millennial period, and beyond until the Last Great Day. Those things we are picturing here at the Feast of Tabernacles, and then on the Last Great Day.

With that which we have received thus far at this Feast, let's go forward and build upon what God has given us. Let's step back now and look at what God has been doing from the very beginning as He reveals His purpose for the creation of mankind.

Let's begin back in Isaiah 45; begin here today because it's said in so many places in different ways, but again, so very clear once we can see it, once we begin to see it. So let's follow His story as He reveals it to us today. We'll begin again at a point where He is speaking of a specific time when dealing with Israel. So in this specific time long ago when He was dealing with Israel, these are His words.

Isaiah 45:5—I am Yahweh, "I am the Eternal," and there is none else. "There is none else." There is no God beside Me. And that word is "Elohim." There is no God beside Me. And when we more fully understand the translation... There are some things, brethren, that are just difficult. There was no one else, just the Eternal, Elohim. That's His name. We're going to carry various names with Elohim. Whatever our name will be, we will bear the name Elohim – all of us, because it's a family name. It's a uni-plural word.

I girded you though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside Me. I am Yahweh (the Eternal) and there is none else. Powerful words, very clear words in what is being said. And we'll see that even more today magnified, continuing to be magnified and built upon.

I was having a conversation here this morning about everything in scripture agrees with every other scripture. There's nothing that doesn't agree in God's word. If it does, there's something wrong. And the more we learn, the more we grow, the more it comes into agreement. And so, what you read in one area that becomes clear, it corresponds throughout all the rest of the scriptures in the Bible. It's an awesome thing to understand about God, the purity, the clarity.

Let's go back to the time of Moses when God first determined to bring Israel out of Egypt. Going back there because we have looked at some of this but let's zero in on it a little more deeply, a little more clearly. Because our focus at that time, it was a little bit different.

But let's notice this, Exodus 3:13—And Moses said unto Elohim. That's the word, "God." "Said unto God," Elohim. Now, we did cover this scripture in the first sermon, but we did not focus on this word being a uni-plural as a family, and is the word for, the way we can understand it in our language, the Family of God, the Kingdom of God.

And I think of what they told me when they translated the book into Dutch, and the other day when they were discussing about the word "rejoice,” and that there isn't a single word, in that respect, that captures exactly the same thing in English as when we say "rejoice."

And I marvel at that because that's the way languages are. There are sometimes certain countries, certain peoples have a word that, because of their upbringing, because of what they've lived, they just use one word, and they understand it. But someone else to understand exactly what it is, that expresses more of whatever, the emotion, in this particular case, the intent and spirit, they may have to use phrase or a sentence to really describe adequately what is the intent and what is really, truly being said.

And this is one of those that is really kind of difficult in the English language. You know, Mr. Armstrong used to talk about it as a family name, and yet for us that can begin to be a beginning of an understanding. Because it's hard for us in English. How is it that Moses was addressing Elohim? How do you address a family? But that was God's name. And they understood something by the word that we don't really grasp in the same way.

So, the best we can do, in essence, is saying "the God Family" or "the Family of God," or the one. You know, they understood a little bit more with that, obviously. It's difficult. It truly is. But it is the word "Elohim," and it is a uni-plural word.

And, you know, if someone says they spoke to "Smith"; well, now if they know what Smith they're talking about, there are a lot of Smiths in the world. You know, "I was talking to Smith." But if a group were talking, they would know, obviously, if they didn't mention the first name, who it was in that family. And this is the way it was in kind, in type, if you will, or in reality for them. They knew who it was that they were talking about. There was no mystery in it.

But let's go on. Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the Elohim of your fathers, God, "the God of your fathers" has sent me unto you; and they shall say, What is His name? That was this comeback. Because if you were to say something about, you know, "I was talking to Smith," and somebody was standing there and says, "Well, what Smith? What is his name? What are you talking about?" This is in like manner, brethren, because it had to do with a specific name that's a uni-plural name. They want it to be a little more specific, "Well what is His name?" And what shall I say unto them?

Verse 14—Let's go on. And God (Elohim) said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM. And He said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me unto you. And Elohim said, moreover unto Moses, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, and tell them... Tell them that "I AM." That "I AM," in essence, "the Elohim." That's all there was.

And He goes on to say, Thus shall you say to them, give them more, The Yahweh God. See, this is His name. "The Yahweh Elohim." That is God's name, very uniquely so. He revealed Himself as it told about earlier to Abraham and others there, his children, lineage for a time, as El Shaddai Elohim. "I am El Shaddai."

But here, when we came to this point in time, we recognised He started adding a little bit more, a personal relationship, and it didn't just describe something here about what He was doing or a part of what He is, it was His name. It is His name. Yahweh Elohim. And so, when we have a last name there can be many with the same last name, but when you zero in on a specific individual there is a singular name for them (or multiple names). We know, we have middle names, some people have three or four beginning names that describe who they are.

So, tell them the Yahweh Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob has sent me unto you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial unto all generations. It's God's very specific name. So, very clearly God Almighty made it clear that He alone was God and that there was no other Elohim but Him, and that He was Yahweh Elohim.

That's what we just read, brethren. That's what it's talking about. That's what it says.

So in our past, sometimes brethren have been confused as to who created all things, and that was due to not understanding some of the scriptures in the New Testament, which we're going to cover later as we continue on, a little more deeply. We've touched upon some of these.

But let's simply continue with the story from the beginning of creation. Let's go back there. I should have had you stay there. Isaiah 45, again, and read a little bit more of the story. Over and over again as we went through some things in the New Testament, over and over again Jesus Christ referred to certain Old Testament scriptures that made it clear about his Father. Peter did, Paul did, and all in agreement with each other, obviously.

Isaiah 45:5—I am Yahweh and there is none else, there is no Elohim beside Me. I girded you though you have not known Me. That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me. I am Yahweh, and there is none else.

Let's read further. Verse 18—For thus says Yahweh that created the heavens. Yahweh did the creating! Over and over again scriptures in the New Testament agree with that, if we go back and see who it was that it's referring to in context. God created all, as we talked about yesterday.

For thus says the Yahweh that created the heavens; Elohim Himself – at this time there were no others, it was Yahweh Elohim who did it –that formed the earth and made it; He has established it; He created it not in vain. Beautiful verses here. It wasn't in “tohu,” as it is in Hebrew – in other words, in confusion and without form. It says here, God made it very clear "I didn't create it that way." It was beautiful when God first created it, the universe and the things in the universe, until, as we know, in history, Satan came along and there was a great rebellion and the very things that happened to this earth, that destroyed things upon this earth, destroyed things that had been here, put things out of kilter, as far as orbit and everything else.

It's going to be interesting, brethren, when more of those things are made clear. A battle that began, power that began to be unleashed to destroy God's creation, And God only let it go so far.

And so it says, He, speaking of Yahweh Elohim, created it not in vain; He formed it to be inhabited. But something happened in time where it couldn't be inhabited. God had a purpose of putting mankind on the earth. It's amazing. I just am in awe sometimes to think that a spirit being who was filled with such a mind and power and given such glory could have such distortion of thinking to think that he could foil God's purpose and God's plan. He clearly didn't really grasp the depth of the magnitude of the One who created him. Truly. Such a distorted, perverted mind.

I marvel sometimes what happens to us, and what can, and what we went through, and others when they leave this way of life, when they begin to be attracted to something else away from God. You think, "How?" And sometimes people try to understand their thinking. You can't understand that kind of thinking. There's no way to understand unsoundness of mind; it's just simply unsound.

So again, He created it not in vain; He formed it to be inhabited. I Yahweh; I am Yahweh, I am the Eternal, and there is none else. Over and over and over again. How clear, how meaningful, how powerful that is!

Verse 28—Have you not known, have you not heard that the everlasting Elohim, and there is only one who is the everlasting Elohim. The Eternal, Yahweh. It's what we're being told, very clearly so. There is only one everlasting Elohim – Yahweh.

The Creator of the ends of the earth faints not, neither is weary; there is no searching of His understanding. Beautiful verses, exciting, inspiring. They add to a clarity of the magnificence of the Great God we serve and the power of the Great God and His great purpose for a family that He's had for so, so long.

So many have lost sight of that. It was taught to us so powerfully so, a family.  And yet, with sluggishness and sleepiness, people can begin to lose the magnificence of that purpose that was so long ago, and not understand the desire, the longing for that is so deep in our great God for His family – for us and for others throughout time to eventually have the opportunity of being Elohim – "whatever our name will be" Elohim.

This brings us to a critical focal point in God's plan over the millennia. Let's go to Genesis 2, what's referred to as "the creation week." It's not fully a creation week, but in part we understand it involves creation. It doesn't involve the creation of the earth. It doesn't involve the creation of the sun. It doesn't involve... Well, if you're talking about that seven-day period that took place.

It doesn't involve the creation of the universe and the stars that are out there. God said He created them, and it wasn't in tohu or bohu, chaos and confusion and waste like it became. It became that through time. We know the story. Mr. Armstrong talked about that often. It's here that God sets forth His plan and His purpose for what's been hidden through the ages.

The beginning here in the Bible, in Genesis, tells us what God is doing, tells us where God is going. It's a beginning of a revelation from God to mankind about His purpose and His intent and how He's going to do so much of it. That's what it's there for. Genesis 2, let's start there, and then we'll come back to chapter 1. There's some unique differences here as we begin to see how God reveals various things to us.

Genesis 2:1—Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. Now, this is speaking of this particular period of time, that seven-day period when God created all the plants and all the life that we see on the earth, when He separated the firmament that was already here, the waters that were already here, the sky, to make it clear, to set things in the rotation, as He went through in Genesis 1 there, as He did all those things and then began to put life back on the earth so it could be inhabited, you know, by life. Because He had to go through a process there to make things right again so that life could exist – oxygen, various things that had to be here – the ability...

Well, let's go on. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. All that He created, the flying (that which flies), that which is in the sea that lives there, the plant life, the animal life, and man, mankind.

And on the seventh-day Elohim ended His work. It's very specific. There was no other Elohim. There was no other. There was only one. There was no one else in the family. And He ended "His work" – singular – which He made. He made it very clear He was the only one in the family. And so He did this. "His," singular.

And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. He did it! The God, as it says, And God, as it says here in verse 3, Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. He set apart the seventh day from the very beginning. Everything that happens here in the first couple of chapters set the pace for everything else that's going to come to pass in time. And God reveals, then, where He is going and why this is being done. It's a beautiful beginning.

And so, He sets apart the seventh day and He blesses the seventh-day, sanctifies it. That means "set it apart."  Sanctify means "to set it apart for holy use and purpose." And so, through time God has worked with His people to do that. That's one of the areas that puts one to the test as to whether or not they truly are going to follow God and be obedient to God and love God.

Because if one will not do what God tells them to do on the Sabbath, which is more than just refraining from work on the seventh day, especially for the Church and the way God has worked with His Church. It's far more than that. God uses it to teach His people, to mold and fashion His people, to communicate with them in a way that you cannot be communicated with the other days of the week.

You can do things during the other days of the week, and you can study, and you can brush up on things, and you pray to your God and so forth, but that which God gives from Sabbath to Sabbath to Sabbath is essential, is needed for spiritual growth. Otherwise, we become weak. Otherwise, we begin to lose life within us. Because that's how God works. And so He set apart the seventh day, the Sabbath day, to lead and guide and direct His people, to teach them about Himself.

The world is… Satan is no different in what he's done. He used a different day of the week to teach people about him, about that which is false. That's when they come together. That's when they're taught, as a whole. That's the day they make different from the other days of the week, especially here in the south. Little bit different than what it is in the north. You might find some things that you can't buy on the first day of the week, or there are some places that stay closed longer. That's changing though with greed, you know, with time, because they know they're missing out on something – money!

And so, God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it, He rested from all His work which Elohim created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh Elohim made the heavens and the earth (the earth and the heavens). See?

Now, this is talking about a specific period of time here. It said earlier in Isaiah that He made it all and He didn't make it in tohu. And this is talking about a specific seven-day period because there are things He had to do with the heavens, this very system that we have of the planets that rotate and the moon and the sun and the earth, to put things in a proper orbit, in a proper way that He intended for it to be from the very beginning, which was thwarted, in part, because God allowed it to take place. And then God came along in His time and redid and did what He wanted to do, because now it was time to begin fulfilling a greater purpose He had – His family.

Verse 7—And Yahweh Elohim (the Eternal God) formed man of the dust of the ground. So who made him? Yahweh Elohim. It's very specific. God made man. God made mankind. ...and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (living life). And Yahweh Elohim (the Eternal God) planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made Yahweh Elohim – over and over and over again it's very specific – made the Eternal God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Verse 15—And Yahweh Elohim (the Eternal God) took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

But God revealed more of His purpose in the first chapter, but it's good that we start here in order to see that it's very specific, so that there is no confusion as to what is being said in the first chapter, because the second chapter adds to it and makes it very clear. Yahweh Elohim; over and over again through the scriptures.

So let's go back now and look at Genesis 1:1—And in the beginning...  So verse 1 is a little bit different than the verses to follow, it's "in a beginning," as we early on are taught in the Church, or have been taught, at least.

In a beginning, Elohim created the heaven and the earth. You know, we read Isaiah, we've read other things that make it very clear that it was Yahweh Elohim that did all this. And this was in the very beginning, whenever that beginning was, whenever God created that which was physical and it says, "and the angels rejoiced for what they saw."

Can't imagine it! There being spirit, spirit that God has the power to create that can see each other, that can communicate with each other, that live in a spirit world – something we really cannot grasp. We don't understand that fully by any measure – with shape and form and things that appear that they see that we cannot. It's beyond... it's something different than physical that we can't grasp.

And then all of a sudden God brought in something that was physical. He created the universe. He brought things into being that were different from the spirit world. And the angels saw it and they rejoiced. It was exciting! I don't know fully why, beyond that which is in the spirit world, but it was exciting to them. God will tell us more and reveal more to us in time. Awesome!

You know, I marvel at the universe, brethren, the things that God has created. I think of sermons in times past talking about some of these things. To grasp, we can't; we can't begin to grasp our Great God. He commands something and it comes into being? And He sustains it by His power? And there is never, there is never one like Yahweh Elohim. Never has been, never will be. The closest is His Son. But there's never been one, brethren, never has been of the magnitude and the glory and the awe of God.

I think of things that are physical out there. I think of things that, you think about something physical like light and how far it travels in a year; you know, the speed of light. I can't understand that, but I enjoy it. It's exciting to read about it, how fast, you know, that light travels and how far it can go in a year, and how many light years, how long, how fast, and how long a light year is. It's big!

And how far some things are away from us even with our own solar system, light years away? Hundreds of light years away? Thousands of light years away? Millions of light years away? To grasp that there can be, depending on when God brought certain things into being, the ability, a reality that certain light 15 billion light years away is just now reaching the earth and it took 15 billion years to get here! I can't comprehend that, but that's true! 15 billion years!

Someone could be out there with their big old telescope, and to think that it's feasibly possible that all of a sudden something would appear that had never been on the earth before because maybe it was 15-20 billion? I don't know! But to grasp the potential, the possibilities of such things? I don't understand that by any measure. I think of some stars out there, brethren. Are we in awe?  God just commands it, and it comes into being.

There's this one star, and I don't remember the constellation, but there's one that if you put our sun, and you just put them side by side by side, you would have to have a hundred of our suns to go from one edge right through the middle through the entire diameter to make up the size of this star.  A hundred of our suns! I don't grasp that! I just know it's got to be real hot! Anyway, the closer you get... Why are they there? How they exist! And God just commands it.

But you know what is greater than that brethren? The most awesome thing in the universe? And it's what God is doing. Because if we can grasp what God is doing with His family on a plane with things that God creates, it is so awesome. Because God commands things to come into existence and they're just there, but He cannot command us to be in His family. He cannot command holy righteous character to dwell in human beings.

We are made this way for a purpose. We resist God. Our nature is made that it resists God, by its very nature, by being physical. And God knew all this. That's why He did it this way, so we could make a choice with righteous judgment, with time. See? Being able to see this mind and be able to choose a different mind, to be able to see the way of get and live it and make a choice and decision on ours that is totally giving because we don't want that way; we see something far richer beyond measure. So, we had to have the both in order to make the choice.

I think of my training. I think of so many I've talked to. I've had to experience a lot of the wrong things in order to become deeply convicted I don't want it and I want what's right, that that's not of God and I don't want it. I don't want that way; I want this way.

How many of you have gone through that in your lives? You don't have to hold up your hand, but, you know, I know you have. You've had to go through hard things, difficult things because it's part of the process where God molds and fashions His mind in you, where He molds and fashions His being in you. It's an awesome thing.

I've always enjoyed it going through and reading when Mr. Armstrong talks about that part, because he does it with such clarity. God gave him such power and strength to explain those kinds of things in such simple terms and they just jump out at you.

But to understand the human mind and how we are and that we resist God; but the universe doesn't, He just says that a certain star should be that great and it's that great, and the orbit of planets and solar systems and galaxies and... So much beyond out there, brethren, and it's created for His family, so long ago. We don't understand it all, but He'll tell us. It'll be exciting and inspiring. And those things that we will do through time that we can't even begin to grasp.

But it all starts right here, on this little, teeny, teeny, teeny little speck in all the universe. And if you look at all the universe, it's a pretty teeny little speck. That's why I marvel at what (we'll look at it in a little bit here), when David looked up in the heavens and he made the comment, "And what is man that You're mindful of him?"

So, by nature we resist God. And God created us this way, physically, for that very purpose, so that we could learn and so that we could make a choice. See?

Genesis 1:1—In a beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And that's it, one verse; it's what God did. We read about it back in Isaiah 45. In the beginning, whenever that beginning was, when the physical earth was created, and the heavens and so forth, God did it. How long was it before He came by again? How long was it before He determined that now it was the time? I don't understand that. Thousands of years? Millions of years?

You know, we have evidence of dinosaurs, of different things out there, we don't even know... There's much we haven't learned about all that yet. But the evidence is all there, things that have happened to this earth, things that baffle scientists – and because they don't really want to believe in God, so they have to try to find some other answers.

But notice verse 2—And the earth was without form, and void. But back in Isaiah 45, it makes it so clear God didn't make it that way. But this is the scene we come upon in Genesis because this is where God begins doing that which He has longed so long, so, so very long to do.

And the earth was without form, and void, tohu and bohu, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. You know, I think of things that the best we can understand some things in stories that have talked about nuclear winters or things that could happen where the sun can't get through to the earth and... But it's far more devastating than that.

And it says, The spirit of Elohim moved upon the face of the waters. And Elohim said, Let there be light: and there was light. You know, the world reads that, and they think, "Here is the beginning, and God's created the earth, and He says, 'Let there be light,' because there wasn't any light before." And it's like He just made the sun. And that's not the way it was here. He did things so that light could come through our atmosphere and touch the earth once again. That's what He did. It wasn't that He was just now creating light in the universe or creating and making the sun. The earth was here. Things were out of kilter, things were not in their proper orbit, but this is what God began to do, this is the story. This is the beginning of something unique. He's getting ready to put His family on the earth in the form of mankind first.

And the spirit of Elohim moved upon the face of the waters. And Elohim said, Let there be light: and there was light. And Elohim saw the light, that it was good, and Elohim divided the light from the darkness. And Elohim called the light, Day, and the darkness He called, Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. You know, things are separated here, proper rotation of the earth, things that once again began to touch the earth so that man, for man's sake.

As a bit of an aside, to learn that God was preparing things from the very beginning that were meant for great purpose in the time to follow; just want to stop here and consider this – verse 14. You can read the rest of the story, things on your own, because it just goes through and tells what He began to do, and began to put life here, certain life and certain life forms that couldn't otherwise be. And if the light didn't come through, if He hadn't had separated the firmament and so forth, the things He talks about, and the waters and all that existed around this earth… He was making it so that He could put life here.

Verse 14—And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs. And there are things that God had intended from the very beginning and made these things possible so they could be seen from (Do we understand?) from our view.

We live on the face of the earth. There are things that God intended for us to have on the face of the earth. It's from the perspective of man walking on the earth, of what we could have. That's what it's all about. It's about His family. These seven days are about His family. What was being done here was all about His family. As a matter of fact, it's all about Elohim, because this is the beginning of it all. It's all about Elohim. That's why it's mentioned over and over and over again; because it's all about Elohim, the Family of God, the God Family and why God is doing all this.

And so He said, Let there be lights in the firmament in the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons and for days and years. There were things that God had to do to have proper orbit, proper telling of time—that's what He's saying—so that from man's vantage point there would be things that would be specific.

We don't know what was happening with the moon at that time. We don't know what was happening with the exact rotation. We don't know how long, how it could be out of kilter and still be there (it's sustained by God), but then God brought it into a certain way for the sake of man, for the sake of human life on the earth.

And I love this verse here when it says that this is a part of what God did by a certain time of rotation of the earth, things about the moon and so forth He set in a proper harmony that He intended for a purpose, for man.

...and for seasons. It's a unique word. "And for seasons." It talks about signs and for days and for years. In other words, we know when a day is. We know when a day is over. God made it so that we could go out, and for us, there's a way to count time. He made it for us so that we can count time. And it leads up to the seventh day, the Sabbath day, so that we know when that day comes. God wants us to know when that day comes. It's set aside for a special use and purpose.

So, we know when the sun goes down and when the sun goes down again. We know the period of time for a day. We're able to count time so that we can know when Passover comes. We can know the Holy Days. We can know this period of time. God set things in motion for great purpose – for His family.

Like to, just as an aside here again, just to show this about Elohim and everything here in the first chapter is about what God is doing and what He's preparing. And this one here, this word here for "seasons," it's a word that means "appointed times." You know, there are appointed times from the very beginning of time. Even the Sabbath, obviously. It's an appointed time. When we read in Genesis 2 there about the Sabbath, that God set it apart special, for holy use and purpose, He sanctified it. He set it apart. And He wants us to set it apart for holy use and purpose. We're to make it holy. Not that we have the power to bless it to make it holy – that's not what that means when it talks about us and our part in it. It means our choice to be in agreement with God. It's for us to do what we must do to set it apart for holy use and purpose as well. It's a yielding to the purpose of God.

I want to go over to Leviticus 23, just as an aside here today, just to think about the very reason we're here today is because of what God did and started to do in Genesis. He had a purpose for mankind to learn about Him. He made the way possible so that we could learn about Him. The Sabbath is one of those so that we could learn about Him Sabbath by Sabbath by Sabbath. But there's more to it than the Sabbath. There are things that God started from the very beginning.

I think of someone who might have even been in this group here. I don't know if it was in Cincinnati or where. One time that went in and talked to an employer, and basically, it was about taking, I think, time off for the Feast. And there was a bit of a discussion there and so forth, and you know how employers can sometimes be; that that's the biggest thing, you know, "This is the most important thing, and you should put this first in your life. And, because if you don't, you may not be here." You know, it's all about the job.

And one time there was an individual made a comment about (because you talk about a certain year and certain appointments or certain things you have to do), and, "Yes, but, this, my appointments have been set up for 6,000 years," in essence. You know, year by year by year.  We know when our appointment is with God. We know. Those are already set. They're set into the future, you know, far beyond anything any company does and sets up and decides they are going to do something in a certain specific time, you know.

Especially good for new people coming along, to understand these things, and for those of you who are younger, to have this deeply embedded in your mind, to recognise what God did from the very beginning and how important these things are to God. Because it's how we learn, it’s how we grow; by our yieldness and obedience to God Almighty.

Leviticus 23:1—And the Eternal spoke unto Moses, saying... So "Yahweh spoke to Moses saying," Speak to the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the feasts. This word is not "feasts" that's used later on. It's the word "appointed times." The same one that's back there in Genesis 1:14.

These are My appointed times. So when did God establish it? He established it in the very seven days! He made it possible so that year by year by year… Week by week by week we know the Sabbath—but year by year by year we know when we are to come before God in obedience to Him, to keep the Passover, to keep the Days of Unleavened Bread, to keep Pentecost, and on and on we go until we come to the Last Great Day, so that we can learn from our God, so that He can mold and fashion us because He desires that we choose Him and that we obey Him and that we set those things apart. And these things are vitally important to God Almighty. That's why the Passover...

You know, I get so perturbed sometimes at how horrible we are with our human minds, especially when we've had the ability by the power of God to see things with God's spirit. The 14th Passover, you know. I know by what we've experienced how important this is to God. Everything is in agreement! And for people to take it beyond in one other day?! It is a hideous thing! It is a sick, perverted thing because everything begins with Passover. Because it's about His Son, Jesus Christ. And that's important to God! That's important to God!

Because if we can't accept those things in the beginning, we can't grow, He can't use us. He can't work with us. He can't mold and fashion us. And people who have known and go aside in those things don't know the magnitude of what they have done. And they're no different from the world then. They become no different than the rest of the world. "Yeah, but isn't it okay because we all keep it on the right day anyway, don't we? On the 14?"

Yeah, but if you really don't believe that your Savior did what he did in entirety between the two evenings, from the beginning to the very end of his life, if you don't believe those things that God said, then in reality it's really no different than what Protestants do in saying, "He was only in the grave for Friday, you know, to..." what they say, "Sunday morning." They don't even get that one. You can't get three days and three nights out of that.

And so people who've been in the environment of the Church make themselves of no difference from those in the Protestant world who have done what they have done. And then they begin to worship a false Christ, a false way, and they don't even understand it. Because it's not God's way. Amazing.

Every once in a while (I want to make sure this is on tape as well, or on the recording here), I get things from people about the moon and the stars and the rotation, and we're maybe two days off on certain years, "Don't you know." Or maybe, "Don't you know you're a month off in counting of time?" Incredible. No, we're not.

So, this is concerning the appointed times of the Eternal; so the Eternal set up these times. When? During the creation, or what we call the seven-day creation week. We understand what that means by its context, by what we've just gone through.

Which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. Convening of His people. Holy because God is in it. Holy because God wants His people to be in it, to be there so they can be further sanctified and set apart for holy use and purpose themselves.

...proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My appointed times. God says they're His. Yahweh says, "These are Mine" for mankind, in order to bring mankind into unity and harmony with Him, into the same mind.

Six days shall work be done: but the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation. So He starts that with the weekly Sabbath. So when the command is to keep the Sabbath, keep the Sabbaths. It's not just about the weekly Sabbath or Sabbaths week by week by week. There is that which is annual, year by year by year as well.

Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation. And so today we convene in spirit with God. There are some today, because of illness or age, are not able to be here as far as a fellowship, but in spirit, in obedience to God they're listening, and being fed by God because they've set apart this time for this purpose, as much as you have by sitting here.

That's why I marvel sometimes when people misuse scripture in Hebrews about fellowship and forsaking assembling ourselves together, and saying, "Well, in order to do that shouldn't I be together with one of the other groups at least, so we can have some fellowship?" How can you have fellowship with individuals who don't have God's spirit in them?! They're asleep! If they're asleep, where's the fellowship?

Because God defines fellowship, in that context, with Him spiritually. It must be of the spirit because God's in it. That's why I love 1 John when it talks about that fellowship. It is a spiritual thing, the ability to have a relationship with God. It's not just having friends and being around people who supposedly are keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days. It goes so far beyond that, brethren, it truly does!

And I know we know that, as a whole. Most of us do. Some might still be learning some of those things. Incredible. And so, yes, if you're the only one out of an area that maybe had 1,500 before, if you're the only one, you can have fellowship with your God. And God's made it possible today to have that in a very unique way, to be in spirit and fellowship with others at the same time.

I remember during the Feast of Tabernacles when Mr Armstrong used to have the satellite hook-ups around the world. You know, we'd have the big screen up front and he'd get up and people in different places would be able to hear him at the same time. Awesome! And the spirit of God that worked in His people. Where they were on the earth didn't restrict that ability to be moved and motivated and inspired by God, see. God was in it and He worked through His people, opened their minds to deeper appreciation and understanding of His plan and purpose. And they were able to grow by that. And they had a fellowship with what was being said because it was spiritual with their Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in heaven.

So, we are so carnal as human beings, so physical. You know, we really are, and we tend to think along physical lines, you know. That's the first thing we see, are things that are physical. And sometimes people's judgment about some of those things can be so harsh, so judgmental, so condemning of others, and they don't even get it, because the things that count to God are of the spirit, of the mind, of the conversion of the mind! It isn't how well we do specific things! It's our attitude toward God and our response toward God that counts.

That's why even in relationships those things are so important, brethren. Our attitude toward God. Do we all make mistakes? You better believe it. Do we all fall? You better believe it. But when we're along the physical lines, the more physical people tend to be the more judgmental they are.

And I’ll tell you what, I cringe when I hear people being judgmental towards God's people. You do not know what you do if you're in judgment of God's people. You put yourself in a place that only God and His Son can be. You cannot be there, for if you are you are sinning and you are the one that better repent. Do we understand that?

That's why before the Feast we had sermons about relationships and about the way we think about one another. Because, brethren, if that isn't right, we're not yielding to God and His spirit and He can't work with us. And so, all we can receive is that which is on a physical plane. Why? We can hear certain things about the Sabbath, seventh day, just like Seventh Day Adventists do, but there's no spirit there. God isn't there revealing things.

Relationships. Relationships, relationships, relationships. They're so important to God because that's what Elohim is. If we don't grasp Elohim, there's much we have to learn. If we don't understand a family that God has longed for, a family of unity and oneness of spirit. We must all come to that unity and oneness of spirit, or work for it and fight for it in our lives.

That's why Paul made the distinction there that there's this part inside of us that we see that's pulled by the world and pulled by our own carnal nature. But we choose the inner man, that which God has placed in our mind. That's what that means about the inner man. It's the mind.  It's what you see and what you're able to believe that God communicates to your being. And that's what we choose and hold onto. So, that's why we repent when we carnally slip and fall and make mistakes. And God's so merciful. That's what the new covenant is all about, His mercy that He will extend to us as His children if we will but repent. And when we do, God is faithful to forgive us, if our attitude and spirit is right toward Him.

But you know, I marvel – never, never, never... There are things we have to judge about what people do and how we are able to deal with certain things. There's a big difference in that and judging others and condemning others and being hard on others and cruel to others. That's wrong. It's a wrong spirit.

Quite candidly, God gave us one spirit to have toward one another. And you know what it is? It's a forgiving spirit, a patient spirit. Giving. Forgiving sometimes involves a lot of giving because our carnal nature doesn't want to give. It wants to hold onto something. Sometimes, because we've been hurt by someone else, and therefore, we have a little bit of vengeance, a little bit of a wrong spirit, a little bit of wrong attitude. There are different reasons why sometimes we want to hold on to. Sometimes it's to make us feel a little bit better so we can (just the way human nature is), "I'm a little bit... I'm better than they are."

It's like the attitude of Philadelphia toward Laodicea. That's why so many want to be Philadelphian. Because isn't Philadelphia so much better than Laodicea? And I think of the name itself. I marvel at that one, because if all you ever attain to in your life is philia, you are most miserable as a human being as far as God's plan is concerned. Because we have to have agape. Philia is just selfish human love.

Philia and Philadelphia reflects what we had in Worldwide. We had the ability to grow, but philia reflected the name of us all in the sense of, what was that? It's like a fraternal organisation. We are there because we have that in common with one another. And because with a strong leadership we had a unity of certain things that were done because certain things were not allowed and tolerated, until we got so large that some of those things went unchecked or unknown sometimes until so much damage had been done. Do we...? I know we understand that.

Agape. We must have God's love in us. Not selfish human love, not just because it's fraternal, not because "Well, I'll love you because we're in the same Church together and we're going to the Feast together." And so people, generally what will happen a lot of the times, is sometimes without some spiritual growth people tended to gravitate to individuals who were of the same mind, and others, we could look down upon.

I used to hate cliques. Hated them, hated them, hated them! Why some could stand over here and some over there and the two never mix, and they had problems with each other, and they judged each other. It just reflects one thing – it's not God's anymore. That just isn't God's because God's not there. God's not in that. Anyway, I know there was a reason why we had to go there.

Even these are My appointed times. Oh, dropping down to verse 4—These are the appointed times, again, "feasts." It's not the word "feasts" in Hebrew, it's the word "appointed times." These are the appointed times of the Eternal (of Yahveh) even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their — same way it's translated in Genesis there – seasons. It's not "seasons," it's "appointed times."...which you shall proclaim in their appointed times.

That's what we do. It's the Feast of Tabernacles. If we yield ourselves to God, God will work with us to teach us about the Feast of Tabernacles. In their appointed times He tell us about this phase of His plan.

That's why this one, to me, is the most awesome. They're all awesome, but this one has a greater fulfilling, a greater fulfilment of what God is doing. In the context of everything else being done from Passover, to coming out of sin, the Days of Unleavened Bread, to Pentecost, the blessing of God's spirit and God's law being written in our hearts and minds (because that's how it's accomplished), the firstfruits that are also pictured in there; and Trumpets, and Atonement, you know, the return of Jesus Christ, a time of being at-one with God when Satan will no longer be around. We look forward to that partial fulfilment of something that's going to take place as soon as Jesus Christ returns. It's going to be magnified again at the end of the thousand years, and after that it has great magnification – the Day of Atonement.

And then we come to the Feast of Tabernacles, temporary dwellings. And that's what I am and that's what you are. If we can grasp the greater picture of it all, of what those physical, temporary dwellings were all about, God reveals to us that's what He's given to every one of us. We all have, thankfully, just a temporary dwelling to be in, and if we will yield our self to the dwelling of God inside of us, we can be in God and God in us when He calls us and draws us, then we become a part of something much greater, a temple, a tabernacle of God.

We're no longer just a part of a temporary thing; something begins to happen in us that is spiritual, on a spiritual plane, in a spiritual family, and we begin to grow, and we begin to change, and we begin to become more like our God in the sense of being at one with Him in how we think. And the more we can grow in that spiritually the closer we come to God. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? Awesomely beautiful, what God has given to us.

And so, even these days picture something that God is doing very basically in all of us so that at the beginning of the Millennium there are 144,000 who have attained to that. That whole process has gone on in them and they're no longer in temporary dwellings. And now we enter into a new period of time, a thousand years when Jesus Christ is going to rule on the earth and 144,000 with Him in order to bring a lot more into the Family.

We were having a conversation last night. And I don't know when they're going to come into the Family and neither do you. Will there be death? I don't know; God hasn't made it clear. I tend to believe that there will be. You know, all those during 6,000 years that lived by faith, you know what happened to them, the ones that aren't with us today? They're dead. And they longed for, they see something that they wanted to be a part of – maybe at the end of a thousand years, maybe after Satan is gone, maybe just before he's gone? I don't know, and you don't either. But it'll be exciting. And there will be things that man must have in order for mankind to learn.

So, some have had to wait a long, long time. But you know what? The way God is, they don't know it. Abraham doesn't know he's been waiting a long time. Moses. Noah. How far back do we want to go? It's nothing to them. It's a marvel of God's plan. From the moment they went to sleep, spiritually, in a sleep that's, in other words, like it's described in Thessalonians as "being in Christ,” dead, but a part of something, a sealing that's taken place in their life, that they will be a part of 144,000. They're going to be awakened, same time some of us are going to be awakened, and the same time some of us, a few of us, will be changed instantaneously. Awesome.

And there haven't been many that have ever been in that category. There haven't been any who've ever been in that category. To be alive, and all of a sudden, you're in a spirit body? Hang on, because there are going to be a lot of fast things going to take place, you know. And if you're dead and you're awake all of a sudden, you're going to feel the same way. Incredible!

So again, verse 4—These are the appointed times of the Eternal, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed times.

Just to go on a little bit more here. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Eternal's Passover. You know, it's in the fourteenth day. It's not in the fifteenth, and it's not in the thirteenth, it's all in the fourteenth. So simple. And on the fifteenth day of the same month—there's something different in the fifteenth day—is the Feast. And it's the word "Feast." It’s not the word "appointed times" anymore. It is a Feast. It is that which...

Sometimes the Passover has been referred to as "the preparation" of the Passover. It's a preparation day of the Passover – what we'd call the sixth day of the week for the seventh day, the Sabbath of God. We have the sixth day, which is our preparation day. And the Passover's a preparation day for a great Feast, the first of God's plan, the First Day of Unleavened Bread on the fifteenth of Abib (Nissan).

And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto Yahweh. See it for all time. It's always been to Yahweh, first and foremost, Yahweh Elohim. ...seven days shall you eat unleavened bread.

Let's go back to Genesis 1 and look at an incredible revelation of God concerning His purpose for Elohim. We know it - it's just that He helps us to become a little stronger in this, a little clearer.

Genesis 1:26—And Elohim said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion—important phrase—and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over the earth and over all creeping things and everything that creeps on the earth. They're just going to have dominion over everything. And then God magnifies that even more so later on. But incredible here, what we're being told, brethren. And it's just like everything, brethren, fits together. And it's just like what we've already been discussing.

You don't need to turn there, because we've already looked at it, but it's the same principle. It's the same principle as what we read in Ecclesiastes. This is prophetic. This is God's purpose. It's what God's intent for mankind is as much as the appointed times that He set up for His Family for 7,000-years plus, to come before Him and worship Him in the appointed times that He established because it's all about Elohim. It's all about His Family. Family, family, family, Elohim, (whatever your name will be) Elohim. Because we'll all, as we become spirit beings, as we're able to enter into the Kingdom of God, in the Family of God, we bear that name, all of us, Elohim, the God Family, the Kingdom of God. We'll have our own unique name. That which pertains to us.

And so, you don't need to turn there, but again, the same principle as Romans 14:17—As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations, speaking to Abraham, before him, whom he, Abraham, believed, even God, who quickens (makes alive, resurrects) the dead and calls those things which are not as though they were. Well, God does that a lot more right here in the very beginning, and even more so in the same scriptures in Ecclesiastes, if you want to go back to them again and read about them. Those things that God determined before, things that He has decided long, long ago. And all of them, as far as God is concerned, as it says in Ecclesiastes, and "God will do it" or "God does it." God does His will. His family will come to fruition, those that choose to be a part of His family. Elohim will become a reality. It begins very powerfully so at the return of Jesus Christ to this earth.

So, let's read it again: Genesis 1:26—And Elohim said, Let us make man in our image. We're going to be alike in the sense of what we are and in the sense of what we are like, spiritually. We will all be the same; we will be Elohim, God beings. Just like when it talks about the return of Jesus Christ; all of a sudden something's going to change in us where we will see him as he is. Not a physical manifestation of what he's going to do on the earth when he comes, but for the first time.

We have to be spirit to see spirit and we will be like him. And we will see him as he is – spirit. We can't see spirit. We can only see something that God will illuminate with His glory in a physical way that is not normal (that is greater) but it's still physical. If it be light, like on Moses' face when he came down. There was a light. You know, we don't walk around with great light proceeding out from our face, you know, that scares people away! "What's going on? What radiation did he get hold of?" Anyway. You know.

But God does it to glorify His will, what He is doing, His purpose, to reflect that this is greater than man, this is something far beyond man. And so, God is revealing here in the very beginning we're all going to look similar, as we do as human beings. Not only that, but we carry with ourselves a form, a likeness on a physical plane of that which is spiritual. God has shown us that – of the way God is – spiritually. Eyes, nose, you know, form, hands, but it’s spirit, something you can't see as long as you're in this physical body.

And so again, Elohim said, Let us make man in our image and let them have dominion. Who said this? Who said, "Let them have dominion?" We're going to come to that. It's very clear in scripture who said this. It's only one who said it. Yahweh said it. It's prophetic. It shows His purpose and plan of what Elohim is all about.

...and let them have dominion over the fish in the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And Elohim created man in His own image. He did what He said the purpose of it was all about. So, He made it, says Him, in His own image, in the image of Elohim created He him. Who did it? "He." "He." Singular. There's only one in Elohim at this point in time, brethren. He wasn't carrying on some conversation with others.

It's prophetic. It shows a purpose. It shows God's intent in what He's going to perform and what He's going to do for Elohim, for the family. And some of these words, in a more accurate translation, do not sound like this. This causes, really, a little more confusion than what should be here. It truly does.

And Elohim created He him, male and female created He them. God started it all, and He says, "This is the way it's going to be"' and "This is the way they're going to look," physically.

And so, Adam was made a certain way physically, to appear a certain way of what he would appear like, and all human beings, in time, on a different plane, spiritually, when they become Elohim. He wasn't talking to the angelic realm. They're not Elohim. He wasn't talking something that the angels would be doing. They're not Elohim. That's not what was taking place.

He did it all. He made them. That's why the singular word that is used each time. So who did the creating?  Genesis 2:4. Let's notice, again, what it says. God is just revealing His purpose and plan very powerfully so, in the remolding and fashioning of this earth, the separating of the firmament, the establishing of that which we can tell time by, day by day by day that is consistent, the different changes of the years and so forth, and the ability to count time and years and so forth. The ability to know when God's time will come around so that we can have the appointed times with Him. And then... And then He put man there to fulfill what He had made, to do those things so that man can become a part of His family. This is just the beginning, brethren. That's what it's all about.

Genesis 2:4—These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Elohim (Yahweh Elohim) made the earth and the heavens. And verse 7, notice, And Yahweh Elohim formed man. Who did it? "Let us make man...?" What is it all about? What is the purpose? The family.

It's just an awkward way of speaking, brethren, words that we cannot fully grasp and that we can't communicate in the same way in English concerning a family and the name of a family. And He's saying we're going to be the same. We're all going to be the same, in that respect, but individual as well, as much as that awesome distinction between the Father and the Son, and everyone else, 144,000.

The same as far as a family's concerned, the same mind, the same unity of mind and spirit, but all different in the sense of our experiences, in the sense of getting to where we were, in the sense of where we'll be in the temple. We're not going to have the same jobs and responsibilities.

Jesus Christ will always be different from the Father. We will always be different from Jesus Christ in certain ways of our life, and there will be that which we're always the same, the same mind, the same being, in that respect, of what we agree and see together, one way of life, giving, sharing.

And Yahweh Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. This was so exciting to God! But God revealed from the very beginning what it was all about. It was so that every being to follow could become Elohim, in the Family of God, in the God Family.

Let's go back to another section in scripture (chapter 8), that we have talked about, that we have focused on before that should mean even more now as we're able to put the story together more fully than before.  Brethren, there are just things there that are just absolute. It's the way it is. That's why we began with the things we did out of Acts and the things that Christ said in the book of Acts about himself and his Father, and about what Peter said about the Messiah and his Father, and what Paul said in Acts, quoting different scriptures and the Psalms and so forth that make it abundantly clear who they are and what's being discussed.

Psalms 8:1—O Yahweh, our LORD, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! Who has set Your glory above the heavens? It's all there because God's done it. It's God glory. Everything that we can see in the universe, brethren, that we look at, it's all... and it reflects the glory of God, the power of God.

As I talked about that one sun in itself, the magnificence of it.  Just in the things you see on the earth when you travel from one area to another; the magnificence, the beauty of those things that God has given to us. Color! Awesome! What God lets us enjoy in life, and the fullness of life. The differences that we have.

Thank God everything isn't all the same, you know. They've talked about "All yellow pencils..." Thankfully, there are differences. That's why I love the scripture in Ephesians that talks about our allowing for the differences, for when we come into unity with God it's the differences, it's the uniqueness of it all that makes things richer in life, more fulfilling and more enjoyable in life. We have to learn that.

Psalm 8:3—When I consider the heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained... Who did it? Verse 1 – Yahweh. Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh, over and over again. ...which You have ordained. “Established, fixed,” as it means. God did it. Yahweh did it.

What is man that You're mindful of him? The son of man that You visited him? For You (You) have made him a little lower than the angels. "You, Yahweh, made him." The one who made Adam. The one who breathed into him life was Yahweh. There was none other! Isn't that what He made clear over and over again to Israel? "There is no other; there is no one but Me." Awesome!

For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. That's why God has such a great desire of something we can't fully grasp and comprehend for His family. How long has He waited? The excitement and the anticipation of where we are in time is awesome, brethren.

I can't even begin to imagine the awesomeness of it all when He finally came to the point of something He had determined, planned, and now they were there and man began to be molded and fashioned and flesh came upon the sinews as it talks about, you know, the bones that were there and then the flesh, and God made that first human being. Awesome! Exciting! Inspiring! Because God knew where it would all lead. Because of that excitement He has for a family; even before the angels were created, to have that excitement for His family and to be at those points in time then.

Verse 6—You (You, Yahweh) made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You (Yahweh) have put all things under his feet.  The one and only God of all eternity said this about man.  He said it about all mankind. Just as He did in the beginning, he began to reveal that man was to have dominion over the things that He had created and made.

When it talks about "Elohim did this," and then we come to points like this where it makes it very clear. And just like it does in chapter 2 of Genesis, it was Yahweh Elohim specifically that did it all. You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. That's the purpose for all mankind, to have everything with God. No limitations; one awesome, great, mighty family into the billions.

All sheep and oxen, yes, and beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the seas. O Eternal (our LORD), O Yahweh, our LORD, how excellent is Your name in all the earth. You know, to glorify and honor God in a greater way is a beautiful thing, to come to appreciate God in a greater way, to be in awe of God in a greater way. The more we grow in that, the richer life becomes, the richer that relationship becomes.

You know, from this point we're going to see again in Hebrews where this is quoted here in Psalms 8. It just comes alive more and more, brethren. So from this point, God leads us into the next great phase of His plan and purpose for mankind.

Let's go over to Ephesians 1.  Again, He reveals all these things, brethren, about becoming a part of His Family, the Kingdom of God; what we're...you know the beginning phases of those things we are picturing here at the Feast that's going to come to this earth, to reign on the earth, the Kingdom of God, it's great beginning.

But it has a beginning doesn't it? And that beginning is Jesus Christ. All of God's plan, of what He's doing, the reason it's... Can we grasp that everything that has been made is about this, of what we read in Genesis 1? Elohim, spirit beings. It's about Elohim, those that would minister unto those that God would call Elohim, to bring them into His Family, to help in that process. The universe that's there, the earth that's here, the life that's here; to give us life so we can begin as human beings so that we might become Elohim, a part of the God Family.

But it's all accomplished and done and created and made, in and through Jesus Christ – Elohim is. There's not one that comes into that family save through Jesus Christ. And that's what God tells us over and over again. But if we read it physically sometimes we think that, "Well, God made the earth and He made the... you know, He did that and the other being did it all," because He did it in him. No, He didn't. Yahweh did it all, all by Himself.

Ephesians 1:1—Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God... You know, if it's God's will to call you and do something to you and He has a purpose for you, you know what? God'll do it. He'll do it. There are things about that we don't even begin to grasp yet, brethren, but we grow in.

If God has a purpose, He will mold and fashion certain things within you so that when it comes time... He knows us as human beings. He knows what we have to go through to get to where we're going. He knows what's in us before we're ever born. He knows us. And when He has a purpose and He calls us and draws us, He works with us in life to mold and fashion certain things within us.

We all go through different experiences. I marvel at that. You know, for what God is going to do in us and what God has prepared for us. Just like the 144,000. Because the jobs are different and unique to each individual and God allows those things that are differences in personality, but as far as what we must experience in order to be at that point in time, God is the master potter, we are the clay. It's an incredible thing to understand how God molds and fashions us.

King David? You think it was by accident that he grew as he did, that he did some of the things that he did, and that God worked with him through so many different situations to mold and fashion someone who would have the kind of response he did? Choices all along the way, yes, brethren, but God knows how to work with us. He isn't calling the whole world yet. It's not His purpose. He's not trying to do those things with mankind. He lets mankind do his own thing. And He lets us, as well, do various things.

But when He's working with us and He molds, He knows what kind of conditions we must have around us. That's called molding and fashioning, what kind of circumstances in life we must go through.

I would not even begin to be here... I think of the last ten years.  I think of what we've gone through and some of them rip apart in the heart. They tear you to the core of your being. They're painful. We agonize. We have gone through some horrible hurt and pain, but it's through that hurt and pain that we're molded and fashioned, to bring us where we are, to help us to have a greater boldness, a greater confidence in Him. As we've seen what He's done in our lives, we grow in confidence of what He's doing with us in our lives. We become stronger and stronger as He molds and fashions us to prepare us for where we're going.

You know, one day we're going to find out. God didn't slap Himself on the forehead when He saw the Church do what it did. "Oh! Now how am I going to get 144,000?" You know, really, brethren, do we grasp that? God had a purpose in so many, and there were those He was going to use to do what He would do; you and me. You're here for that reason. Because God has done things in your life. God has done things in my life.

It wasn't by accident that we went to Lubbock. It wasn't by accident that we came to Cincinnati. It wasn't by accident that we didn't go through the things we did up in Erie, Pennsylvania, through some of the worst mental anguish of seven years that I experienced spiritually in my life. But if I hadn't gone through those things with those that opposed God, powerfully so, and foul spirits, I would not have been prepared to go through what God let me go through later on in Toledo. See?

And some of us that were in some of those places, it's not by accident. God does the work. The Great God who made the vastness of the universe that we can't even begin to grasp and comprehend knows how to mold every one of us, and fashion us for what He has ahead. It's awesome to understand that. God knows.

Ephesians 1, again, By the will of God to the saints which are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, just those phrases ought to just pop out at us a little more with a greater, deeper appreciation.

You know, in the past, many years ago, I think about when I'd read through things like this, I'd rush through that part. I'd rush through those beginning salutations, stuff like that, just like I would do when "So and so begat so and so and so and so begat so and so and..." and I'd rush through things like this so I could get to the... No, these are beautiful, the beginning of what's being said.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. We are here because God has called us. It's by His will that we are here. It's by what He's doing and molding and fashioning within us. Yes, we have choices to make. And yes, it's by those things that so often determine the things we are going to experience in life. But if He has a purpose, He will do it. He will accomplish it, brethren, thank God.

...and to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father. Isn't it awesome? There should be no confusion. "God and Father." When they had these things, they knew exactly what it meant; they knew who it was, “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

…who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavens, from God, in Christ. And so we, when God begins to draw us, we can, once we are baptised and have the impregnation of God's spirit, we can dwell in Christ, be in Christ. That's what it's about. And so, it's accomplished as long as we're in Christ. But if we ever get cut off from that, brethren, we must repent quickly so we can be in Christ, so we can continue on with the process.

And brethren, please understand, there are those things and are times when we go through various trials and we have choices to make, okay? But there are also those times when it becomes set with God, that He's going to do what He is going to do. And in some situations, He's going to do what He's going to do anyway. Maybe we'll have some sermons on that later on.

My point is, is that we still have a part, brethren, that we play as our response to God, and our choices that we make before God. Depends on how far along, in many cases, we are in God's purpose and plan, but I'm sure we'll have sermons on those in time.

Verse 19—And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, Which He worked in Christ, when He raised him from the dead, and set him at His own right hand in the heavens. The same God did all this, and placed Jesus Christ in the heavens at His right hand.

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come. And has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church. But, brethren, please understand that God's intent for mankind is to put all things under our feet, if we understand. But Jesus Christ is the first. He is the first of the firstfruits. He is our elder brother. There are things that God accomplishes in and through him and through none other, in the respect of all who will become Elohim. And so, it says, "and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church." So there's more to the story, obviously, for all of us.

Let's go to Hebrews 1. We've already covered this chapter in yesterday's sermon, but let's notice a few verses in the context of what we're now covering, and we'll go on then to Chapter 2. Just to pick it up quickly, verses 1-3—God (Yahweh) who at sundry times and in different manners, spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, through His Son, Jesus Christ, whom He has appointed heir of all things, heir of all things. And He has to us as well, but he is first and greater, mightier.

…by (through) whom also He made, it means, again, "to bring forth," the worlds (the ages). Mr Harrell was talking about yesterday, literally it means "the ages to come." Who, because it's about what? It's about Elohim! It's all about Elohim! It's about the family! It's about the Kingdom of God, the good news! Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person; so he's the first. What will we have? And upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, so of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in God's plan, above all, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Let's go to Hebrews 2:1—Therefore, we are to give a more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? So, we have choices, brethren, of things we make, and God encourages us, admonishes us.

…which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and different miracles, and gifts of the holy spirit, according to His own will? Who's will? God. It's about Yahweh, what He's doing.

For unto the angels has He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. Who has He put there, that it'd be in subjection to, brethren? But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man that You are mindful of him? It goes back. It's about Yahweh, again. "What is man, that You, Yahweh, are mindful of him?" Or the son of man that you visit him? You made him a little lower than the angels. Speaking of mankind, brethren, all of mankind. You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor.

What an awesome thing! We don't have all that glory and honor. We have a beginning of it in physical life, an awesome life as human beings to exist and live on the earth, but there's far more to the story, far more that God intends as His purpose and plan, obviously. A glory that He determined for each and every one of us before the world began, brethren! God's purpose for us!

I look forward to that glory, the glory that I had with Him before the world was. The glory that you had with Him before the world was! The glory that we all desire when He says, "You can be Elohim! God's Family!" And so we desire that. Isn't that so clear, brethren, to understand what Jesus Christ was saying, because he understood God's purpose and God's plan for himself and for the family and for everything else?

Verse 8—You (Yahweh) have put all things in subjection under his feet. It's awesome! What is the question in the beginning? "What is man that You are mindful of him?" Not just about Jesus Christ, it's about mankind. It begins and is accomplished in and through Jesus Christ but it's for all that have been placed on this earth as human beings.

For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. Everything will be under Elohim. It's God's purpose and God's plan. But now, "But now at the time of this writing," we don't yet see all things put under him. Put under who? Under man, that God revealed from the very beginning in Genesis 1, because there it all is, what God's purpose and intent would be, throughout the rest of this book. It's beautiful.

Verse 9—This is what we see—We don't yet see (in the previous verse there), but now we don't yet see, as it says here, all things put under him (under man), but this is what we do see as of this point in time. But we see Jesus, who was made… He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned, he has been crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. God's intent and purpose through His Son, through the Messiah, through the Christ, through the Passover.

For it became Him, for whom are all things... And the word "for" there is a primary preposition denoting a channel of the act, in other words, "through." For it became Him, through whom are all things, you know, that are to exist. Where? It's not talking about what God created before! He didn't do it. He didn't do it; Jesus Christ didn't do it! He's talking about the plan, why it was made. It's all in and through His Son. We come into the Family; it's all about Elohim, brethren! That's awesomely exciting to understand. It's all exists!

There was one, Yahweh Elohim, by Himself, and then He had a purpose to do, to accomplish. Everything that followed was for that purpose. It is the good news throughout the scripture. It is about the Kingdom of God, the Family of God. Awesome, awesome, awesome to understand that, brethren.

Whom are all things, as it says here, and by (through) whom are all things, in bringing... This is what it's about! It's not about the physical things out there that Yahweh created and brought into being or when man on the earth was given life, Yahweh did it. It's talking about the purpose of it all – in bringing many sons unto glory! The glory which God intended for us before the angelic beings were ever created, brethren!

So, "Who are you?" and "How can you...you know those things?" Do you think, when Jesus cried out, when he knew it was his time, he longed for, he looked for that which he believed, which he knew that he was about to receive? The glory which we had before the world was.

It doesn't mean he was there. It's what he believed and knew that we have as well with God. What does it say in Ecclesiastes? Go back and read it again and again and again. It is awesome! If God intends, if God wills it, it will be. He did it long ago, it will be. What is now is because of what He willed then. Where we are now, what we are doing now is because He willed it then. What's getting ready to take place on the earth is because He willed it then. He determined how things would come about, how He could mold...

Brethren, how awesome it is to know before we're ever put on the earth, before the angelic... the planning, the purpose of how He would bring billions? That there had to be certain things take place in a period of six thousand years to get us to the last thousand? An awesome, awesome, awesome, glorious, mighty God that we serve, that is so difficult for us to comprehend with our human minds. And the reality is, man can't. Until God begins to draw him and then we come to the point of choosing, "That's what I want and desire," because God brings us there with that calling, to be able to be impregnated with His spirit so that we can grow and conquer and overcome.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.  For it became Him, awesome, whom are all things, through whom are all things to bring many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

So again, God had purpose to give His family great things, brethren. He has purposed that. He purposed that long ago before the angelic realm, along with Jesus Christ, our elder brother. Do we understand that? Do we see that? God's intent in Hebrews? God's intent in Psalms 8?

Because all we can see right now is that Jesus Christ has attained to that, but it's for the whole of those that will come through Jesus Christ that will attain to that glory and honor. "All things are put under his feet." That's God's purpose, all things under Elohim, for all who become a part of that family.  There'll be nothing that is not put under them. It’s awesome to understand!

Let's go on, just look at a couple of scriptures here today just to finish this off here, to end this. We could stop here, but I think I want to add a couple more here that I had marked here this morning, just if we had the time.

Revelation 21:7. You don't need to turn there, just jot it down. He that overcomes shall inherit all things. Beautiful verse. It's what we've been reading about. And I will be his God and he shall be my son.

And finally, Romans 8. You can turn there, spend a little more time there. Romans 8:14. Sometimes we just don't grasp the magnitude of what God is doing, the awesomeness of it all, the excitement of it all, the anticipation of it all, how great God is, how great our Savior is, and how great are things, brethren, that are in front of us, just in front of us.

Romans 8:14—For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby — you know it's sonship; God has a purpose in His calling us — whereby we cry, Abba, Father. How often? You know, things sometimes that we just don't even know what to pray. Abba, Father. God Almighty.

The spirit itself bears witnesses with our spirit, that we are the children of God. You know, the more we reflect of God, it becomes so clear. We will have certain responses in life. We will have certain – especially in one area – relationships. You can't hide God's spirit, and neither can you hide carnality. You know, that's the way we are as human beings.

And if children, then heirs… Powerful verse, this. …heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Right along with him. He's the first. He's over all. What does this mean? It means exactly what's to be fulfilled back in Psalms 8 and what we just read in Hebrews. "All things are put under his feet."

That's God's purpose for mankind. Not while we're in this physical flesh. We have a limitation to what's under our feet right now as human beings on this earth, or get to the moon, maybe, and something's under our feet there. But we're a little restricted in those things. But God's intent is far, far, far beyond that, isn't it? In Elohim, in His Family.

...joint heirs with Christ. Something that God intended before the world was! Something that God intended before the universe was ever created! Because He didn't just do it because it seemed like a good thing to do. "Let's go out and build another galaxy today." You know, it's all for a purpose. It's all there by a plan. It's all there by design, awaiting a greater time for why it's all there and why the angelic realm was made. It's for His Family, Elohim.

And joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him. So, we have to suffer in this human flesh. We have to go through things that aren't easy, that aren't fun. We are called at different times in life. In 6,000 years people have had to go through things that weren't all that fun.

Noah had to do some things that just weren't all that fun, knowing that everyone around him was going to lose their life, that they were going to drown. Every human being on earth, except those that would get into that ark, that he spent so many years, him and his family building, out in the middle of nowhere, with all of the mockery over all. Can't imagine that, the mockery of it all. "Getting pretty big, Noah! Huh. How long are you going to keep building that thing? You're getting kind of old."

In the world people mock God's people. They mock us. There are things that are mocked because of things that God has inspired to be said in the last year, and they make fun of it because they don't understand what God's getting ready to do. But God is all powerful and God will bring to pass what God says He will do and what He inspires.

Again, joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. Do we believe that? Absolutely. Do we believe it was a glory that God intended before the world was? Yes! I look forward to it! “With the glory that we had before the world was.” It doesn't mean I was back there! But all that God intended for all mankind, it was that which He gave to us; Christ much more so because God knew him in ways that he doesn't know us, individually.

God knew there'd be 144,000, but who they would be through time and different ones, God has chosen through time. He didn't know I would be here, me, who I am, what I am, you, who you are. That, if He did, He would have had to regulate and not give free choice. You know, families would have specific children and a certain amount of children and things would have to happen. He would control it all. He doesn't do that.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And so it's our hope, it's in our great desire. And we know we're called to suffer, to go through hard things. But we know that no matter what we go through, brethren, it isn't worthy. It isn't worthy to be compared with what God is doing. And so what if you lose your physical life? So what if it's a little painful when it happens? So what! It means nothing! God will give us the strength to do whatever we must do in His purpose and in His plan. It's incredible!

So again, brethren, this Feast of Tabernacles is an awesome Feast. It really is. For it is here and now that God has chosen to begin to reveal Himself more fully and the relationship He has with His Son. And all for such a great purpose, brethren, to bring about the times that these days picture—again and again and again, as we talk about here at the Feast—the coming of God's Kingdom to the world, to rule over the world that's going to soon be made manifest to the world.

And what an awesome thing that God would wait, that God would wait and even darken the mind so that we wouldn't see it all, so that we wouldn't understand certain things until just before, until just before. And then He gives it to those that He's working with to call to share in it, that are going to soon (so many of them) be made Elohim. And then He reveals it to the world more powerfully. Brethren, I cannot begin to imagine what it's going to be like when the whole world can see physically manifested, Jesus Christ and 144,000.