Selected Sermons 05 1982-11-21 Morning Three Feasts Exodus 23:14-17

 

14 Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD. (NASB)

 

The Feasts and the Lord's Day

Today, the Lord's Day, we are collecting the Thanksgiving offering as announced. We are offering this Thanksgiving to God today, the Lord's Day, but we do not intend to institute a Thanksgiving week.

 

It is the Lord's Day today, and it will be in conflict with the Scripture to observe today as a Thanksgiving Lord's Day. We can, however, collect the Thanksgiving offering today, or the next Lord's Day, or we could collect on the last Lord's Day. The collecting itself is subject to the discretion of church authority.

 

We are collecting today simply because it is a Lord's Day when the whole congregation is gathered together; we do not, however, intend to institute a Lord's Day with specific designation. We see a Lord's Day of Flowers or a Lord's Day of the Bible, which are not in accordance with the Scripture.

 

God's Covenant on Celebration of the Feasts

I have delivered almost the same sermons for years concerning this passage. In verse 14, "Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me." Three feasts to celebrate were the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Celebration of these three feasts has been a basis of the collections of Barley Harvest Thanksgiving in the early summer and Thanksgiving in the fall at our church.

 

It has been termed as harvest because the Biblical Israelites were farmers like the traditional churches of farmers in history. We shall look at just a few of many covenants concerning the Feasts.

 

Deuteronomy 16:16-17

"Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you."

 

It is said in this passage that on each Feast we should offer material thanksgiving according to the grace which we have been given and we are being given and we will be given in the future, that is, as much grace as we have been given and as much grace as we wish that we will be given.

 

We should offer little if little grace has been given to us, little if little grace is being given to us, and little if we wish to be given little grace in the future. Also we must not pretend to have been given, say, a hundred pieces of grace when we have been given only a piece of grace.

 

"You shall give as you are able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you." We should not let vanity and vain lusts be involved in the grace. We should be decided and then offer before God, devoting our true character regarding the grace which has been given to us, the grace which we are being given, and the grace which we will be given. Should we offer apart from our reality, we will not be tolerated, and we are forbidden to be untrue, to discount, to exaggerate, to be vain, and to begrudge.

 

Exodus 34:23-24

"Three times a year all your males are to appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. For I will drive out nations before you," which means that "I will drive out all your enemies."

 

"... and enlarge your border." God promises to enlarge the national borders, the scope of our activities, and all our businesses. "And no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God." When we do not watch what belongs to us while we are observing these Feasts, God will watch it out so that no one may spy it on and covet it.

 

We have seen two covenants regarding the offering in the celebration of the Feasts. One is, "Be thankful as much as you have been given grace." When Israel was prosperous, legends say that the amount of offerings to God given in celebration of the Feasts were exactly the same as that of taxation to be imposed by the government. This makes sense because when one offered exactly according to the amount of grace that he judged he was given, the amount naturally should match that which would be imposed by the government then.

 

Now we should think about it. Do we appraise the grace which we have been given to us and offer thanksgiving, or do we offer thanksgiving merely as a step in church rites without taking a thought about the grace? We should come to know whether we really compare how much we are offering with how much we should offer, to distinguish what is right from wrong to correct ourselves and whether we should do this or that, and to expect to receive reward or judgment, and then we will come to know what relationship to God we have had regarding each Feast.

 

This does not mean that we must offer a large sum. I do not say much about the collection to the congregation since there are many things more important than that. The amount of offering is a matter of material; we could gather at a yard if we should have no church building, and we could have a service on the street if we should have no yard to gather at. If God confers one with grace and when the person of grace delivers sermons on a playground, people will gather there like a cloud.

 

Therefore, we ought to think in the presence of mind about the grace which God has given us and the grace which we look to God for, and the gravity of the two graces. It is not tolerated before the Lord to exaggerate with vanity and vain lusts excessively and uselessly. God takes delights in our correct assessment.

 

The other is, "All enemies of yours will be eliminated who will try to harm you when you observe the Feasts." It is said that God will drive out our enemies, not on the very first day though, but in a year, or ten years, or until we die.

 

We know that our views on our enemies may change as time goes on; we thought this to be our enemy, or that to be our friend. What we thought to be necessary before may be now considered to be harmful, and what we thought to be harmful in the past may be now considered to be profitable. Views on enemy also change as our knowledge in faith and character grow. We may regard a person to be our only friend while the person is in fact the one that devours us. Also we may view a person as our archenemy while the person is the one that saves us from death and all occasions.

 

The covenant which God gave us is that He will get us rid of true enemies of our soul and body whether we are aware of them or not. "I ... will enlarge your borders." God says, "I will increase your lot in your land into ten times, a hundred times larger, or enlarge your farm; I will enlarge your national border in case you are in power; I will make you succeed in your business in case you are in business; I will increase the number of your flock in case you are in the ministry." This is the covenant.

 

God also promises, "While you keep these Feasts devoting your soul and body, you will have no means to keep yourself and what belongs to you, leaving yourself and your belongings open to your enemy's attack. Anyone with common sense can see this; I will prevent your enemies from spying on or coveting you and your possessions while you are observing the three Feasts." This is also the covenant concerning the Feasts. Let us believe in this covenant.

 

God will devote Himself to protecting our belongings if we are devoting ourselves to observing the Feasts. God will devote Himself to enlarging our borders if we are devoting ourselves to observing the Feasts. God will devote Himself to driving out our enemies while we are devoting ourselves to observing the Feasts. This is the covenant.

 

"You shall offer gifts according to the grace which you have been given concerning the three Feasts, much or little." God will give us correctly when we appreciate His grace correctly, and He will not give us when we appraise His grace futile.

 

The covenant is this: "I will give you according to the accuracy of your gratitude." The degree of accuracy of our gratitude for the grace of God may be 100% correct, 50% correct, 10% correct, or naught which means we are completely wrong. Let us remember these two.

 

Christianity is not a religion of emotion. To sing a hymn has now been oriented to generate an emotional mood that causes us to fail. In this world of last age people have become of the generation all seeking for fun, hobby, and interest. It has become futile to think calmly about God and to follow Him in truth. Now the struggle inside the Church is that between skin and substance; skin adds to skin to make one whole and substance adds to substance to make one whole, and in the end it is struggle between the Lamb along with the true saints belonging to Him and the rest who are in the court outside. Remember this firmly.

 

With reference to the grace which God has given us, it is wrong of us to say that we have received one when we have been actually given ten, and it is deceitful of us to say that we have received ten when we have been actually given one. God wants neither of the two.

 

"You must appraise the degree of grace which I have given you; then offer your gifts before Me according to the gravity of the degree of grace. Then I will be accurate accordingly in providing you with grace; I will treat you falsely if you deal with Me falsely and I will treat you vainly if you deal with Me vainly, and I will discount My grace to you if you discount My grace."

 

Now that He says that He will treat us as we treat Him, it will be better for us to take hold of this word and to offer according to the amount of the grace which God has given to us, than to sing hymns emotionally all the year round. Also it is better than to pray hundreds of times following our own tastes. Life comes out of this; the LORD was in a sound of a gentle blowing. We must not stay on skin, of vanity and lusts. God abides in the origin of truth of truths. Let us remember this firmly.

 

It is the offering which pleases God that we offer to God after evaluating correctly how much we ought to offer since we have the grace of God of the past and the present. God will accept our offering as an expression of our gratitude for His grace which is correctly evaluated. It is not money that God wants, but there is something else that He wants. Everything is God's; do we have anything that is not His? No. Do not regard God as a fund-raiser.

 

"I will be true to you as you are true to Me, and I will play a hypocrite to you as you play a hypocrite to Me." Is this not to give back according to one's deeds? We must correct ourselves in truth at this very moment. Do not be foolish. God is not deceived, nor is He mocked.

 

There is also this; "I will drive out your enemies when you observe these Feasts. I will enlarge your borders when you observe these Feasts. When you observe these Feasts, I will let no one watch you and spy on you, and harm you. I will discontinue if you discontinue observing the Feasts and I will continue if you continue observing the Feasts." This is the law of liberty.

 

The Three Feasts

What are the three Feasts?

 

1. Passover: Grace of Salvation

The first Feast is Passover, through which Israel was saved through the blood of a lamb. Passover is a feast of salvation. Feast of salvation.

 

The Lord saved our soul through the vicarious redemption of the remission, the justification, and the propitiation, and now He works to clothe this salvation on our mind and body. Also He works to save what we do, or our business in the world, our business in gospel, society, and commerce, and to save our possessions. These are all graces.

 

Where can we find the grace of the Lord?

First, in our the soul,

Second, in our the body,

Third, in our business,

Fourth, in our possessions.

 

Passover is the occasion to celebrate all the graces of saving these four. We must understand this salvation and give thanks to the Lord for having saved us on these. If we, our mind and body and our deeds, keep giving thanks to the Lord, He will say, "I will keep doing what I am doing concerning your enemy, your borders, and your security. If you stop then I will stop. Do as the law of liberty; you can do as you wish, to do this or that. It is up to you."

 

We must remember that the Passover is the feast of salvation, and whatever the Lord has saved all belongs to the grace of Passover.

 

2. Pentecost: Grace of Guidance

The second Feast is Pentecost. When Israelites did not know how to live the human life, God gave them the Ten Commandments to lead them, and that is celebrated in Pentecost. The Ten Commandments were given fifty days after they came out of Egypt; 'pentecost' means fifty days. This is the grace of the guidance of God.

 

The Lord will be pleased to be received only when we willingly admit that the Lord has indeed led us, our soul, our mind, our body, our life, our business, and our possessions. He will be glorified and pleased to accept our offerings of thankfulness for His having led us.

 

Having no idea of what has been guided by God, we may say, "Well, I have some money available, and I will offer some to give thanks for the guidance which I do not feel much about." This is a lie; God is not a God of a pauper. God is the God of character, and the Absolute One. We should not be deceived. He is not mocked.

 

The Pentecost was originated from the grace of guidance; today, the Lord leads us, our soul, our mind, our body and all its movements, our business, and all our possessions, dictating, "Release it, keep it, give alms, retrieve what you gave, etc."

 

We will be in total darkness unless He leads us. I have been worried for the last two months about what the Lord leads me to, but I was able to have a meal with joy when I came to find the guidance of the Lord and wrote it down―What should I do? What view should I have on this matter? What measure should I take? How should I manage the church? I do not really know. I may have ten, or a hundred measures come up to me, but I am not sure which is His judgment; if a measure is not of His, it is of no use.

 

We must first admit that His guidance concerning our soul, our flesh, our business, and all of our possessions is so valuable that we cannot but say, "It is You indeed who have led me in this." Then we must give thanks to Him, saying, "I give thanks to You for having led me in this." This is how we should serve Him and this is how we should know of Him. God will not be mocked if we go playing double, triple tricks as if we were playing with men when we give alms to them.

 

The grace of guidance. There are those who surely know that they cannot do without His guidance; there are others who profess publicly that they need the guidance of the Lord, but deep inside have already let someone else or their lusts lead themselves.

 

It is said here that He will be responsible for preventing our enemies from spying on us when we indeed make Him our guide, and that He will enlarge our borders, and that He will drive out our enemies. "Therefore, first decide correctly how much I am of necessity to you, and also decide correctly how much you needed My grace." He will not accept what is not correct that is false.

 

3. Feast of Tabernacles: Grace of Protection

The third Feast is the Feast of Tabernacles. Israelites lacked nothing during the forty-year life in the wood-framed tabernacles, and their clothes did not wear off. This represents a form in which the protection of God is manifested.

 

The Feast of Tabernacles is of the grace of protection―how has He protected our soul? How will He protect our soul in the future? What if He should not protect our mind? How has He protected our mind? How has He protected our body? How should our body be protected by Him in the future? Observe and keep close watch on: how our activities should be protected, how all of our business should be protected, how our social environment should be protected, and how our possessions should be protected. Then give thanks to the Lord for: having protected and protecting us on our activities, on our business, on our social environment, and on our possessions.

 

Conclusion

It is said, "As you understand the grace of His salvation, His guidance, and His protection, and as you give thanks to the Lord for the grace, in your self, in your mind, and in your deeds, I will perform my promise to you: your enemies will be gradually eliminated, your borders will be enlarged, and you will have no one to covet you. However, decide correctly how much grace you have received, and give thanks correctly according to the grace which you have been given."

 

If you take hold of today's word, it will be enough for you to live the rest of your lives. Life will arise in meditating on the word, in realizing it deeply with joy, in giving thanks to the Lord for it, in fearing because of it, in being worried because of it, in trembling out of it, and in being strengthened by it; there is no life but only wind in raging in the world out of human emotions, excitements, and tastes. It is good for nothing. Everybody, be true. You are all darkened.

 

We are responsible for our own salvation, and it is up to no one else. A thousand or ten thousand men may harm us, but the harm cannot affect our salvation. The Lord has assigned everyone of us to their own salvation. No one else can harm when we try for our own salvation. God will not allow any other people in the world to harm us when we work on our own salvation.

 

Prayer

We are experiencing that we are becoming bright, clean, and extremely strong, when we have come to seek to regain the salvation, the guidance, and the protection of the Lord. We are also experiencing that we are becoming clean and humble, and extremely confident in that we have acquired such a vast resource and foundation, when we have come to hope to entreat of the Lord the salvation, the guidance, and the protection after we have meditated to conclude that we are helpless without the salvation, the guidance, and the protection of the Lord. Today You have given a special opportunity concerning this word. Grant all of us in Seobu Church from a babe to an old without exception ever to meditate on and study the three graces; grant us the understanding of what we have not known and grant us to give thanks to You for that; grant us to seek and implore You for what we have not hoped for. Sanctify us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that we may conduct all our lives in the three graces and in dealing with the three graces, so that the Lord will become pleased to have the liberty to endow every grace on us. I pray that the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and the love of God the Father and the inspiration and influence of the Holy Spirit be with us forevermore. Amen.

 

 

 

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