The Signs – Pt. 2

Wayne Matthews

October 12, 2014 – 5th FOT Sermon

Welcome, everybody, to another part of this Feast of Tabernacles. We hope you are having an uplifting Feast this year.

In Part 1 of The Signs we looked at the various signs that would take place in the Millennium, things that needed to happen in the Millennium just as they are today, these signs. In the Millennium there will be signs that will declare and provide evidence that will be seen of who is a true worshipper of God. Anybody that is a true worshipper of God will be worshipping God in spirit—they will have dedicated their thinking to God and be yielding to God's holy spirit, which is this worshipping God in spirit—and in truth. So it has to be as God has outlined. We have to worship God as God says, not the way we think, not using our natural carnal mind.

The title of this sermon is The Signs, and this will be Part 2.

The purpose of this sermon is to explore the signs that God has stated in His Word, that a true follower (or worshipper) of God would demonstrate during the Millennium, during the last Hundred-Years (which is the Last Great Day). So these signs that people will demonstrate, that they will live, they will not change during that whole period of 1,100 years.

Now, in Part 1 we looked at those signs and we looked at only four elements of the various signs, and the first one was a person would actually believe God. They will actually believe the truth that is given to them through God, through Jesus Christ, through the 144,000, through God's Church. Because the reality is that the Church of God on this earth today, the Church of God—PKG, it is God's Church. It doesn't belong to anybody else. It is God's Church. This is where God develops a person, transforms a person, transforms a person's thinking so that they can, at one point in time (according to God's will), enter a spirit life (enter Elohim) to take on the very thinking (the mind) of God, to be at-one, to be at-one with God. So that very first sign has to be demonstrated. Somebody must believe God. They must believe the truth.

Another sign was, and we looked at this in a little bit more detail, which was a person will love the brethren. They will actually demonstrate their love by sacrificing just as God has sacrificed, just as Jesus Christ has sacrificed for us. Well, an individual, today, a member of the Body of Christ, and during that 1,100 years, to demonstrate a sign that they are of God, they will love the brethren. They'll actually be living this by sacrificing their attitudes, sacrificing their own desires to the benefit of others. They'll desire the best for another person.

Now, the best way that we could explain true love to another person would be that we will desire they remain in a state of repentance because that is desiring the best for them. Because the truth is, the reality is that the best thing for any human is that they are given the gift of repentance, that they are called into a relationship with God, that they believe God, and they set their minds to obey God. They have their sins washed clean through baptism, and they come up and they receive God's holy spirit so that they can walk in a spiritual way of life. They can now live by the spirit of the law. They can live in spirit and in truth because it is God's spirit that empowers anybody to have this ability to live by the spirit of the law.

So this love of the brethren is this desire that God grant a person repentance and that the person yields to God's holy spirit. And that is loving the brethren. That is loving another person. We desire that all men be given repentance. We love them! We desire the best for them. And the best for them is that they stay in a state of repentance, they're given repentance and remain in it, that they yield to the thinking of God.

The other sign that we looked at briefly was obedience to God's word. There has to be this obedience to God's word, and we're going to look at that in a little bit more detail today, about this obedience to God's word and how the natural carnal mind does not want to and it cannot yield to God. The truth is, the reality is that man left to himself does not want God in his life.

Now, the religions of the world may say otherwise, that they want God in their life, but the truth is they demonstrate (the sign is) that they don't. Because if they did want God in their life they would be able to turn to Leviticus 23 (which we're going to do in a moment) and they would be obedient to God's word. They would actually yield themselves to the way that God demonstrates, that God says that a man should live.

And point four, and we will look at point 4 in more detail as we proceed further in more sermons, which is to take personal responsibility. Now, this is a key to life, this taking of personal responsibility. And today's sermon we will touch on this topic, about, (1) obedience to God's word, and (2) taking personal responsibility and what it really means.

So we're going to start, first of all, by looking at Genesis 3. And Genesis 3 is an area where we see the nature of man, that man really doesn't want God involved in his life. Man doesn't really want to listen to God, and man will justify why he does anything. Man's nature is one of justifying or defending the self.

If we start in Genesis 3:11, and we understand that Satan has arrived, because he is "more cunning than any beasts of the field," because he is spirit and he has choice, and the animals of the creation, they're not more cunning than Satan. Satan is more cunning because he is spirit and he has choice. They are physical and they don't have choice. They have instinct. They're "after their own kind."

Satan has now tempted, enticed Adam and Eve to sin, and he worked through Eve to get to Adam, and he appealed to their base nature, the natural carnal mind, which is that "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." That's what Satan uses. That's how he entices the natural mind to rebel, to go against, to not yield to God's way of life. And we see that both Adam and Eve had yielded to this enticing to sin and they both ate of the fruit that God had said, they had eaten of the tree that God said that they shouldn't, because they had desired to be wise in their own eyes, to make decisions of what was right and wrong based on their understanding. They desired "to be like God." That's what they really desired, just as Satan had desired when he was called "Lucifer." He desired to be like God. And then God changed his name to represent what he was, which is "the destroyer," because he is out to destroy.

Now, with the removal of Satan from this earth at the return of Jesus Christ on the Day of Pentecost—which is rapidly approaching to that very day—it is going to be very exciting, because man will be then made free, free from this bondage that they are held by, which is this resistance and the transmitting that comes through the mind that resists. And man, by nature, doesn't want God. Well, how much more does man not want to be told what to do, and how much more will man justify his thinking by Satan's enticing, by the broadcasting to the mind?

So we will pick it up in Genesis 3:11—And He (God) said, Who told you that you were naked? Because prior to this they were actually physically naked and it wasn't a problem to their mind, to their thinking. In other words, their mind had not become polluted by human reasoning and by the thought process that Satan now transmits to mankind. They hadn't actually had that. But now they've actually sinned and now they have a different thinking. Their thinking has changed. They no longer have sound judgement. They no longer rely on God's direction, God's instruction about what is right and wrong.

So, Who told you that you were naked? Question. Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat? So this was a command based out of love for them that God had told them that they shouldn't partake of the tree because it would lead somewhere. It would lead to (potentially) a spiritual death. Because in some ways, now, they're going to be cut off from God's holy spirit, and being cut off from God's holy spirit means that we cannot have life—not true life—living and dwelling in us.

Verse 12—Then the man said, now, this is the way man is today, and this still continues during this current period of 6,000 years, and this is something that man has to learn about himself, and he has to learn to yield to God's spirit to change this defending of the self, And the man said, The woman, now, he's blaming Eve, whom You gave to be with me, so there's a double whammy there, really. He's saying, (Adam is saying, the man is saying), "the woman," in other words, "It's the woman's fault. It's not my fault."

"Whom You gave to be with me." Now, there's an implication there that it was God's fault because if God hadn't given Adam "the woman Eve," this wouldn't have happened. So he's justifying himself. He's refusing to take personal responsibility for the decision that he made, and that was to eat of the fruit of the tree which Eve had taken—that he agreed with Eve and he did it. So he was weak and he didn't stand for God's way. So he is now defending himself. He's justifying himself by blaming the woman first and referring that it was possibly, more than likely, it's actually God's fault because God gave him the woman. And now he goes on and blames the woman... she gave me of the tree, and I ate. "I don't take personal responsibility for myself. I'm protecting my image, who I really am. I'm justifying my action... I'm justifying my action."

Verse 13—And the LORD God said to the woman, What is it that you have done? This is a question directly to Eve, and The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. Now, she now transfers the responsibility to Satan. "It was Satan's fault because he deceived me! He tricked me and I ate! I did it because I was made to do it, because I was deceived! I was tricked! I'm now justifying myself. I don't take personal responsibility for the decision that I made," because the reality is Adam and Eve had a decision. But we understand that Satan is more powerful than any human. Satan is wiser than any human with regards to the way he thinks. He knows so much more about a spirit realm. He knows so much more about many things that have pre-existed before we existed, and he lived in that realm. So he actually knows a lot, and his wisdom is not God's wisdom. He has a cunningness. He is crafty. And he is setting out to destroy, and therefore, he has this wisdom because it's stronger than humans, stronger than the natural carnal mind, but he does not have the wisdom of God...and nor does mankind. Mankind has a natural carnal mind.

So now Eve is saying "it was the serpents fault, and I don't take any personal responsibility!" So both humans that were alive at that point actually blamed somebody else. Adam blamed Eve—blamed another human—and then Eve blames a spirit being (the serpent, Satan) for her action. So both now are refusing to take personal responsibility for what actually took place.

Now, there's a big lesson in this for us, brethren. That we have to learn to come to see on a spiritual level that justifying is selfishness and justifying is simply defending the self, and justifying is sin. Justifying is sin. It's like, "Yeah, but..." The "yeah, but..." This excuse for sin. So when we sin, there IS no excuse, because we yielded to it. We gave into "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life," one of those three things entered our thinking and we defended ourselves. We defended our image by justifying sin. So whenever we sin we have to be very careful not to justify it, but to admit it and repent before God, repent for what we are, the way we are, and admit to God we don't want to be like this anymore.

So this level of justification is based on human nature. This "not taking personal responsibility" for our thoughts, words, and actions is a normal, natural thing. This is the way we are. Now, we can "see" from this scripture there's a lot to learn in it. And the first thing is to admit this is the way we are; just admit that this is the way we are. There's nothing wrong in admitting "this is the way we are." This is the way we are created! Now, just admitting that is the beginning of a process of the desire to change, because if we don't admit that we justify, if we don't admit we've got pride, how will we ever change? Because we're not admitting it! We're refusing to admit what God has created in us. We're actually denying God. We're actually calling God a liar! So the moment we turn around and say that we don't justify ourselves and that we don't have sin, we're calling God a liar, because God says we justify ourselves, we defend ourselves, we have "the pride of life," we have "the lust of the eyes, and the lusts of the flesh." This is the way we are. Now, if we deny that we are actually denying God's word because He tells us something different.

So, let's now turn to Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23 is God's Word, and this is God's plan of salvation for mankind. Now, mankind will justify why he is not going to keep what God says because mankind does not want God. And the reason mankind, at the end of 6,000 years, is going to enter this period of tribulation, this great distress that is going to come upon mankind, is all for the purpose, the reason of humbling. Mankind has to be humbled to "see" what he really is, because mankind's nature, this justifying, not taking accountability, not taking any responsibility for our thoughts, words, and actions, is the problem within mankind.

Now, mankind does not want God in his life, and the evidence of that can be clearly seen because somebody that wants God in their life will be keeping all of Leviticus 23 in spirit and truth. But mankind—mainly because of Simon Magus who was influenced by Satan, who formed the Roman Catholic church, formed a council of Nicaea in 325 AD that changed all of the things of God in the sense of Leviticus 23, because now God's Holy Days became "holidays." They became religious worship of a false god, and that false god is actually Satan. Mankind, not knowing it, because they don't keep God's Holy Days is actually worshipping themselves, but they're also worshipping Satan, what Satan has instituted in the world.

Now, the 6,000 year period is soon coming to an end and we're going to usher in a new period called 1,100 years, and in that period Leviticus 23 is going to be a core foundation teaching for all of mankind. This is where it begins. This is where a calling begins. It begins here.

Now, in Leviticus 23:3, the very foundation of this re-education system that has to take place in the Millennium, because it is a re-education, because man's mind is polluted. He doesn't want God. Well, God's going to show him and reveal to him that he now has come through this process of being humbled, and those that live into the Millennium may now have an ear and a desire to know what has taken place and why it is that this has happened. Because their nature is one of rejecting God; they don't want God in their life. Well, now God's going to humble them, to bring them to the point of now, here it is, "This is a sign you are now having to show, to demonstrate to Me (to God) and to others that you are of Me and that your heart and your inner thinking is directed towards Me (Yahweh Elohim), the one true God." And it all starts here in Leviticus 23:3—Six days shall work be done. Well, in the Millennium people are going to have to learn to work for a period of time. And in that period of time they're going to have to learn a new approach to business, a new approach to working... a new approach. And that attitude is completely different than the one that exists today, because today's society is built on get at any expense, and it doesn't matter whether a product is harmful to someone else. It just depends how much margin (or how much profit) is in it. So all the chemicals that are poured into products to give them long shelf life is actually not good for humans. It has polluted the bodies of mankind, and hence, because the body is breaking down it affects the mind. It affects the thinking.

So now society as we see it has to be changed, has to be humbled, has to be brought down, has to be collapsed, totally brought down to zero so that God then can start afresh, to re-educate over 1,100 years, to re-educate the thinking of mankind. And it will start here in Leviticus 23:3—Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath, it's a solemn rest, a holy convocation. Now, this is a command to assemble before God, and you have to assemble before God in spirit, because it's an attitude. It's about a relationship with God. We can work on the six days and work to build families, work to earn a living, and to share and to give and to support others, but on this day, this is the day of re-education. This is one of the most important things that God has done because He has created the Sabbath for man and not man for the Sabbath.

Because the Jews have misunderstood why the Sabbath exists, and if we misunderstand why the Sabbath exists it actually turns into an idol, and therefore, all the rules and regulations of a Sabbath day become a pollution of the thinking because that's not what the Sabbath is about. The Sabbath is a re-education of the mind, and it all starts powered by God's holy spirit. So anybody that keeps a Sabbath without God's holy spirit, what good is it? It's a day of rest. That's probably the "good" of it. And there is a blessing for resting on that particular day, but if it's involving rules and regulations of all these physical things, without the spirit of the law involved, without the spirit of the matter, the spirit of the Sabbath, it becomes just that, a physical exercise. But God created the Sabbath for a spiritual reason, and it is about resting the body physically, but also to learn, to be re-educated by the power of God's holy spirit, by the inspiration of God, to be re-educated, to transform the mind.

That is the "why" of the Sabbath, the beauty of the Sabbath day. Now, this is the beginning of how man is going to be re-educated during the Millennium. It is a Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. So this is going to be right across everywhere. Now, there will be people (as we understand from scripture) that won't keep the Sabbath, that will not come up and worship God on the Holy Days. And God says there is going to be a physical consequence for that. Because they're not keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days in spirit and in truth, God says they're going to pay a penalty. They will have to suffer physically to shock the mind. They're going to have to have correction so that they can be brought back into a relationship with God.

Leviticus 23:33—dropping down now to the Feast of Tabernacles. Then the LORD said to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of the seventh month, which is on God's holy calendar, God's calendar, the way He created time. And the way He created this time was for the purpose of the days that we should worship Him, special days that reveal God's plan for mankind. So, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles. Seven days to the LORD. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, which we've had. We've had this gathering on the first day of the Feast, you shall do no customary/ordinary work on it, so this is not a day of work. This is a day of rest and of education, education in the spirit of God's word, the way God wants us to think, the way that God wants to transform our thinking, from this justifying selfish attitude, of one that takes no responsibility for its thoughts, words, or actions, to one that now understands that justifying is sin, and that will now take personal responsibility (because we've been given choice). And if we do yield to God's holy spirit we will gather before God and we will gather for the purpose of a re-education, a transforming of the mind.

For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. Now, in the Old Testament it was physical. They were sacrifices. Well, we have to now sacrifice during these seven days. We have to learn, during these seven days to actually sacrifice the self. We are to sacrifice our desires and work towards satisfying the desires of others. In other words, it comes down to disciplining the self, this self-management, the managing of our selfishness, and we sacrifice that selfish desire, these desires that live within us to please the self. We put them to death. We sacrifice them so that others will be benefitted.

Now, this requires God's holy spirit. To be able to sacrifice for seven days, to sacrifice our own desires for seven days requires God's holy spirit, because the motivation behind it has to be from God. It cannot be just a physical thing that comes from the natural carnal mind because it would be selfish sacrificing. Now, selfish sacrificing is very possible from humans (because they don't even understand it), but they're sacrificing for benefit to self. It's about the "lust of the flesh, the pride of life," and also "the lust of the eyes." It's about being seen or it's about lifting up the inner thinking. "Look at me! I'm doing well, myself," because it has that potential.

Well, God is saying here we're to come before God for this seven-day period to worship Him, to learn to sacrifice using God's holy spirit as our motivation, who inspires us to do these things.

On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It shall be a sacred assembly and you shall do no customary work on it. So we are to now look at this "solemn assembly," this period of a solemn assembly on the eighth day. When we get to that we will see that this is about a demonstration of God's plan of mercy, how God lives mercy through His plan. And His whole plan is about mercy.

Now, in today's world and society, most people look for an excuse in life for their actions. Most people look to blame someone else or something else for their personal choices. People blame genetics, for example, the way their parents raise them, someone else's influence, or even Satan's influence. You might have heard the statement, "Satan made me do it." The reality is Satan can only entice somebody to do it, and if we give ourselves over to Satan, well, yes, we then become an instrument of Satan's thinking.

Now, people blame genetics. "I am this way..." "I am a serial killer because I'm missing one particular gene." There are millions of people that miss the same gene. It's only that that person chose to be a serial killer. They gave into the "enticing to sin." They gave into their selfishness and they enjoyed their selfishness. And other people would use, "Well, I was raised by my parents this way." Well, in the end we cannot blame our parents for our personal choices. Yes, we may have habits that have to be overcome, but in the end, to sin is a personal choice.

The truth is we are free moral agents and we are accountable for our choices. Within the Body of Christ we are free moral agents. We do have free choice. We have knowledge of sin. We have understanding of sin. And therefore, we are accountable. We are very accountable for our choices. No one can say within the Body of Christ somebody else made us do anything, "somebody else made me sin," which is what Adam and Eve did.

We're going to look at Ezekiel 18:1, and all being well, we'll get to verse 32—The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, What do you mean when you use this proverb, and "the proverb" there is "as saying or a byword." So here it is, Israel is using a particular phrase or this proverb because it has a meaning to it, concerning the land of Israel, which is all of the people that were called "Israel" at that time (the nations, the twelve tribes of Israel), saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? Now, this is going back, and we'll just look at this. "The fathers have eaten sour grapes," the fathers have made a free moral choice to eat a grape, and here this saying that the people are now using is, well, the fathers have eaten something. They've done something. They've done a particular action. Well, they've decided to take a particular action, and they're using the word "sour grapes" because that's what they chose to do. "And the children's teeth are set on edge." What they're really saying there is that the fathers have made a decision, made a choice to do something (and it involves sin) and it's the children that are paying the penalty. It's "the children's teeth that are set on edge." The father has eaten a sour grape and nothing's happened to them. There's nothing in the sense of a penalty that's come their way. They haven't tasted how bitter it really is because it is a sour grape. And they're saying that, well, it's the children that are inheriting or having to pay the price because the father's eaten the sour grapes—nothing happened to them—but hey, we're the ones (the children) who have their teeth set on edge. "Oh, it's bitter! Oh!" And when we look at "teeth being set on edge," if you ever eat anything that is sour or bitter, we pull a particular face and the teeth go together and we go, "Ugh!" because it's a terrible taste!

So this proverb. We're suffering because of previous decisions made by our fathers. The fathers have done something, but the children are the one that will pay the price. The children are the ones that are paying the penalty.

Now, God intervenes and corrects this proverb because it is wrong thinking. Verse 3—As I live, says the LORD GOD, you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. You're no longer to consider and not take personal responsibility. Now, the reason that they're no longer to use this, because everyone must take personal responsibility for their sins. The fathers can't cause us to sin. We can't blame our fathers for our choices.

Verse 4—Behold, all, and this is "nephesh," this word, all life are Mine, or "all lives are Mine," because God is saying here that "all are Mine." Everything that has ever been created, physical or spiritual, actually belong to God. God has control over them. Now, life, of and by itself, never existed before God created it. The life of the father, as well as the life of the son is Mine. So both belong to God because He is the Father, the Creator of all things. The life who sins shall die. Now, we understand this in the New Testament on a spiritual level. So this is saying on a physical level (one way), "The life who sins shall die." All men die. All men sin. And it's only once we are called and granted repentance and given the gift of God's holy spirit through a converting process where we continue to transform our thinking (by the power of God's holy spirit) that "the life that sins," this life that we have...and when we choose to sin, when we yield to our own selfishness, we sin, well, the wages of this sin is death. The wages of sin is personal death. And that's what the New Testament is. The spirit of the matter is that if a person individually sins, they now face death. They face a second death unless it's repented of.

Now, God in His mercy has granted us the gift of repentance by a calling that we now have a relationship with God and we know He has redeemed us and has bought us back through the death of Jesus Christ. So God is saying here "the life," anybody who sins, "shall die." Everybody who sins will face a second death unless it is repented of. And God in His mercy will grant repentance to whom He will grant repentance.

Verse 5—But if a man is just, and that word is "lawful or righteous." This is now talking about someone on a physical level. And we'll look at it both ways. We can look at this, "If a man is just," he is lawful, he is actually striving to obey the 10 Commandments, to be lawful on a physical level, and righteous on a spiritual level, "If a man is just," and we can be if we are yielding to God's holy spirit. And does what is lawful, according to what God has said, and right, according to what God has said, If he has not eaten on the mountains... Now it's going to go through and demonstrate the various things that a person who was "just," a person that was considered "lawful." These are the things this person would have had to have demonstrated. Well, we'll look at this physically and spiritually as we go. We can apply it to the person then when God is talking to Israel, but God is also speaking to spiritual Israel, which is us, brethren. We are spiritual Israel so we can take this to heart to see whether we are "just" and "lawful" or not because there's only two ways here.

Verse 6—If he has not eaten on the mountains. Now, this on this area of physical Israel was "worshipped false gods at manmade shrines." If they had actually gone out and left God and not keep His Sabbath and Holy Days anymore and gone off and started to worship Baal and the sun god, and if they had done that, well, they would have actually eaten on the mountains.

Today, "eating a false doctrine" from other churches is "eating on the mountains" because we've left God and gone and consumed something false. We've left God's way. We're no longer yielding to God. We're no longer worshipping God in spirit and truth; now we're consuming something false, and it has to come from Satan's system. So we've either "eaten on the mountains" or we've not. And if we have, we can repent.

Now, God is continuing here to say, "Well, the just person, if they haven't eaten on the mountains," nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, so this person now has looked to something false, the idols of the house of Israel. Now, this is quite incredible, really. This is just not simply the idols of the world. These are things that physical Israel had established to worship, and they often turned to the worship of Baal. They had looked or trusted in false gods in a false religion. They had broken their relationship with God because God desired a relationship with physical Israel, but we know that Israel was not capable of maintaining a right relationship, a just relationship with God because of their natural carnal mind, because of selfishness, because they had the same mind that Adam and Eve had. They chose to justify, to make excuses.

So this person was considered just if he hadn't "lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel." Well, brethren, have we? Have we lifted our eyes? Have we looked at what is considered the things of Satan? The things of the world? Have we lifted our eyes? And this lifting of the eyes is really, "to look to or to trust in." Are we trusting in anything other than trusting in God? Now, that's the question. Well, we either have or we haven't. If we're trusting in God, we are staying close to God and we're absorbing and eating the truth. And if we haven't, we're trusting in something else. We're trusting (generally, mankind is), we trust in ourselves. Our biggest idol, brethren, is ourselves. It's natural to trust in self, to have self-confidence. So we trust in that and we trust in other things. And often, outside of self and self-confidence, in trusting in self, the next thing we trust in is money...is the acquiring or what wealth will perceive to be giving us. Now, we perceive that wealth or money is a form of protection, so now we look to something else. We look to self-protection. And that self-protection is, well, no matter what happens I've still got money in the bank or I've got cash stored, so I will be okay.

Well, this is that "lifting the eyes to idols of the house of Israel." Well, what does the house of Israel worship today? What is the house of Israel (physical Israel, not spiritual Israel, physical Israel), what have they lifted their eyes to? What is it they’re looking to? What is it they now trust in? Well, man, first of all, trusts in money. Money is their god. This is what they look to. This is what they trust in.

So this person, God is saying, they haven't done this. Nor defiled, and that word "defile" is "to pollute or make unclean" his neighbor's wife. So this person hasn't actually gone in and committed an unlawful relationship. They haven't gone in and "made unclean" or "polluted their neighbor’s wife." They've not had an unlawful sexual relationship.

Well, today this relationship can be two things—"nor defiled his neighbor’s wife"—he hasn't now coveted, he hasn't desired, a relationship that is unlawful. And it can be that we haven't defiled by having an unlawful spiritual relationship, which is looking out to another false religion or false doctrine. Nor approached a woman during her impurity. So this is something physical where God had commanded them that while a woman was during her "impurity," that a man should not touch her during that period. Well, today on a spiritual level, we shouldn't approach the churches of the world in their impurity, because they are in their impurity. The churches of the world are in their impurity. They are unclean. They are polluted because of Satan's influence, and because it's all from the natural carnal mind, the way they see it, which is all natural. It's all natural.

Now, I've seen particular programs with regards to the Catholic church and how they set up (like an inquisition) and how they went around and killed the Protestants and the Protestants killed the Catholics during a particular time. Well, the natural carnal mind, as we saw Adam and Eve, it can justify anything! So they could justify killing another person because of another person's religious belief. They were actually out to destroy them, and they set out to destroy each other. So these, the churches of the world, have continued in sin. Ever since the Catholic church was formed through Simon Magus they have continued in their impurity. They have continued in their polluted thinking, and they are unclean. All of the churches of the world are unclean. They are polluted. They are all in an unlawful relationship with Satan, only they don't know it.

Verse 7—If he has not oppressed, so the continuation of this person that is considered "just," If he has not oppressed, and that is "done wrong to" anyone, so he hasn't actually "oppressed" anybody and desired from that person, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has been honest and trustworthy, has robbed no one by violence, in other words, he hasn't actually physically gone out and taken from somebody, but has given (so it's the complete opposite, the "but"), has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing… Now, this, brethren, for us, it is about us and what we do. If we have not oppressed...now, we oppress people because of our natural carnal mind. Now, often we would say, well, we don't oppress anybody, but we oppress others because of our thinking, because of our natural thinking. We do. And if you go back through Isaiah about fasting, the first thing we have to do is not oppress people. We're to stop oppressing people by our own sin, because our sin affects others. So we are not to oppress others, and we are to "restore to others a pledge," anything that we have said, we should do. Therefore, that's why God tells us often to "guard our mind," to "guard our words." Because if we say something we have to be open, honest, and trustworthy. So if we say to somebody we're going to do something, we best do it, because if we don't, we now are not honest and we're not trustworthy.

"And has robbed nobody with violence." Well, we shouldn't rob anybody. We should not have a desire to take from anybody. And this "violence" doesn't have to be physical. This "violence" can be ill will. We're not to take anybody's reputation by words. We're not to steal from somebody by putting them down or defaming their character. So we need to be very careful. "But has given," now, this is a person that is uplifting and positive, "has given his bread to the hungry." We've supported others and "covered the naked with clothing."

Verse 8—If he has not exacted usury, and that "usury" is, "I will hold it until..." because a usury is when somebody wanted something and we would "hold on to something while they used what we gave them." So it's like a guarantee. "We will hold your coat while you go off and do such and such, and if you come back, I'll give you your coat back." "If he has not exacted usury," nor taken an increase, which is this interest, the interest on something, "I'll lend you this and I'm going to charge you this amount of money to use this, what I've given you," But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, "has withdrawn his hand from sin," because "exacting usury" and "taking unlawful increase" is actually sin. And executed true judgment, well, "true judgement" is based on God's word, between a man and a man, there is no bias or no favoritism. This person hasn't showed any favoritism. If he has walked in My statutes and kept My judgments faithfully—He is just. Now, isn't that a great outline of whether or not we are "just"? Whether we've done all of these things, God would consider us "just." Now, God is talking to Israel on a physical level and this is the criteria that God says someone is now "just," someone is now lawful, someone is righteous in the sense of this is what they have to do. "If he has walked in My statutes," in other words, he's kept all the Commandments, "and kept My judgements faithfully." So this is a big task for somebody on a physical level to do, because most people have not kept God's statutes and have not kept His judgements (His Commandments), and they haven't done it faithfully. "He is just," He shall surely live! Says the LORD God. Now, this is something God has outlined to them about how a person will live—if they do all these things.

The personal choice to obey God while in the flesh provides the way to "see" spiritual matters. So this goes back to that obedience. If we obey God, if we listen to God, if we hear God and we make the personal choice to obey God while in this flesh, it provides the way for us to "see" something on a spiritual level because God will reveal it to us through our obedience in spirit and truth.

Obedience to God begins with listening to what He has to say. Obedience to God brings life! And for us, brethren, spirit life in the future!

Verse 10—If he begets a son who is a robber, and "a robber" is someone that destroys. Because anybody that robs actually destroys. They destroy something from somebody else. It's somebody else's possession, and therefore, if they take it, they destroy it from that person. Or a shedder of blood, who is a murderer, Who does any of these things and does none of those duties, that are outlined before, but—now it's going to go back over what it is. This is the person, and if this person is this way, if this is their spirit, this is their intent, this is the way they are, they're robbers, they're destroyers, because of their attitudes and they also "shed blood," they desire ill will. And we can learn from this on a spiritual level, if we have this desire, this covetous attitude, "or a shedder of blood," if we have ill will to others, "who does any of these things and does none of those duties," but has eaten on the mountains, this false worship, if we've gone into false doctrine, Or defiled his neighbor's wife; If he has oppressed the poor and needy, which is all about an attitude, a spirit that we have, robbed by violence, not restored the pledge, lifted his eyes to the idols, and committed abomination, because all of these things are abomination. They are all sin.

Verse 13—If he has executed usury or taken increase—Shall he then live? Which is the question. So if a person's going to do all these things, will he actually live? He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, any of these sins, he shall surely die, because "the wages of sin is death." God hasn't changed. God's law hasn't changed. Anybody that is going to commit these things will die. Here it is saying on a physical level, but "the wages of sin" is spiritual death, because if we don't repent of them, we will face the second death. His blood shall be upon him. He will be personally responsible for his actions. We have to be personally responsible, take personal responsibility for all our thoughts, words, and actions.

Verse 14—If, however, he begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has done… Now, this is saying that the child (which is going back to the first part of this particular scripture about "the father has eaten sour grapes, and the child's teeth are on edge," well, this is going back to that). "However, if he (the father) begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has done," And considers but does not do likewise, so now the son is showing some wisdom. He looks at it and says, "Well, this is not obedience to God. This is not following God. This is false worship. This is not the way to go!"

And what is a demonstration? What is a sign that this person is now doing something different than his father? Verse 15—Who has not eaten on the mountains, hasn't gone down this false worship, nor lifted his eyes to idols, his priority is about worshipping God. He has not lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defiled his neighbor's wife, he hasn't committed an adultery on a physical or spiritual level, Has not oppressed anybody, nor withheld a pledge, nor robbed by violence, But has given, which is the complete opposite to what had happened with his father, has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing. They've supported others who are in need. They have a giving attitude.

Now, we can "see" that it is more blessed to give than receive," and that statement is in the New Testament, but here it is, it's outlined clearly in the Old Testament. "But has given his bread," because it's the complete opposite. One was a taker. This person has seen what his father is like. He's selfish and taking. Now he's considered it and thought, "I don't want to be that way," but he is now giving. He is now sharing what he has.

So why is it more blessed to give than receive? The taking is of Satan. It's Satan's way of thinking. It's about acquiring and getting, "I will... I will be like the Most High. I'm going to take this authority that I don't have," so it's an attitude of taking, absorbing to self. But the other way is God's way. One way is of God and will bring peace and joy. Now, the way of God is going to bring us peace. Now, God, He sacrificed peace at the very beginning all for the purpose of creating peace within a Family. Because God was peace, God was in peace, but He gave that up by creating free moral choice, this choice or decision making process within a mind. Firstly, within the mind of spirit beings, the angelic realm, then within the creation of mankind.

Now, free choice or this ability to choose does not exist in the animal kingdom. But God gave us choice, and by giving choice, it created evil, for this ability to live sin. And by doing that God has created mankind for the purpose of giving them this choice. And the sacrificing of peace has taken place for the purpose of creating peace, by creating a Family that will enter peace and joy for eternity. And that is God's great plan, and it's outlined in Leviticus 23. This whole process of conversion, from taking (man's natural mind of selfishness, of take) to the one of giving, "but has given his bread to the hungry," we're willing to sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of others.

Now, we know the other way is that of Satan, and it will bring destruction and misery, because that is the consequence of sin. God's way is outward, towards others; it is love. Satan's way is inward, towards self, at the expense of others. And that's an important aspect, "at the expense of others." Satan doesn't mind what he does in the sense of hurting anybody. He doesn't care about it because it's just selfish thinking; it's just total absorbing to self. Well, we have to be on guard that we're not that way. God gives life. Satan gives death. God gives life. Satan gives death. God's way of righteousness, God's holy spirit gives us life. Satan's way of selfishness, the natural carnal mind, gives us, leads to death.

Verse 17—Who has withdrawn his hand from the poor – how? – and not received usury or increase, not sought something bad. He has withdrawn any request for repayment. So he hasn't gone out and tried to collect any type of repayment for the fact that he has given to others. So in verse 17 it's saying, "who has withdrawn his hand," "who has withdrawn his request from the poor?" By? "Not receiving usury or interest," so he hasn't gone out to get anything back. He's given with the motive and intent of not getting interest back, not getting back to self. But has executed My judgments and walked in My statutes… Now, this could be us, brethren. Have we executed God's judgements? Have we, or are we walking in God's statutes? Well, being here today, we are walking in the statutes of God, which is Leviticus 23, the commands of God. We're walking in them. We're executing judgement by submitting, by yielding ourselves to God's commands, the Commandments of God, the statutes of God, the instructions of God. He shall not die for the iniquity of his father; he shall surely live!

So God is now correcting this proverb because it was now being adjusted to get people to stop and think that they are accountable personally! God is clearly stating that we are all personally responsible for our choices. God's way is about individual accountability. God's way is about individual accountability. Nobody can make us do anything. We do not have to pay the penalty of sin because of our fathers (those before us). We don't have to pay the penalty for it. We don't have to have our "teeth set on edge," because God has clearly said we are all individually accountable. One way of life, which is following God, yielding to God in spirit and truth, will yield to life. The other way, which is sin, will lead to death.

Verse 18—For, As for the father, because he (the father) cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother by violence, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity. So we are all personally responsible, and if we do sin we know that we must take personal responsibility for our choices and repent.

Verse 19—Yet you say, and this is Israel... Now, Israel is justifying why they are the way they are. They are going back to this very aspect of human nature, which is to defend the self, to justify the way they are. Yet you say, Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father? Well, the answer is, Because the son has done what is lawful and right, has kept My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. The life who sins shall die. "The wages of sin is death." Now, if we make this personal choice to sin, we face death. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. So this is about individual accountability and there are no excuses.

But if the wicked man turns from all his sins, he repents and turns. He thinks differently, which he has committed, so if a person does sin and they now are willing to turn (which is to think differently), which is to repent...and what do we do if we do that? ...keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. So this person starts "to live by every word of God," because that is the secret to life, to live by every word of God. Not to go off and keep the commandments of men or the statutes of men or the rules of men, but to keep the law of God, to keep Leviticus 23. All of Leviticus 23 will be introduced to mankind during the 1,100 year period, and it's going to be a delight to have this happen within mankind, to have mankind's thinking adjusted.

Verse 22—None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. So none of the sins that has been committed will be remembered against him because he has repented. So for us, brethren, at baptism none of our transgressions that we had committed are remembered against us because we have now chosen righteousness. We have now been called. We have now been baptized, which is that cleansing or the washing of our past sins. They are all forgiven and not remembered. We're not held as accountable for them! Isn't that exciting? Isn't that wonderful spiritual knowledge to have? Now, once we have come up out of the water where we are cleansed from this transgression and they are no longer remembered, we now desire to have a new way of life come and live in us, which is God's holy spirit, which will empower us to have the right thinking in our minds. And we have to choose to yield to it. And if we do, the righteousness of God will be in us and live out to the benefit of others. We shall live.

Verse 23—Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? Now, that's a question to Israel. Well, it's a question to mankind. Does God have any pleasure at all? Does God take any joy out of it, "that the wicked should die?" Well, God doesn't. God wants to give life to everyone. He gives the potential for life. God desires that we live, says the Lord GOD, and not that he should turn from his ways and live? So this is the question put to mankind. Does God have any pleasure in seeing somebody die? Does God have any pleasure in seeing somebody that is wicked die a second death? God says, "No." God desire that that person should return. They should repent. They should think differently, and they should turn from "his" ways, man's ways, and they should live. God desires that we accept repentance and that we yield to His holy spirit.

Verse 24—But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, so it could be somebody in the Body of Christ, the Church of God, that has God's spirit living and dwelling in them. Now they make a choice to turn away from righteousness, to turn away from yielding to God's holy spirit. And this is talking about permanently turns against God. This is wilful, because it's wilful it's unpardonable sin, and commits iniquity, so he permanently does it. He desire this more than he desires God, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? Well, that's the question. Shall he live? And God is saying, "Well, no." That a righteous man who turns away from righteousness, turns away from God's way of life, from the flow of God's holy spirit and commits iniquity, commits sin willfully, should he live? Well, no, he shouldn't. All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered. So everything that he has done right up until that point of time...so somebody could be in the Church twenty years and decides willfully to turn against God, God does not remember all of the acts of righteousness that he yielded to before then. So it's important that we "endure to the end." So all the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered—why?—because the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty, because we are unfaithful. We've turned against God. We're no longer faithful to God, we're unfaithful, and we are now guilty of that, the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die. Because of these willful sins he shall die. He shall die a second death.

Now, God was talking to Israel here on a physical level, but for us, brethren, now in the New Testament, during the 1,100 years, it will be spiritual in nature. And anything with regards to our "length of service" has nothing to do (our length of service in worshipping God), has nothing to do with inheriting eternal life, because it's not about a timeline. It's about this "enduring to the end." It's about righteousness all the way through our life. It's about yielding to God all the way through our life. And if we go a long period of time yielding to God and then we turn against God and become unfaithful, we are then guilty of the sin which we have committed by our own free will, by our own choice, willfully, and because of that willful decision, we shall die. Unrepentant sin—willful unrepentant sin—will lead to a second death on a spiritual level. We will be dead forever, never to be resurrected to have life in any shape or form.

Verse 25—So God now corrects them again—Yet you say (Israel), The way of the LORD is not fair. Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which is not fair? Now, that is true, because once we see this (now, this is talking on a physical level, but we look at it on a spiritual level), the way of the LORD is fair, and we should never turn around and say that God is not fair. God's way is just and merciful and based on the desire that we have life. And God is saying to the Church, "Hear, O Israel (Church of God), it is God's way that is fair, and your ways which are not fair." Because God is love, and our ways, the natural way of the natural carnal mind, is selfish. It isn't fair! It's selfish. It takes. It actually hurts others! Man's nature is selfish.

Verse 26—When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Nobody gets away with anything. We are personally accountable for our choices. So "when a righteous man," somebody that is called into the Body of Christ and has God's holy spirit, "and turns away from this righteousness," turns away by not yielding to God anymore, "and commits sin," which is this willful sin, "and dies in it," physically dies in it because they don't want to repent and they actually physically die, "it is because the sin which he has done that he dies." And it leads to a second death. So nobody gets away with anything. We're all personally accountable for our choices.

Verse 27—Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he commits, he repents, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. These are the laws of God at work. Now, we can look at this, brethren, and say, "When a wicked man turns away from his wickedness," well, that's what happened to us. We were in our wicked ways before our calling. Now, we can be called at different ages. Some are called early, some are called as early as 13 and 14 years of age, others are called, 19, 20, others are called 30, others are called 50, others are called 60, 65, others are called at 70. There's no particular time that God has actually set for mankind. It's God's choice, and no one can come to God unless God calls them.

So, we were all wicked at some point in time—all of our life on the natural carnal mind—and we're no longer wicked after baptism, because all the wickedness that we have committed has done up until the point of our forgiveness of sin. And it's forgiven and forgotten. And then from that point, "does what is lawful and right," well, this requires God's holy spirit. To live righteousness, to live what is lawful according to God's word in spirit and truth, what is right, God says requires God's holy spirit to do it (through His inspiration and we yield to it), if we yield to God's spirit, "he preserves himself alive." Now, this is actually talking something on a spiritual level. It can work on a physical level for mankind, but this law at work is actually a spiritual law, and that if we yield to God's spirit and we live a life of righteousness and a life of lawfulness (which is obedience) we preserve ourselves alive on a spiritual level. Although we might die physically, we are actually alive on a spiritual level because we then will face a resurrection. Isn't that exciting to understand that? That we were all wicked at some point in time and now we have turned from our wickedness because of a calling and we've been baptized and received God's holy spirit, now we are to walk in this lawful and right way, which is according to God's word. We will be preserving (because of this yielding, because of this choice, because we understand we are accountable for ourselves and ourselves alone), we can preserve ourselves, because God will preserve us. God will preserve our spirit for a resurrection. How exciting is that!

Verse 28—Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he has committed, which is what we do following a calling and repentance, he shall surely live; he shall not die. So repentance brings life. Now, we face this every day of our life. So although we may have been called one year ago, five years ago, twenty years ago, forty years ago, fifty years ago, and we have continued in this way of righteousness, this way of repenting—because we are considering our actions every day, we consider our thoughts, our words, and our actions, we consider them—and we turn away from all of these transgressions which we commit, and if we do that through repentance (because that's what it's about), this is about a lifetime of correction, a lifetime of repentance, and if we continue to yield to this, to this flow of God's holy spirit, which is the gift of repentance in our life, "he shall surely live." God promises us the gift of life, spirit life, the purpose of life, to enter Elohim. "He shall not die." He shall not die a second death. So this second death, which is covered by the Last Great Day, which is at the end of the 1,100 years God will resurrect those to face a second death because they have not turned from their transgressions. They have actually enjoyed them and committed their spirit to it. They have committed their attitude and their desire for sin, their desire for evil. And they, along with Satan, will be destroyed because they haven't turned away from their sins.

Well, we have that opportunity every day of our life, to turn away from the sins that we commit. And that's what God is saying here, that if we consider our actions and we turn away from those sins by repentance, we shall not die. We shall live.

Verse 29—Yet the house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not fair. O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair? And that is true. How fair, how just is God, that if we do sin we can repent. How merciful is God that He is willing to give us life! How merciful is God that He is willing to forgive us if we forgive others. This is God being fair. Because mankind isn't fair. When mankind sees somebody and they sin, mankind doesn't offer mercy and forgiveness and a willingness for the person to repent. Mankind generally sets out to punish in a hard, cruel way.

Well, on a spiritual level for us, brethren, we have this opportunity of repentance. And God's ways, His way of life, His way of thinking is fair. He is just and merciful and He desires that all come to repentance. That's God's will. God desires to give us the Kingdom. It's His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. But our ways are not fair!

There is a God-ordained way of cause and effect, and Deuteronomy 28 is called the blessings and cursing's chapter because of the effects of obedience and the effects of disobedience. And it is often to do with sin and it's to do with mental health or spiritual health. So we could look at these blessings and cursing's on a physical level, and we can see there is a law in place of cause and effect. If we do one particular thing there is an effect. Well, on a spiritual level, it's exactly the same. If we do one particular thing, there is an effect. Now, if we live sin, which we're personally responsible for doing, the effect of it is harm to self (because it pollutes the mind, it damages the mind, it hurts the mind because it's selfishness) and it hurts others. We hurt others by our own selfishness, by the attitudes that we live, by our thoughts, our words, and our actions. So this law of cause and effect comes into place on a spiritual level. If we sin, there is an effect and it's called, "harm to others." Harm to self and harm to others. But the law also says the cause, if we yield to righteousness, there's an effect because we will live out God's spirit, God's thinking out to the benefit of others because it's God that does the works in and through us. But we have to yield to it.

So we can do good on a spiritual level by yielding to God's thinking. It has to come from God's thinking. So, "Only God is good," as Jesus Christ said, "Why do you call Me good?" Well, that is because only God is good. Because only righteousness can live in us out to the benefit of others powered by God's holy spirit. Other than that, it's actually selfishness. So this law of cause and effect operates on a physical level and it operates on a spiritual level. Same as the law of sowing and reaping. What we sow, whether it's sin, we will reap. We will reap the penalty of sin, which is unhappiness, misery, self-damage, and it leads to death. Well, on a spiritual level we can look at it, that if we sow righteousness, we sow the thinking of God, the outcome, what is reaped is righteousness, what is reaped is benefit to others, profit to others, the lifting up of others, the benefit to them (because of God's holy spirit, it's living love to them), and the outcome, the sowing of righteousness leads to the reaping of life everlasting. We will be given life in Elohim.

So Deuteronomy 28 can be looked at in a physical and a spiritual level, and it's very interesting to go through and to consider those aspects. And God willing, in the near future, we're going to go through Deuteronomy 28 in a lot more detail, to look at this blessings and cursing's chapter and the effects, the cause and effect and the sowing and the reaping, because it is about a way of life. God outlined Deuteronomy 28 for physical Israel, but it's actually for spiritual Israel, the Church of God today.

Verse 30—Therefore, I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways. Well, that's what applies to us, "O house of Israel," Church of God—PKG today. We are judged according to our ways, according to our thoughts, our words, and our actions, what we choose to do, says the LORD God. Repent, and turn, so "think differently, change that way of thinking from selfishness to yield to Me." The reason why we are called into the Church is to turn, is to repent, to go from this old way of thinking to a new way of thinking. So we are to repent and turn from all your transgressions, these sins that go on in the mind, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Because that's what it will lead to. This unrepentant sin will be our ruin on a spiritual level. So physical Israel was to change, to think differently so it wouldn't be their ruin. It wouldn't be that Deuteronomy 28 would come into effect into their life. Because we know "the wages of sin is death." If you live a particular way of life, you will die. Well, you can have a longer life on a physical level by obedience to God's law because of the cause and effect of God's law.

Verse 31—Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, so "repent and be baptized" and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Now, this is talking about a physical attitude that they were to have. They were to "cast away their sins," their desire for sin (which they had committed, so they've committed all these things), and "get yourselves a new heart," get yourselves a new attitude and a new spirit. Now, for us, brethren, this is about us today: "Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed." Any sin that we may have committed, we should repent of it. And we know that this repentance and baptism that took place covered these past sins, where we come from, this wickedness that we lived before. Now we're to walk anew, "and get yourselves a new heart," so get yourselves a new way of thinking, the new inner thinking that must take place. Now, we can acquire this by yielding to God's holy spirit because we can only have a new heart, a new inner thinking based on the spirit of a matter. It has to come from God because God's spirit is what gives us the motive and intent. We understand our inner thinking because of this "new heart," this new way of thinking that comes from God. "And a new spirit," have a new attitude! Well, we can have a new spirit because we can yield to God's holy spirit because we never had this spirit before. We just had the spirit of man which is based on selfishness. Now we can have a new spirit.

And how is it acquired? Well it comes back to this whole verse that we're looking at. It requires turning from the way we were, not worshipping false gods, not yielding to the selfishness that is within us, and to have the repentance take place in our life by yielding to God's way of life, to be baptized, to have all our sins covered and washed, and have hands layed on us by a true minister of God for the impregnation of God's holy spirit. Now, often the term has been used (and that I'm using often here), is "by a true minister of God." Now, that term is used because many of people have had hands layed on them, but it's not with a true minister of God. It has to be where God's spirit is. It has to be where God is working.

Now, anybody that is called "a minister," that is not in God's Church, God's true Church, the Church of God—PKG, is not a true minister of God. Therefore, if they lay hands on somebody, God will not provide God's holy spirit to them, because God works in one place. God works in His Church. This is God's Church. This is where God's spirit is. Therefore, if a true minister of God, who is authorized to lay hands on a person (because it's about government, it's the way God works, it's through His government), so a true minister of God who has the authority to lay hands on a person after repentance and the person has demonstrated signs of repentance (the evidence of repentance), and has been through the process of baptism where they have yielded their spirit to God and they know the process of why they are being immersed in water (which is for the forgiveness of sins), then a true minister of God lays hands on them and requests that the impregnation of God's holy spirit...then they have "a new heart and a new spirit." Isn't that amazing? Isn't that a beautiful scripture that we have just read? How beautiful is this scripture? "Get for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit." Well, that's what the Millennium, that's what the Hundred-years is about, this acquiring of a new heart and a new spirit because God is going to pour out His holy spirit on mankind during this Millennial period.

For why should you die, O house of Israel? Well, that's the question. Why would you want to die? Why would you want to reject God in your life? Why would you not want to yield to God? Why would you? Well, "Spiritual house of Israel," why would we want to hold on to a sin? Why would we want to hang on to our unfaithfulness? Why would we want to hang onto any sin in our life? So God says, "Well, why do you want to hang on to your sin, "Why do you want to die, O house of Israel?" Well, we don't. By the power of God's holy spirit we are led to repentance.

Verse 32—For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies, says the LORD God. Therefore, turn and live!

Now we will continue to look at one of the main signs that we are of God, that we are in the faith. And that sign is our desire and willingness to sacrifice our own will, our own desires to benefit others.

Exodus 13:1—Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Consecrate/sanctify/set aside to Me (to God) all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both man and beast; it is Mine. So any firstborn was to be dedicated to God. It belonged to God, "both man and beast."

Verse 3—And Moses said to the people: Remember this day in which you went up out of Egypt, now, we know this is symbolic of our calling. The day they left out of Egypt, which was the fifteenth of Abib, well, we remember our calling, out of the house of bondage, so we know when we were called, for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. Now, this is going back to Leviticus 23 in this one aspect (although it's here in Exodus), it's talking about the reason why. So we're to remember the day we were called because it was by the strength of God. It was God that did it because nobody can come to God unless they are called to it, "who brought us out of this place." He brought us out of this world, out of the bondage that we were in. And the reason we have no leavened bread is because it points to being unleavened. Leaven is symbolic of sin, which is Egypt and that bondage and captivity. Well, we're to have no leavened bread in our life. We're to have no sin in our life. We're not to consume it during the seven days of Unleavened Bread...well, we're not to consume it any day of this journey that we are on of leaving Egypt. Because we're continually leaving Egypt our whole life. And we're accountable and responsible for any decisions that happen since our calling. The moment we are called, we're baptized, and receive God's holy spirit, we're now personally, individually accountable of whether or not we consume leaven or we don't.

Verse 4—On this day, on the fifteenth of Abib, you are going out, in the month of Abib.

Verse 5—And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites... Now, this is going to be (they didn't know it at that time), this is going to be forty years later, which is, they're going to enter the land of the Canaanites, which is the promised land. Now, this "promised land" that we have entered, we didn't have to wait forty years. We had a calling and we were baptized, and we received God's holy spirit. That was the day we entered "the promised land" because it is a "type" of the Church. The "promised land," really, is a "type," and I'm using the word "type" of the Church because when you enter the "promised land" there is this land of opportunity. "It flows with milk and honey." Well, this is where the Church, this is where the milk and honey (God's word) flows. It's a place of potential. It's an exciting place to be, which is in the Church of God—PKG. So once we are brought into the Church then we are to do these things, which is to follow God's word as it's outlined in Leviticus 23.

...and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He (God) swore to your fathers, which is the land that He was giving them, to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, which all points to the truth, to God's word which is "milk and honey." It sustains us spiritually. Now, this was about sustaining them physically, but for us "the milk and honey" of God's word sustains us spiritually, that you shall keep this service in this month. This is the Days of Unleavened Bread.

So what is the "sign" that we are of God that is being referred to here? Well, it's about keeping more of Leviticus 23, and we're going to look quickly at it. Although this is the Feast of Tabernacles, God is now showing the obedience to God's Holy Days is a sign we are of God.

Verse 6—Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a Feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in your quarters. So no leavened bread (no sin) shall be seen amongst us. So during this journey that we are on in the Church of God, we should not be associated, and sin should not be seen among us. It shouldn't be happening.

So another sign is, which is continuing on this flow of the sign that we're going to look at now, verse 8—And you shall tell your son in this day, saying, This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came into Egypt. Here it is, it's referring to this as well, the Days of Unleavened Bread (verse 8), "You shall tell your son in that day saying, 'It is done because of what the LORD did to me when I came out of Egypt.'" Now, we can say, brethren, this is what's happened to me when the day God called me out of the land of Egypt, out of my selfishness, out of my sin. Spiritually, it would mean that we have to explain our calling to our children. So there comes a point we have to explain to our children what has happened to us, why are we in the Church of God—PKG. Well, it's because of a calling. It's because we've been called out of this world to live another way of life. We've been called out into "a promised land." And that's what it means on a spiritual level.

Verse 9—It (unleavened bread) shall be a sign/mark to you on your hand, your actions, and as a memorial between your eyes, it reveals the thinking, that the LORD'S law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. It was by God's power that called us out of our natural carnal mind, out of sin. Now, in the Millennium people will be called out of sin, out of the bondage of their natural carnal mind, out of their selfishness.

Verse 10—You shall therefore keep this ordinance—when?—in its season from year to year. Annual. So they were to keep the Days of Unleavened Bread, an annual way of worshipping God.

Now, God covers the way to sacrifice, the way to redemption, because it goes back to this verse about the setting aside of the male child and the setting aside of the animal, the firstborn.

Verse 11—Now, these are the rules of it: And it shall be, when the LORD God brings you into the land of the Canaanites, which is the promised land, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you,  so what is that promise?

Exodus 13:12—once in the promised land, that you shall set apart to the LORD all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the LORD'S. Now, that refers back to that verse 2. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. Now, the reason was because you could not sacrifice a donkey (something unclean) to God, and you had to then substitute it. You had to redeem it. You had to have the right attitude about the birth of this firstborn donkey, and therefore, you had to change it or exchange it for a lamb. You had to redeem it. And redeeming it is to buy it back or to change it. So we have been redeemed, as we know, well, they had to redeem the value of the donkey for a lamb, because it was unclean.

...if you will not redeem it, now, this becomes a problem. If a person is not willing to redeem, not willing to give up this donkey—this really shows a true attitude that they have towards God and God's word—if they will not yield to God, then you shall break its neck. You had to kill the donkey! And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. Now, it wasn't to break the child's neck. So any of the firstborn among men, "from your son's," so it had to be a male, it was to be redeemed. It had to be exchanged for something else. So they had to exchange something that was unclean to the value, and offer the value to God as an offering. So they would take the donkey and exchange it for a lamb or redeem it for the price of the lamb, and if it wasn't a lamb they would actually have to redeem it for money and take that firstborn, the value of the firstborn, and give it to God.

Well, it's the same for us. We have to exchange what is unclean—we have to give up our way of life, our selfishness—and give ourselves to God as an offering. "Redeem" means "to deliver, to rescue, to purchase." Redeeming points to Christ, our Redeemer, our Savior, the one who was to rescue us from sin by sacrifice. Redeeming pointed to Christ as our Passover. If a person would not redeem the firstborn unclean animal, they had to kill it. This act of killing the animal by breaking its neck was so that the individual was to know the effects. They were to take personal responsibility for their decision! And the outcome was they had to be affected personally.

Just referring to Exodus 6, if you'd like just to drop down to back to Exodus 6:6—Therefore, say to the children of Israel, I am the LORD. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements. God is the only one that can save mankind from himself. It is God that saves, that redeems. When God's saying, "I will redeem you," because it's God that does it. God rescues.

In the Millennium mankind will have to come to "see" and understand this very fact, that it is God that redeems. We all need a Savior. We all must come to understand and accept that God is our Savior and that He has redeemed us through the death of His only begotten Son. We have been provided with a means of salvation.

If you'd like, just turn quickly also to Exodus 34:19—All that open the womb are Mine. Everything that opened the womb belonged to God, as we all belong to God, as all mankind belongs to God, as all the animals belong to God. Everything belongs to God. God is the Creator. And every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep, so it had to be just the firstborn male.

Verse 20—but the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. So there had to be this exchanging take place. And if you will not redeem it then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem and none shall appear before me empty-handed, because this reflected an attitude.

So, brethren, we have been redeemed. We are begotten sons of God and we are to come before God and we are not to appear God empty-handed, because this is all about an attitude—whether or not we will follow the instructions or not.

Exodus 13:14—So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is this? What is this redeeming all about? "Why are you doing this?" is another way to put it. What is this? Why are you doing this? ...that you shall say to him, so this is about teaching our children, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  So this points to something that was physical. Well, we know that we are to look at it on a spiritual way today. It points to spiritual matters today. We have been brought out of Egypt by strength. We've been brought out of this way of thinking—selfishness—by a calling from God. We've been brought out by strength.

Verse 15—And it come to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn by letting us go… Satan resists God and fights against our calling. So "Pharaoh is stubborn," Satan is stubborn. He doesn't want to let us go… that the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. So it was God that killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, and there was a reason why—because it demonstrated God's power, but it also demonstrated a calling… both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. The reason this is about "the firstborn are of God" is because of this. Both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast were killed because of Pharaoh not desiring to let God's people go.

Well, it's the same with our calling, brethren, that Satan will resist God by resisting our calling. Well, we're not to yield to that influence. We are to yield to God, the calling God has given us because God has sacrificed for us. He has sacrificed peace for us so that we can have peace. So both the firstborn of the male and firstborn of the beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that open the womb, so this is why they were to take the firstborn and to sacrifice it or to redeem it to God, all the males of the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem. So when a man had a child, a firstborn son, they were to take a value to the priesthood. They were to offer an offering to God in thankfulness for what God had done for them. Because it was God that brought Israel out of the land of Egypt and He did it by the death of the firstborn.

Well, we, brethren, are to show that we appreciate our calling by offering a sacrifice, a redeeming sacrifice for our calling. So we are to give to God because we are thankful.

So now verse 16 says why—It shall be as a sign on your hand, so this action is a sign to God, and your frontlets between your eyes, it's our way of thinking. So it's by our actions, it demonstrates, it's a sign to God of our thinking, for by strength of hand God brought us out of Egypt. Because we acknowledge by our actions, by worshipping God in spirit and truth during these days of the Feast of Tabernacles, that we demonstrate that it's in our thinking, that it was God that has brought us here. It is by God's strength that we were called. It is by God's strength that He brought us out of Egypt. Therefore, we offer our "redeemed sacrifice" to God—we offer ourselves. We offer our attitudes. We offer everything that is of ourselves—we kill it, we sacrifice it, and we demonstrate that by God through obedience to Him.

Today we do not offer, physically, the firstborn to God as an offering or redeem the firstborn male child. Today we sacrifice our selfishness, our selfish desires. We sacrifice ourselves to benefit others. Today we give an offering based on what we count as blessings from God, physically and spiritually.

So the redeeming of the firstborn is a sign that we are willing to obey God. Now, this sacrifice that we give is through our hands, by our actions, by being here today at the Feast of Tabernacles, and it is in our thinking. It's between our eyes. That it is by God's strength that we are here because it is all based on a calling from God.

So, brethren, we'll finish the sermon series there and we will pick up in another sermon soon with regards to taking personal responsibility, because life is about personal responsibility, and that we can't justify our decisions. We can't defend our selfishness. We have to learn to yield to God and admit to God that we do, by nature, justify. And now we are to admit before God that we take personal responsibility for our thoughts, words, and actions, and by that we are in a state of repentance. Because when we are in a state of repentance we admit we take personal responsibility for our personal sins.□

Table of Contents

Chapter 1