In this issue:
Salvation
“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” (2 Timothy 1:9)
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Paul was saying that we are saved by grace, apart from our works. This is to be understood and agreed upon.
Works and Grace
"And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." (Romans 11:6)
Paul has already explained that works and grace are opposites. Grace is mercy. Everyone who works receives wages. Worker receives wages not because of the grace of the rich, but because of the work he performed. If a rich man gives money to a person who cannot work, it is because of mercy, because of grace. In the same way, salvation is given purely out of God’s mercy to human beings.
Righteousness
Man is not righteous before God. He himself knows it. Therefore, he tries to be righteous so that God will accept him. But man can never be righteous before God. Paul says, "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness." (Romans 4:1-5)
Judgment
Everyone believes he will be judged for his sins, but he does not try to escape that judgment. Meanwhile, God is inviting everyone, “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18) No court of law ever extend their invitation like that. God calls for judgment on man, but He also gives the solution already. A person's sins, though they be scarlet, shall be as white as snow. This means that as far as God is concerned, the person will be innocent.
Again, Christ said, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." (John 3:18) He told man to believe in Him. If you believe in His Son Jesus, you will not be condemned. If you are not condemned, you will not have to go to hell. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus?
Eternal Life
No living being wants to die. Everyone wants to live. Because they are afraid of death, they work. When they are sick, they take medicine, go to the doctor, and get treatment. But no matter how healthy and prolong the physical life is, one day it is certain that death will come. However, because people have no long term vision, they only value and care about their physical life. Since the physical life is short, God gives eternal life to everyone. How good is God! This is what the Bible says: "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12)
This is a message to fellow human beings: accept eternal life; it is given freely; do not be careless. If you do not receive eternal life, you will suffer eternal death, that is, eternal torment in the lake of fire. Even if you repent at that point, there will be no way out. Therefore, before your physical life ends, receive the eternal life that God has given you. The eternal life is in His Son Jesus. Open the door of your heart and invite Him. Simply invite Him through prayer.
Feast of Trumpets and the Rapture
Seven Feasts
God commanded the Israelites to celebrate seven feasts each year (Exodus 23). These feasts were a shadow of what Christ would fulfill. Christ himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) Paul said, “Let no one judge you in food and drink, or in respect of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is Christ.” (Colossians 2:16) How were the festivals the shadow to come, and how did Christ fulfill them? Let us explore.
Passover
When God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He commanded them to celebrate the Passover on the night of the 14th day of the month of Nisan. The blood of the Passover lamb saved the Israelites from death (Exodus 12). This was a shadow. The Passover lamb of the world is the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:7). Through the Lord Jesus, believers can be freed from condemnation. The Israelites did not want to kill Christ on the Passover, but they did. They could not stay for another day, but spent the night in court and killed him on the day of the feast. The Lord Jesus was killed on the day of the Passover, so the Passover was fulfilled. There was no need for another Passover. Read the details of the Passover in Exodus 12.
Unleavened Bread
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be celebrated for a week, from the 15th to the 21st of Nisan. “The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.” (Leviticus 23:5-6). The Israelites were to remove leaven from their homes after the Passover and eat unleavened bread for a week. Leaven is sin (1 Corinthians 5:7). Christ commanded to be careful about the leaven of the Pharisee, the leaven of the Sadducees and the leaven of Herod (Matthew 16:6; Mark 8:15). All of these leaven, which are sins, were put on Jesus by God and were buried along with Jesus. That way, the requirement of unleavened bread was fulfilled at Jesus' burial.
Feast of Firstfruits
The Feast of Firstfruits was celebrated on the 16th day of the month of Nisan. "When you come into the land that I am giving you and reap its harvest, you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. On the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted by Him." (Leviticus 23:10-11) The firstfruits for God was Jesus, as Paul wrote: "Christ is now risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that slept." (1 Corinthians 15:20). Since Christ is the firstfruits, he rose on the 16th day of Nisan, and the shadow is thus fulfilled.
Pentecost
The Feast of Pentecost is celebrated in the month of Sivan. "From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord." (Leviticus 23:15-16) Fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Pentecost was celebrated. On that day, two loaves of leavened bread made from new wheat were offered to God (Leviticus 23:17). The two loaves were leavened. The two loaves symbolized the church that was to be built by the two nations, Israel and the Gentiles. That day is called the Day of Pentecost. The full word Pentecost occurs only in the New Testament, in Acts 2:1, 20:16, and 1 Corinthians 16:8. On that day, the Spirit came down and the church was established. There was no need to celebrate that feast or wait for it to be fulfilled.
The above feasts were fulfilled in detail by Christ nearly two thousand years ago. The Israelites did not know that they had been fulfilled, so they still celebrate them today. Christians do not know about these feasts, so they do not see the shadow, and they do not care about them because they do not know the fulfillment.
Let us continue to study three remaining feasts that have not yet been fulfilled that will be fulfilled soon. Since the four feasts were already fulfilled on their exact dates, it is reasonable to assume that the next three feasts will also be fulfilled on their exact dates.
The Feast of Trumpets
“On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of Sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.” (Leviticus 23:24) The Feast of Trumpets was held on the first day of the month of Tabernacles. The blowing of trumpets is a gathering of people. They are used to gather soldiers for war and to gather to God. Paul wrote about the trumpets that will be blown when Christ comes: “In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52) “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
The first four feasts were fulfilled on the exact day of the feast. Therefore, the rapture, the blowing of trumpets, is expected to be fulfilled on that feast day.
Day of Atonement
"The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God." (Leviticus 23:27-28)
The Day of Atonement is discussed in detail in Leviticus 16. This feast was celebrated on the 10th day of the seventh month, the month of Jubilee (September-October). Only on that day the priest entered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the blood of bulls and goats before and on the Ark of the Covenant for the sins of the people of Israel. The sins of the congregation were placed on the head of the live goat and sent into the wilderness.
These things were the shadow, and they would be fulfilled when the Lord Jesus came again after the seven-year tribulation. Therefore, it is still in the future. For now, only a few of the people of Israelis accept Jesus as Lord and the majority are still blind. They look forward to what is to come — the hardships of the tribulation, and a few who have not died after the event will accept him as their king, and their sins will also be forgiven.
Feast of Tabernacles
"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days." (Leviticus 23:34) This feast is held from the fifteenth to the twenty-second day of the seventh month, the first month of the seventh month. It is a feast to remember the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, when God fed the people of Israel, and to remember His provision. It is a shadow, and it points to what will be fully provided for all mankind during the thousand years of the Lord Jesus' reign here on earth. Then the feast of tabernacles will be fulfilled. Although God commanded the seven feasts to be held with full purpose and meaning, the people of Israel only knew the shadow and not the fulfillment, so they celebrated every one of them in vain. The church does not know these things, so it neither sees the shadow nor the fulfillment.
Natural man and spiritual man
"Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:1)
"This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit." (1 Corinthians 2:13-14)
"The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life." (John 6:63)
When we say flesh, we do not mean only doing evil, but everything that is not in accordance with God's will. The flesh also includes what is good in the eyes of man, especially zeal for God's law and doing His work. Now we will consider the fleshly things that are zealous in the eyes of God.
The people of Israel were zealous in the eyes of God, but God said this through Isaiah, "Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4 Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him." (Isaiah 1:2-4).
Why did God say that the people of Israel did not know him, they did not love him, they were wicked, they were treacherous, they have forsaken God, they have rejected God, that they have turned their backs against Him?
God himself said that they were very zealous for God, "“The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!” (Isaiah 1:11-15)
The Israelites were zealous for God, so they offered many sacrifices. They came before him; they burned incense; they kept the new moons and the Sabbaths; they celebrated the festivals that God commanded; and they prayed many prayers. But why did God hate them and not tolerate them? Why did he say that he hated their festivals and that they provoked him to anger? Why did he turn his eyes away from them and not listen to them?
The reason is because they were not seeking to please God, but to please themselves. In Isaiah 29:13, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."
Jesus and the Jews had arguments all the time. The reason is because Jesus was a spiritual man, and the Jews were natural people. When Jesus spoke spiritually, the Jews could not understand it. In the time of Jesus, the Jews were zealous for God. But they were zealous without knowing the will of God. Jesus quoted what Isaiah had said and condemned them: "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules." (Matthew 15:7-9).
Paul said, "Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness." (Romans 10:1-3) The Israelites were zealous for God, but they were not saved. If they were not saved, their zealousness was in vain.
Today, there are also those who are zealous for God in the Christian world. Just as there are those who serve God with hardship and toil, there are those who serve God because they want to enjoy the riches of the world. They shout and praise God with all their might, and they shout the goodness of God from the pulpit. They say in front of huge audiences that they live only because of God, that they eat only because of God, but in their daily lives, they do not live like they shout from the pulpit. They embarrass God by living their lives like godless people, complaining and taking drugs, etc. Why is there no spirituality in their lives? It is because they are just a shell without seed; It is because they are close to God with their mouths, but their hearts are far from Him. They are not born again with the truth, but worship God with their feelings. They do not base their lives on the Word, but follow human desires. They only focus on music and melodies that sound good, but do not lay their foundation in the truth. Those who follow them are also like them, and they quickly become a good-sized gathering crowd. But if you look at their lives, they are like the children of the world. Are you like that kind of person? If you are, quickly lay your life foundation in the truth. Read the Word. Find people who preach according to the Word, and listen to them.
