The 8th Day

Wayne Matthews

Last Great Day – PM – 2013

Welcome, everybody, to this High Day of God, the 8th Day.

The title of the sermon today, being the Last Great Day, is 'The 8th Day'.

The Feast of Tabernacles, which we have just completed, is followed by an 8th Day observance which also is an annual Sabbath, the last day in the revelation of God's great plan. This additional day, the 8th Day, following the Feast of Tabernacles is traditionally referred to as 'The Last Great Day'. This day is the 7th and last annual Sabbath, the 7th annual Holy Day.

If you'd like to turn to Leviticus 23:36 – For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal, which we have just completed, those seven days of the Feast, on the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly and you shall do no customary work on it. It's a Sabbath. It's a rest.

Leviticus 23:39, if you'd just drop down to verse 39, also, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month when you have gathered in the fruit of the land you shall keep the Feast of the LORD for seven days. On the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest. This eighth day is an exciting revelation of God's plan for mankind. As the early spring harvest of the firstfruits, the 144,000, is pictured in Pentecost, so is the larger fall harvest pictured in the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. The Last Great Day, this eighth day, pictures a time of great judgment that follows the 7,000 year portion of God's plan. This period of a hundred years starts with a resurrection, some to spirit and others to physical life. And this hundred year period ends with a resurrection to spirit and the destruction of all those who have chosen to be unrepentant, chosen to be anti-Christ.

Let's do a quick review to bring us to this Last Great Day, this hundred years. Jesus Christ will have ruled righteously in a worldwide government with the 144,000 who were resurrected at the end of 6,000 years of man's self rule. Now during the Millennium, the last 1,000 years of God's plan covering a total of 7,000 years, the entirety of humanity over this period was given the opportunity to receive the true ways of God. Satan and the demons were removed from the presence of man during this thousand year period, but all who lived and died before the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ never had such opportunity. Now it is time for a second human life for those people.

Revelation 20...just like to turn to Revelation 20:5 – But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. So at the end of the Millennium, after the thousand year period has finished, we then see a period called The Last Great Day. This is the hundred year period where we're going to see the beginning of it, we're going to see a resurrection, some to spirit but the majority, the vast majority of mankind that have died during that period of 7,000 years will be resurrected back to a physical life. The last hundred years is for the rest of the dead. This Last Great Day is totally about them. The rest of the dead are the vast majority of mankind who lived and died to this point in time. This  means billions of people! The majority of these people never knew God or had the opportunity to know God. There will be some that started a relationship with God and will be resurrected because they didn't complete that relationship with God.

The time has come for them to be resurrected to a second physical life. At this point in time when the thousand years has finished, we will witness a second resurrection. Some will be resurrected to spirit to enter Elohim and join the 144,000 to support Jesus Christ, while others will be resurrected back to a physical life.

Ezekiel 37 is picturing this period of a resurrection and it talks in a language, a lot of it is symbolic, but it provides direction and gives a little insight, only a little insight into God's plan of salvation for all of mankind. Ezekiel 37:1 – The hand of the LORD came upon me, Ezekiel, and brought me out in the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of dry bones. This is a vision of a period of time looking to a physical resurrection at the end of 7,000 years.

Verse 2 - Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. This points to the fact that they've been dead for a long period of time.

Verse 3 – And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, O LORD God, You know. And again He said to me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, to the bones... O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD God to these bones: Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. This points to the fact that God is in control of life and death. Only God has the power to give life, physical life and spirit life. They will be resurrected back with the very same body they had but this time a healed body and a healed mind. Those that had mental health issues will be resurrected with a healed mind, one that now can choose to know God.

Verse 6 – I will put sinews on you, on your bones, and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. No one resurrected back to physical life will be able to doubt that God exists. They will not be able to deny God's great power because being resurrected back to a physical life then they will know that there is a God. The proof of God's existence will be obvious to them in their thinking and in their flesh, because they have a body, a healed body and a healed mind, and they will soon realize that only God could achieve this.

Verse 7 – So I prophesied as I was commanded; as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. So they've been brought back to a physical existence, a physical state, but there was no life in them, they were just layed there...and of course this was a vision that he is seeing and God is pointing to a resurrection.

Verse 9 – Also He said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, O son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the LORD God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.

Verse 10 – So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, a second time, and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. So there is billions of people will be resurrected. We know that God is not the author of confusion so we do understand that this resurrection will be achieved in an orderly manner.

There will be hundreds of questions that we could ask now about this resurrection, for example, Is everybody resurrected exactly at the same time? What location are they resurrected? In what state are they resurrected? Who will see the resurrection?

Well, these are things that God has not answered yet at this point in time, but He will reveal it and that may be much closer to that very period which may be at the very end of the 7,000 period of man, we'll have to wait and see.

Symbolic language is continued to be used here as Ezekiel sees this in a vision. Verse 11 – Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off! There is no hope. Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the LORD God: Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And it's talking here on a spiritual level, bringing them back into spiritual Israel, the Church of God is what... they're going to be given that opportunity because that is the only way that you can come to know God.

Verse 13 – Then, after being resurrected, you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. So that is the purpose of the resurrection, that people will come to know God.

Verse 14 – And I will put My spirit in you, and you shall live, they will live a spiritual way of life, they will now have the ability to understand spiritual matters and they'll be able to live wisdom; and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it, says the LORD. It is in the last hundred years that billions will be resurrected. Those who have lived and died, young and old alike, will be given life again in physical human bodies that are filled with vibrant health, whole and completed. Then they can choose to become part of God's eternal Family. And that's the choice they're going to be given.

This eighth day pictures a judgment period that covers a time span of a hundred years.

I'm now going to read from the website, the 13th Truth that has been placed into God's Church.

13 (10)    The resurrection to judgement. The resurrection to judgment is the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20). This period of judgment covers 100 years and follows the time of the Millennial reign of Christ on earth. God has not been trying to “save” the world over the past 6,000 years, and the billions who have not had the opportunity for salvation during that time will have it at this coming time of judgment. Their time for salvation is coming. Over this time of judgment [those hundred years], those resurrected to a second physical life will have to prove they want to live differently than they did in their first life.

If you'd like to turn to Isaiah 65 which covers this hundred year period. Isaiah 65:20 – No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. And that word 'accursed' there is 'set aside for destruction, never to be used again'. They will face the second death. So this is referring to this hundred year period that God is giving mankind to make a choice. Mankind will be given one hundred years to transform their minds/their thinking. They will have to take up the same battles against themselves, against their selfishness, that we have started, that we now continue in.

Verse 21 –They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

Verse 22 – They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. So this is a time of peace and protection that is provided by God.

Verse 23 – They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; This is a period where there will be no children born during this time of judgment. So mankind has been allocated 7,000 years to multiply upon the earth and when that 7,000 year period is up there will be no children born during this last hundred year period, because the purpose of mankind in the sense of entering Elohim, there must come a point where birth must stop, then given the opportunity to live a way of life for a hundred years, that they can then choose God. And of course that gets to the 7,100 years and then comes that end period. For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Eternal, and their offspring shall be with them. So from the resurrection now families will be the focus. There is no such thing as an orphan during this last hundred year period, because each and every one of us, brethren, has a relative, we are related to somebody, and through this resurrection someone is always related to someone and we can all trace our genealogy, if you'd like to think it that way, right back to Eve. We all have somebody that we are related to, and therefore when you have this resurrection everyone will be related to each other but there are going to be family ties because there will be no such thing as orphans. No one will be born during this time because God has established that the process of human begettal and birth would come to an end after 7,000 years.

Now God outlines that He will provide protection. Verse 24 – It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. So protection from the wildlife will be provided because God is going to change their nature, God is going to establish an environment of protection for mankind so that they can live the hundred year period to learn to know God, come to understand God's ways.

Verse 25 – The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the LORD. So here we have this period of time of protection that God is going to provide for one hundred years.

If you'd like to turn to John 7. Jesus Christ kept the Feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day. He revealed the spiritual intent of this eighth day. John 7:37 – On the last day, that great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. So here we have an example of the physical being used to point to a spiritual matter.

Verse 38 – He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart, out of his inner thinking, will flow rivers of living water. Now, when they heard this they must have thought that He was insane really, because "What do You mean, 'out of His heart will flow rivers of living water?"

Verse 39 – But this He spoke concerning the spirit, which those believing in Him would receive; after the Day of Pentecost in  31 AD, for the holy spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. So these statements reveal the purpose of this eighth day, this day of salvation for the vast majority of mankind. Mankind, once resurrected back to physical life, will first desire to know God, desire to have God dwell in them. This is a time, a hundred year period, when mankind has access to God's holy spirit. And we've seen through the Millennium that one of the big promises is that God will pour out His spirit. Well, this same event will happen during the hundred years, where God will pour out His spirit. God's spirit will be poured out in them and God can begin to transform the thinking of mankind.

Isn't it a wonderful thing that Jesus Christ was revealing there, that mankind would now have the opportunity to know God. They would turn to Jesus Christ and come to understand the Passover sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God would pour out His spirit and now out of their inner mind, out of their thinking will flow God's spirit! Isn't it a wonderful picture!

Isaiah 55:1 – Ho! Everyone who thirsts, they thirst for God's ways, come to the waters, and that's symbolic of God's spirit; and you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk, buy the truth, because it's something that we can't buy with money, it's a gift of God. This knowledge, this way of life is a gift from God. Without money and without price. The holy spirit is a gift from God and it cannot be purchased.

Verse 2 – Why do you spend money on what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Don't focus on the physical, is what's being said. Listen carefully to Me, says God, and eat what is good, spiritual food, and let your life delight itself in abundance, the abundance of the beauty of knowing God's ways, truth, spiritual understanding, understanding spiritual matters and bearing spiritual fruit, living love towards all.

Verse 3 – Incline your ear and come to Me. Hear, listen to God; it's talking about repent, listen to God and repent, and your life shall live; and I will make an everlasting agreement with you - the sure mercies of David.

Verse 4 - Indeed I have given him, and it's talking about David as a spirit being, as a witness to the people, a leader and a commander for the people. Now, it was on a physical level that God achieved this but He's also achieving it on a spiritual level, and those resurrected in the hundred years will be able to see the very fact that David as a spirit being is a witness to the people of God's great power, what God has achieved in and through David. Surely you, Israel, and it can be physical Israel but also spiritual Israel, shall call a nation you do not know, and the nations who do not know you shall run to you, Why? because of the LORD your God, and the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you. So it is because of the glory that God has placed in Israel by the power of His holy spirit.

Our glory and the glory of any nation or peoples is to have God dwelling in them; God's thinking in our thinking is our glory. In the last hundred years people will begin to see spiritually and will seek to be of God! ...seek to be glorified, because we all desire to have the glory of God in us which is God's mind in us.

Verse 6 – Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. So this is a period of time which is limited to a hundred years. There is a time when they have to seek God and there is a limited time. And how do they do this? Let the wicked/Let the sinner forsake his way, let the sinner begin to repent and fight his own selfish thinking; and the uprighteous man his thoughts; start to fight the inner thinking, their wrong thinking. Let him return to the LORD, let him repent, and He will have mercy on him; And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. And this is the purpose of the hundred years: forgiveness is now offered to all mankind, they now have access to God's spirit and now they can repent on a spiritual level and God says that He will forgive them.

What is it that mankind must come to see spiritually during the last hundred years? And this is the process that we are going through now and that all going forward will come to see, this very fact. Verse 8 – It's God saying... For My thoughts, God's thoughts, are not your thoughts, they're not human thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are My ways, God's ways, higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isn't it a wonderful thing to come to know that our natural carnal mind is hostile against God and that God's thoughts are nothing like our thoughts, they are poles apart.

Isaiah 12:1 – And in that day you will say: O LORD, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me,

Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.

Verse 3 – Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. So this is about receiving the holy spirit, because this is the only way that we can enter Elohim, spiritual salvation. So we're going to 'draw the waters' it's saying here; so they're going to 'draw the waters from the wells of salvation'. It's talking about the holy spirit.

Verse 4 – And in that day you will say: Praise the LORD, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted. Now, everyone resurrected during this period, everyone will talk about God's great power, which is revealed in them by the fact that they were resurrected back to a physical life.

Verse 5 – Sing to the LORD, For He has done excellent things; This is known in all the earth. Isn't that incredible? The whole earth will know about the glory of God, about what God has done. People will begin to know God.

Verse 6 – Cry out and shout, O inhabitants of Zion, this can be referring to the 144,000 and others who are part of the second resurrection to spirit; for Great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst! And that can be both ways! We know that God dwells in the 144,000 and those that are turned to spirit, but God also dwells in the midst of Israel, physical Israel at this time because it's on a spiritual level that God dwells in them.

2 Chronicles 7; We're going to look now at 2 Chronicles 7:1 which is referring to a time when Solomon had finished dedicating the temple. 2 Chronicles 7:1 – When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house.

Verse 3 – When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying: For He is good, for His mercy endures forever. And really, the hundred years is a reflection and the establishment and the revealing of God's great mercy to mankind.

Verse 4 – Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

Now we will see why the eighth day is so important in God's plan of salvation. Verse 6 – And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the LORD, which King David had made to praise the LORD, saying, For His mercy endures forever, whenever David offered praises by their ministers, the priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood. So this eighth day really pictures the great mercies of God, God's great mercy towards mankind.

Drop down to verse 8 – At that time Solomon kept the Feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt. And on the eighth day they held a sacred assembly, as commanded in Leviticus 23, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the Feast seven days.

Verse 10 – On the twenty-third day, and that is after the eighth day, which is on the ninth day, so the eighth day has now finished, of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the LORD had done for David, for Solomon, and for all the house of Israel. From that we can see the importance of the eighth day. It is a beautiful time because it is a time of God's great mercy pointing to salvation, God's purpose for mankind.

If you'd like to turn to Revelation 20. God has the power to give physical life again a second time. Revelation 20...Now, this knowledge, brethren, gives us great peace when we have family members or those around us that we know that die, and we know that they do not have a consciousness but they are awaiting this second resurrection. And I have a mother and father that are both waiting a second resurrection, and it is a great peace that comes to mind because I know that they have an opportunity to come to know God.

Revelation 20:11 – And I saw a great white throne, the last great day of mankind, and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

Verse 12 – And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, this is referring to all who have ever lived and died will be resurrected at this time, those forgotten in time and those that have been forgotten in history, but also those who are remembered in history by the books that are written about mankind's history; and the books/the Bible were opened. So these are the books of the Bible, are now opened and made available to them, that these people can now understand what God is referring to in scripture, and it's all done by the power of God's spirit.

Continuing on there... And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of these things, which were written in the books, according to their works. It is now a time for judgment, a time for their minds to be opened to the truth, a time to be given a calling by God to enter into a spiritual relationship with Him. It is a time that all those resurrected must choose whether or not they want to walk in God's ways. That's a choice that mankind is going to be given.

Verse 13 – And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and the grave delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man according to his works. They were judged over this hundred year period.

During this hundred year period everyone will have the opportunity to choose and live God's way of life, they can become part of the God Family, the Family of God, the Kingdom of God, born as spirit beings just as the 144,000, just as those changed to spirit at the second resurrection were.

So, who is it that's going to be in that second resurrection? Christ refers to some of this. Matthew 12:41, and this is Christ speaking... The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment, now Christ is referring here to the peoples of Nineveh, which is back in the time of course that we know that Nineveh was a city and Jonah visited that very city. Well, 'all of those people of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment', during this hundred year period, they'll be given a second life... with this generation, the time where Christ was at that time speaking to the nation of Israel there, and condemn it, and why will they condemn it? Why will they speak against it? ...because they repented, and they repented on a physical level, at the preaching of Jonah; God had sent Jonah to preach to them and the people of Nineveh repented on a physical level and realized the seriousness of what was being said; and indeed a greater than Jonah, Jesus Christ, is here. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was there preaching to the people of Israel there and of course they didn't repent, they didn't turn – not even on a physical level; they didn't turn.

Verse 42 – Others that will be in the resurrection...And the queen of the South will rise up in the judgment, and the generations with them, with this generation and condemn it, so she's going to speak and say, "Why didn't you change? Surely what you heard, the message you heard, surely you would have realized that something was wrong with you!" But no. ...and she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; to come and hear God's thinking, the thinking of God, the mind of God, the ways of God... and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. Jesus Christ with the very mind of God, the Word of God made flesh was there. Billions will be raised back to physical life from the time of Adam and Eve until the last human death. So it's all of mankind that has died during that 7,000 year period.

Now, there are some that won't be resurrected because they have committed the unpardonable sin. And we haven’t got time to go into all of that but it's basically a willful deliberate unrepented sin – they do not want God's way, they've already made a choice and they will not be resurrected at this second resurrection to be given an opportunity, they have already been judged.

During this hundred year period God provides protection. The purpose of the hundred years is to create Elohim. Isaiah 11:6; now this is a period where God is giving mankind the opportunity to choose His ways for the purpose of entering Elohim, which is God's purpose for mankind, the purpose of life. Isaiah 11:6 – The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lay down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. Now this is talking, of course, about a time of protection when the animals natures will be changed, they will no longer be vicious and attack humans.

Verse 7 – The cow and the bear shall graze, their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Verse 8 – The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. This spiritual knowledge will be available to mankind, and everyone will come to know God's way, spiritual knowledge, and at the beginning of the resurrection they're going to be given that opportunity and then to grow spiritually to bear fruit.

Verse 10 – And in that day, the hundred years, there shall be a Root of Jesse, Jesus Christ, the Anointed Messiah, who shall stand as a 'banner for the people'; now, this is 'where to go to see something, to follow', for the gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious. What is the resting place that is being referred to here? We and future humans ARE that resting place, the place God and Jesus Christ dwell! Isn't that a wonderful thing to know? Isn't that incredible spiritual knowledge to know?

Verse 11 – It shall come to pass in that day, the hundred years, that the LORD shall set His hand again the second time to recover/to redeem the remnant of His people who are left, the rest of the dead. From Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. Then it's virtually talking about everyone that has existed will be taken out of a spiritual bondage. He will set up a banner for the nations, Jesus Christ is that banner, and He will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the despised of Judah from the four corners of the earth. So brethren, we can see this is a wonderful time.

Now, there is something physical that does point to the spiritual. Physical circumcision on the eighth day has spiritual meaning. We understand that the physical events of the Old Testament all have spiritual meaning. Under the Old Testament agreement, which was about physical and spiritual promises, a male child was to be circumcised on the eighth day as a sign of the agreement. Under the New Testament agreement, which is about spiritual promises, everyone must be circumcised in the heart, not in the flesh, not in the physical circumcision. This will apply to all that live in the eighth day. There is not a requirement of a physical circumcision but there is a requirement of a spiritual circumcision, the circumcision in the heart on the eighth day.

If we turn to Romans 2:25, and this is referring to physical circumcision is of no avail, it's actually of no value because God requires a circumcision of the heart; it's a spiritual matter. Romans 2:25 – For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law, now, we cannot keep the law without God's spirit; but if you are a breaker of the law, which we all are by nature, our human nature does break God's law because that's the way we have been created, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. In other words, it's pointless. So it's no point having a physical circumcision and not obeying God, there is no point to it because God requires us to obey Him in spirit and truth.

Verse 26 - Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, has God's spirit and lives faith, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? Yes! Because God requires obedience, God requires faith, and faith is what is accounted to us as righteousness.

Verse 27 – And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, in spirit and truth, judge you who even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? Well, yes it does, because it's really saying is that an uncircumcised person who has been called, has God's spirit and is faithful, points to the other person who may have been circumcised but does not have God's spirit and that is not faithful...Which one would God prefer? They are judged by their actions and deeds of lawlessness, judged by the way they live.

Verse 28 – For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;

Verse 29 - but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; it's the inner thinking, and the circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not of the latter, not the physical, whose praise is not from men but from God. They please God in the spirit. So really what this is saying is about under the New Testament agreement God required a circumcision of the heart, He does not require physical circumcision.

We can see from this account that to be physically circumcised profits nothing if we are not obedient to God's law, and we can only be obedient to God's law if we have God's spirit. God states that the circumcision is to be of the heart, the inner thinking, the intent of the mind in the spirit, in the attitude. Circumcision is a spiritual matter. So it's not about a physical circumcision. It's not required and it won't be required in the Millennium and it won't be required in the hundred years because God requires a circumcision of the heart, and that's what the eighth day points to.

Now if we look back at the promise we can see what circumcision was pointing to. Acts 7:8 – Then He/God gave him/Abraham the covenant/the agreement of circumcision, so there was this agreement that God had established with Abram, and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac begot Jacob and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. Now, let's look at the agreement that God made with Abram because it was physical and spiritual in nature.

The Last Great Day is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham. Genesis 17:1 – When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, I, Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless, without blemish.

Verse 2 – And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly. And this is part of the promise that would be given, part of that promise was that Abraham would have a large family and that the generations would continue and be exceedingly great...and God was going to do that through Abram.

Verse 3 – Then when Abram fell on his face and God talked to him, saying: As for Me/God, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. And that would be achieved through Isaac and then Jacob and then the twelve sons of Jacob.

Verse 5 – No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. It was God that was going to achieve this promise.

Verse 6 – I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. Now, this can be looked at a physical level; we know that from the physical level that it was king David. So this has happened on a physical and a spiritual level. King David was king of Israel on a physical level but he is also king of Israel on a spiritual level during the Millennium and the hundred years. And Jesus Christ is going to be King of kings at His return and He will be over all mankind as King of kings. So this promise of making kings and Kings will come from you has been fulfilled and will be fulfilled even more so on a spiritual level soon.

Verse 7 – And I will establish My covenant between Me, that's God speaking, and you and your descendants after you in your generations/in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, the land of Canaan, which is the promised land. So now we look at that on a physical level and a spiritual level; it was a physical promise which we are the inheritants of that promise, being, living in the western world, in America and other places, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. Now we understand that no matter what nationality we are when we are called we come into one Church, we are one Family, we are all children of God irrespective of our nationality, we are all begotten sons of God on a spiritual level because the promises are spiritual, therefore we are heirs of a spiritual promise, the promise that was given to Abraham.

We and those who live in the hundred years are heirs of the spiritual promised land, the Kingdom of God. That is our potential. It's about a spiritual promise of one day entering Elohim.

Verse 9 – And God said to Abraham: As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: What is the sign of that agreement? Every male child among you shall be circumcised; this is on a physical level.

Verse 11 – and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant/a sign of the agreement between Me/God and you. Physical circumcision was a sign of the agreement between God and Abraham, a sign of an agreement that God had made with Abraham. If someone was physically circumcised they were then sharers of the promise, heirs of the promise.

Now, since the death of Jesus Christ we are under a new agreement, a spiritual one. Spiritual circumcision, which is of the spirit, is the sign that we are sharers of the new promise, heirs of the Kingdom of God. Circumcision of the inner thinking is a sign of a spiritual agreement.

Verse 12 – He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your descendant. So there is an opportunity for all mankind to enter into this relationship with God, to be an inheritor of the promise on a physical level, but of course it points to the spiritual. This points to everyone that will be provided life on this eighth day, they will be circumcised spiritually. Everyone from the house of Abraham, the house of Israel, spiritual Israel, the Church of God, will come under the new agreement which is spiritual in and through Jesus Christ. If anyone refuses to be circumcised spiritually on this eighth day they cannot enter the household of God. Circumcision is of the heart, of the inner thinking.

Verse 13 – He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

Verse 14 – And the uncircumcised male child who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant. Isn't that an incredible thing when you look at it on a spiritual level?

The vast majority of mankind has not had the opportunity to be circumcised in the heart – they weren't called to it – therefore they could not enter into a spiritual agreement with God. Now, on this eighth day, they can be heirs of the promise. God, in His mercy, has established His agreement with them by resurrecting them back to a physical life to be circumcised on this eighth day, a circumcision of the heart for the purpose of them entering into a spiritual relationship with God. Because we can only enter this spiritual relationship with God, we can only be circumcised spiritually if we have God's spirit. God must pour out His spirit. And that's what He does on this eighth day. This eighth day is a spiritual sign that mankind has entered into a spiritual covenant, an agreement with God.

If you'd like to turn to Matthew 25. In the last hundred year period everyone will be required to seek God and develop Godly character, bear spiritual fruit. Now we can look at a particular parable, which we're looking here now, which is about the eighth day, the Last Great Day. Matthew 25:14... and we're going to read this in context of this Last Great Day, the 8th Day – For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them, his possessions.

Verse 15 – And one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. So this 'talent' of course is pointing to spiritual fruit that needs to be borne by each individual.

Verse 16 – Then he who received five talents went and traded with them, made another five talents. So he fought against his human nature, he repented before God, and he continued to be in a relationship with God and God dwelt in Him and God did the works in him.

Verse 17 – And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.

Verse 18 – But he who had received one went and dug it in the ground and hid his lord’s money. So he put in no effort to overcome his selfishness; he just relaxed and continued to live life as it was on a natural carnal mind. He was given an opportunity but he didn't use that opportunity that he had been given.

Verse 19 – After a long time, 'type' of the hundred years, the lord of the servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ In other words, he'd put in the effort to fight his own human nature.

Verse 21 – His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Enter into Elohim! Enter into life everlasting! Enter into the Kingdom of God!

Verse 22 – He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Again, enter into Elohim.

Verse 24 – Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you to would be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. Now, what he's really is... just making an excuse, he's justifying why he's put in no effort. He's got a totally wrong attitude and he hasn't put any effort towards overcoming himself. So here he is simply justifying his own spiritual laziness.

Verse 25 – And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours. So he made an excuse. He has the same natural carnal mind that he started out with. The purpose of physical life is to develop the mind, the thinking of God, to transform our thinking. Well, here is an example in a parable of someone that's made no effort during this period, and there is obviously a need for a second death, which means there is a need to destroy those who have not traded their talent. And this is pointing to this in a symbolic way. If you will not put any effort and fight yourself, if we are spiritually lazy – and this is referring to the hundred year period and now...God requires growth of us! We can't be lazy and do nothing! If God cannot dwell in us for the purpose of doing good works what value are we? And this applies to this hundred year period as well.

Verse 26 – But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I had not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. In other words, there is some spiritual growth, there is increase.

Verse 28 – Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. Why? Because he will produce fruit from it, he will produce something more from it, he's a productive... he's a faithful servant.

Verse 29 – For to everyone who has, has spiritual growth because of their inner desire to have God dwell in them, to complete good works, more will be given, they'll have the opportunity for more growth, and he will have abundance; he'll have more of God's mind dwelling in him; but from him who does not have, and this is talking about that lazy person, even what he has will be taken from him. There will be nothing left there, there will be totally nothing.

Verse 30 – And cast the unprofitable servant/the useless servant/the lazy servant into outer darkness. This is pointing to a second death. Where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There is going to be great regret about the decision that the person has made.

Verse 31 – When the Son of man, Jesus Christ, comes in His glory, on the Day of Pentecost, and all the holy angels with Him, then He sits on the throne of His glory, having great authority to judge during this last hundred years.

Verse 32 - All the nations will be gathered before Him, on this Last Great Day lasting one hundred years, and He will separate one from the other, and this is done over time, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. During this hundred year period of separation a separation of thinking will take place. It's going to be in the fact that those that are working to overcome themselves by the power of God's spirit and those that are doing nothing about doing it, about overcoming themselves. Those that overcome self, repentant sinners, and those who do not overcome themselves, unrepentant sinners, will be separated.

Verse 33 - And He will set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on the left. Sheep are a 'type' of repentant and sheep that follow His voice; and goats are unrepentant people and that do not follow His voice.

Verse 34 – Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: That's the purpose of life! Spirit life will now be given to them.

Verse 35 – For I was hungry and you gave Me food; and I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; and I was naked and you clothed Me; and I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. Now this is outline of living love. So during this period there are people that are going to live love. God's spirit will flow through them out to the benefit of others.

Verse 37 – Then the righteous, those that God's spirit has lived and dwelt in, will answer Him saying, Lord, we did not see You hungry or feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? And the King will answer and say, Assuredly, I say to you, insomuch as it is done to one of the least of these My brethren, because at that point, brethren, in the hundred years, everyone will be considered 'My brethren', because everyone will be part of the Church of God; you did it to Me. So this is inferring that there is a need there to love one another as God has commanded, and we can only do that with God's spirit.

Verse 41 – Then He will say to those on His left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: now, this is talking about destruction, there is a time of destruction coming.

Verse 42 – For I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me. In other words, they failed to love. Then they also will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You? So they're all virtually like a justification going on here, "What do you mean? If it had been you, Christ, and we had known it, we would have done it!" What it is is that they don't see Christ in people, they do not realize that God dwells in His people.

Verse 45 – Then He will answer them, saying, Assuredly, I say to you, insomuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, it's the second death, death for eternity, but the righteous into eternal life.

Now, there are other parables that refer to God's plan of salvation. Matthew 13:36 – Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. And He answered and said to them: He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

Verse 38 – The field is the world and the good seeds are the sons of the Kingdom, those called into a relationship with God; but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. These are people that are conformed but not transformed, because that's what's required. We're not to conform to things we are to transform our thinking.

Verse 39 – The enemy who sowed them, the tares, is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age, the end of 7,100 years of man, and the reapers are the angels.

Verse 40 – Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire so it is to be at the end of this age. Now this is talking about a gehenna fire, a final destruction. They're to be burned in gehenna fire at the end of 7,100 years.

Verse 41 – The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His Kingdom on earth all things that offend/cause to stumble and those who practice lawlessness, those who practice sin, and will cast them, these unrepentant sinners, into the furnace of fire, into a second death. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Verse 43 – Then the righteous, those that God dwells in, will shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father, they'll be in Elohim, in the Family of God moving forward to a future that has yet fully been revealed. It's going to be an incredible future that is for eternity. He who has ears, let him hear!

The indications are that God will change those that He establishes as righteous into spirit beings into His Family, then He will destroy the wicked by way of a burning fire.

Matthew 13:47 – Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, all nations and all people's it's talking about, which when it was full they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels but threw the bad ones away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the just, and cast them into a furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Psalms 21:8 – Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The LORD shall swallow them up in wrath, and the fire shall devour them.

Verse 10 – Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth, and their descendants from among the sons of men.

Verse 11 – For they intended evil against You; they devised a plot which they are not able to perform.

Revelation 20. That was referring to those the destruction of those that want to fight against God, fight against God by not allowing God and Jesus Christ to dwell in them, and their end is death – because that is merciful, that is the best thing that could happen to them because they're only going to be unhappy if they were to remain alive.

Revelation 20:7 – Now, this is a summary of events. Now when the thousand years had expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. So there is a large percentage of the earth's population involved here.

Verse 9 – They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp, the assembly of the saints, the assembly of the holy and the beloved City, which is Jerusalem, the headquarters of God's spiritual government. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

Verse 10 – The devil, who deceived them, deceived these nations that have come up to fight, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, to be destroyed, where the beast, and this is not about a man as we know, this is symbolic of Babylon, a system of government, and the false prophet, which is not a man but false religion, all false religion. ...and will be tormented day and night forever and ever. And this torment, of course, is death, it's death that lasts forever.

This points to a complete separation from God – death, complete destruction. Satan, along with man's system of Babylon, the Babylonian system of government and all false religion will never exist ever again. They will be totally destroyed!

Let's look at Psalm 11:4 – The LORD is in His holy Temple; and we know that to be the Church where God's spirit dwells, God's people, The LORDS throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. This is referring to the fact that nothing can be hidden from God. The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the ones that love violence, His soul hates.

Verse 6 – Upon the wicked He will rain coals, fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright. This Psalm is referring back now to basically there is a time of destruction for the wicked, unrepentant sinners.

Now we have during this period of one hundred years where man has been resurrected, they have great opportunity to know God's way, and we understand also from the Millennial period that there's been a thousand years of a reconstruction, of people living God's way of life, and they've had that opportunity. Now with the resurrection of everyone else that has ever died they have that opportunity to now have a second life, an opportunity to know God, because they never had that before. Now they're going to have to live life, live the way God desires them to live.

Now, it will be a lot easier because Satan is not there, but the most important part is that there are choices to be made. They still have to resist and fight their own selfishness, and that is a battle within itself. But this is going to be simpler because God's way will permeate the earth and the fact that the 144,000 and those that have been resurrected at the second resurrection will be there to help and support. So we can see a wonderful time, a wonderful environment when man will be given the opportunity to enter Elohim.

And in some ways it's difficult to fully understand how man could choose not to want to live God's way but there are going to be some that are not going to desire to live God's way and going to allow their selfishness to rule them. And the best thing for them is that they are put into a final fire, that they face eternal death, death forever.

John 15, and we're just going to look at a few scriptures that confirm this second death. John 15:6 – If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned. Now, we understand that this parable of the vine and the vinedresser, it's really talking about being spiritually connected, having God and Jesus Christ dwell in us. Now, if we're not connected to the vine, if we don't have God's spirit we cannot remain alive. And here this parable is referring to that if we are cut off, if we're disconnected from the vine, if we don't have a relationship with God and Jesus Christ, the best thing that can happen to us is that we're gathered up and that we would be thrown into a fire, and it's pointing to a second death, because that is merciful. Because why would God allow a being of any type to exist in hostility and rebellion against Him, because he can't be happy, the being, the human, cannot be happy in their own selfishness. Because God is love and if you're not love, what are we brethren? We are hate, we end up in violence because there are only two ways of life – God's way or anything that is in opposition to God's way.

Luke 3:9 – And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. This same principle applies to the thousand years but it also applies to the hundred years, because if we do not bear good fruit, if we do not have God's spirit dwelling in us, that lives and flows out to the benefit of others, what good are we? We are best to be destroyed. Now, that principle has applied since 31 AD, that all have been required to bear fruit, and to bear good fruit, to bear the thinking, the mind, the power of God in us living out to the benefit of other, which is to love others.

Drop down to verse 16 – referring to John the Baptist – John answered saying to all, I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire, now the religions of the world misunderstand this, but it is referring to the fact that Jesus Christ made the way available through His death and sacrifice of Himself, but on behalf of mankind so that sin could be covered, that the holy spirit would be poured out on the Day of Pentecost on 31 AD, but also, if we reject that spirit we will be baptized in fire, we will be immersed in fire, which is a second death. His willowing fan in His hand and He will thoroughly cleanse out His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. In other words, it will burn, it won't be put out. It will burn until it extinguishes itself because there is no more fuel for the fire.

Revelation 21:7 – He who overcomes shall inherit all things, referring to spiritual inheritance. It's going to be so exciting to have that opportunity to enter into Elohim and then to live with God and Jesus Christ and with all the other spirit beings that are now having God's mind, having God dwell in them, thinking righteously, that we will inherit all things that God has created and things that we are not even aware of, we have no idea what exists in a spirit realm yet alone what exists in a physical realm. We have no idea what God's plan really is for all of mankind. We have a very dark outline of what we believe could be happening, but really if God has existed for eternity and we are going to be given life everlasting where there is no death, can you imagine what is planned for us, what God's plans are for us? It's going to be amazing!

...and I, God, will be His God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murders, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Here it's really referring to a sinner, an unrepentant sinner who commits these things, in the sense of their thinking, their attitudes, their choices, their best outcome is to face the second death because evil must be destroyed, evil thinking must be destroyed.

Jude 1:5 – But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the LORD, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. This is referring to being called out of a spiritual bondage – if we turn back we face the potential of a second death because that's what the people did. They were called out of Egypt and they were then destroyed in the wilderness because they did not believe God, they would not follow God, they murmured and complained, but the main point was they just would not believe God, and therefore God said that all of those over a particular age would never enter the promised land.

So it's something on a spiritual level for us to remember, that we have been called out of this world, out of the land of Egypt, out of sin, and we now believe God. And the purpose of life is to continue to believe God, to be in unity with God, unity of doctrine. Same principle applies during the hundred years where people have been resurrected, they've been called or drawn out of the bondage that they are in, their spiritual bondage of their mind, they have to leave Egypt, they have to leave sin behind and they have to continue to believe God. Now, it will be a lot easier for them.

What Jude is referring back here saying, well, just remember that God in His mercy destroyed them because they wouldn't believe.

Verse 6 – and gives some more examples here, But I want to remind you, and the angels who did not keep their proper domain but left their own abode, He/God has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, so they are in spiritual darkness in the sense of they have no truth in them at all, for the of the great day, that final destruction.

An example is, verse 7 – As Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality, and it's referring to sin, unlawful relationships physically and spiritually, and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. They are an example of what sin earns. Sin earns death, and if sin is unrepented of the end result is destruction, total destruction.

The third resurrection to spirit is followed by a second death. At the end of the hundred years God will change all those that have been granted the gift of eternal life from physical to spirit, then follows the destruction of all those who have refused to repent. Those who refuse to repent by the end of the hundred years will die a second death – death for all eternity. The second death is a sign of God's great mercy towards His creation. God's judgment on those who do not want to be part of His Family is not eternal torment but death for eternity. It is a punishment that will last for all eternity, it is death, never to be resurrected to life again, an eternal punishment.

There is much we do not know or understand about this period of time, but we do get a small glimpse of it from scripture. Revelation 20. There is much we don't know, brethren, also with regards to the hundred years. We simply don't. We have very broad outlines and there is much to be revealed about God's plan through the Millennium and the hundred year period, and of course then life everlasting, what it's really going to be like.

Revelation 20:14 – this is referring to after the hundred years. And death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Verse 15 – And whoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. And it's referring to the final destruction of mankind that has...the final destruction of mankind that is in rebellion to God, that have chosen to be against God.

Matthew 10:28 – And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul/the life. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both life and body in gehenna, 'in hell' it says but it's actually 'gehenna'. What this is referring to is that when we look at society we shouldn't fear what man can say or man can do to us, because it doesn't really matter if for example we lost our life, as long as we are in the faith. Because to lose our physical life because of death caused by mankind doesn't really matter, God says we should learn to fear Him and the reason we should fear and respect God and obey God is that He is able to destroy both our life physically and our body physically in a gehenna fire – in other words, destroy us for eternity, whereas man cannot do that. Man does not have the power to destroy, to take life from us, because God is all mighty and God is the one who has the power of life and death, and on a spiritual level it's the same. God has the power to give spiritual life, and that's what we seek, brethren, we seek spiritual life.

2 Peter 3:7 – But the heavens and the earth are now preserved by the same word, by God, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition/destruction of ungodly men. The second death at the end of 7,100 years of human life will take place.

Well, brethren, this 8th Day, this Last Great Day of the Feast points to the spiritual fulfillment of God's promises, the promises to Abraham, and those promises to Abraham are that mankind will be given the opportunity to be circumcised in the heart on the 8th Day. What a time of rejoicing this day is! And we should take it seriously, brethren. It is a great time of joy but it is also a time to consider what rebellion, what sin earns. Sin earns death, and that is actually an act of God's great mercy.   ~~~end