By Amir Tsarfati
The world's superpowers decided to sign a deal with the country that is all about to spread terrorism and killing around the world in the name of Islam. I am talking about the Iran deal that left Israel completely, all by itself. As you know, in the last few weeks the Russians and the Iranians have literally, physically, invaded into Syria, and Syria is no longer Syria. Syria is now literally Russian and Iranian controlled territory with ISIS in Jabhat Al-Nusra and al-Qaeda in between.
The Middle East is shaping itself and forming itself to what Ezekiel already predicted 2600 years ago, and we've been talking about it for a long time here from this pulpit for the last few years. So, we are not to be surprised, when we talked about the future Russian invasion into the Middle East, it was then in future tense we are now speaking in present tense.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last hour of the last days and I am super excited. I will tell you why. You would think that I should be scared right now. I live in Israel; Israel is all alone. Israel was designed by God to stand alone, so, He will get all the glory when he saves us from our enemies. I want you also to know, and it is important, that we are not alone.
There's one nation, there's only one nation around the world that will always, unconditionally stand with Israel, and that's a nation that is not an earthly one? It's a nation that is actually comprised of people from every nation, from every tongue, and every tribe. We're talking about the nation of the people of God. Amen?
Oh! You may not know that, but the minute you became believers in Jesus Christ and you entrust your heart in him, in His hands, and you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you literally submitted your Filipino passports and you received a new passport, a new identity. You belong to a new nation which the Bible says, a holy nation, a kingdom of priesthood. The Bible says that you are having a citizenship that is not of this world. The Bible tells us not to conform to this world but we transform from this world.
We are coming to the finish line, the final stage, the finale, and the only people that are standing there, for the truth and for what God is doing, are the people of God. This is the last hour. I'm telling you guys if you don't understand that, you're not prepared. A lot of people, when they deal with Bible prophecy, they are scared. Bible prophecy is not to scare, it's to prepare, and if you are not prepared, then you are scared.
Just so you understand, what's going on in the Middle East right now, particularly in Israel right now. Ever since Iran had that deal, the Iranians are now feeling free to step up their efforts to spread terrorism, worldwide. They are behind the new wave of terrorism in Israel right now. They are actually sponsoring it. They are behind the strategy of incitement.
They actually told the Palestinians you have to use the "good old trick" of Al-Aqsa. The "good old trick" of religious conflict and get the area in flames. So, it will be easier for us, Iranians, for the Russians and for the others, to step in and do what we need to do. So, they come with it a false rumor that Israel is planning to take over the Al-Aqsa mosque. That it is changing the status quo, and from there it's just a snowball.
Now I don't even know if they know how it started. But all we know is that we're not putting up with that and anyone, anyone, who is coming up against us will have to pay the price. He will have to know that he might go and check if 72 virgins are waiting for him. He might find out that it's not 72 virgins, it's a 72-year-old virgin. We're not sure, we don't know. We don't want to get into that. We just know one thing, we are not going to sit and do nothing, as the world expects.
By the way the world is telling us, “Why are you responding?” The world is telling us, “Why are you shooting back?” The world is telling us, “You are using excessive force.” Well, I want to tell you something. If a man will be running in the streets of New York City with a knife (that big) and starts stabbing people all around, the policeman will kill him on the spot, instantly, and no one will say a word about it, anywhere. Because that's how it should be.
But when it comes to Israelis and Palestinians, Israel is "executing" terrorists. In fact, they don't even call them terrorists. I just want you to understand that every few years it comes and goes, and comes and goes. We are not alarmed. We're not surprised. It's a "good old trick" of testing us, and trying us. We're not afraid. We're not afraid because we know exactly that we are there for a reason. We know exactly that we did not bring ourselves back to that land.
If you have a problem with us being there, talk to him. That's it. Because God's fingerprints regarding Israel and its role, and regarding his plan of redemption of the whole world are going back. To the beginning of his affair with Israel as a nation as he led them out of Egypt, through the desert.
This is this evening's title message, “God's Calendar - Christ and the Feasts of Israel.” It's important that you understand. We are going to try to understand how the plan of God of salvation for the world was prescribed. It has already been determined. It has already been formed, 25 to 26 hundred years ago. In fact, almost, excuse me, 3500 years ago.
I always love to start the messages with Isaiah 46, because, “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.'” God loves to declare his plans. Sometimes he declares them in "real" writing, and sometimes he is hiding them. Not hiding them but he's actually showing you that in the past there was something.
But in the future that something reflected something else. That is the beauty of the Word of God. The "old" is actually revealed in the "new", and the "new" is concealed in the "old". Both are going together. Every time Jesus said that all those things that are written must take place, Jesus speaks of the Old Testament. All those things that were there written by the prophets must take place.
Unfortunately, instead of going to the things that are written, to the things that we are instructed to learn and study. People love to go to those places that are not written, the places that are nicer and "cooler", probably. That makes a bit more interest in our Christian “boring” walk, probably and then they come up with some strange theories and theologies.
Lately, I mean, I was attacked by blood moons, shmita, and so many different things. It is already October and we're still here. I say that, if there are some things that God wants us not to know, then we should not know.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The Secret things belong to the Lord our God. But those things that are revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” This means that we have to remember that there are things not for us to deal with. And the things that he wants us to deal with, are the things in his written, given Word to all of us. Amen?
Now, comes the beauty of how the "old" and "new" are walking together. In Colossians chapter 2:16-17, we see how Paul is writing to the people of Colossae. He is basically telling them something very interesting. He's telling them, “Therefore let no one judge you in food, or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
There is a tendency in the Christian world to always go to the "shadow", rather than to the "substance". To always try to keep that which God tells them, "It's not the real thing." When you walk... Look at the shadow that I am casting right here. Normal people cast a shadow first, and then they come later on. If you walk in the street and you don't cast a shadow in the daylight, then go see a doctor. But you need to understand, casting a shadow is a normal thing, as you are in the day.
Actually, when you see the shadow, sometimes it can be big and impressive and huge. But the shadow tells you that the substance is about to come. The shadow tells you that someone is about to come. The real thing is about to come. Now sometimes it's a small little person that casts a very big shadow and sometimes it's the opposite.
But it doesn't matter. Still the shadow is just the image on the floor. It is not going to talk to you. it is not going to respond to you. It is not going to shake your hand. It is not going to listen to you. It is just a shadow. It is there to tell you that the "real" thing is about to come.
So, "Therefore, let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of course of Christ." It's interesting, the Lord God of Israel is taking the people of Israel out of the house of bondage, out of the house of slavery. He is leading them now through the desert.
From the moment, he's about to take them out, he tells them, “Listen to me, start writing down a calendar, because the act of the Exodus will be the first month of your calendar. From now on, everything I am going to do with you, while I am taking you out from Egypt, will become a symbol that will be celebrated every year by you. So, as you are preparing, jot down and get ready, because our journey will be also journaled." It is going to be an interesting thing.
It's the calendar of God that he is now prescribing and it is taking all of us in a wonderful journey through 7 festivals. All are described in Leviticus, chapter 23. What are those 7 festivals? It is the Passover, it is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it's is the Feast of First Fruits, it's the Feast of Weeks, which you call Pentecost, “pentekoste”, meaning “fifty”, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
These are the 7 festivals that the Lord prescribed for the children of Israel to celebrate once a year, and that is apart from the Sabbath that they were supposed to celebrate every week. So, I decided to take all of these seven and break them down to the shadow and the substance, and show you Christ from the very beginning to the very end. Let's see what that is going to lead us to.
The Passover takes us all the way to Exodus 12, Where there is that description of what that lamb should be, “Your lamb should be without blemish. The whole assembly of Israel shall kill it. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two door posts.” Isn't that interesting.
The children of Israel, when they were in Egypt, were instructed by the Lord to take a year old, beautiful, cute, little lamb, to house it, put it in their house for 4 days, pet it, feed it, and be very nice to it. I know some of you here have goats in your house or at least outside the house. Well, some of you may have sheep? I'm not sure, but I know one thing: you fall in love with those little creatures, especially when they're little, small, and cute.
After 4 days, they were supposed to kill the animal. Watch this, kill the animal, the animal that did nothing, nothing wrong. Take a branch of hyssop, dip it in the blood, and sprinkle the blood on the 2 doorposts of their house. Wow! Now interestingly enough, we know that the angel came down [from the Lord] the angel came down to Egypt. What was the instruction that God gave to the angel? “Wherever you see blood, pass over that house, and don't kill the firstborn of that house."
In other words, the only criteria was not: wherever you see a Jew, wherever you see an Israelite, wherever you see a handsome person, no. It was all about, "...wherever you see the blood sprinkled on the two doorposts." In other words, if the Egyptians would have heard that which they needed to do. If the Egyptians would have applied the blood on the 2 doorposts of their homes, they would have escaped that judgment.
Because the eyes of God, even on the Ark of the Covenant. the eyes of the two cherubim are always on that seat of mercy where the blood was sprinkled. The eyes of God, through the blood of an innocent lamb, could really free you from the judgment and from death, whether you were an Egyptian or an Israelite. It's interesting, remember it had to be unblemished and a year old.
Because when we look at John chapter 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, ‘Behold! The lamb of God.'” He could have said, "Behold, the Lion of Judah". He could have said so many things, but he saw in Jesus that which every Jew could have in his mind, just when Passover arrived. By the way, that's why Paul called Jesus, “our Passover.” Look, and he says, “Behold! The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
That is why in 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul says, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” It is the blood of Christ, on the doorpost of your heart, that will have judgment skip you and not fall on you, and therefore, you will not die. Do you understand that?
It's very simple. See, that which was given to the people of Israel 3,500 years ago, applies to all of you today. It's the blood that causes the judgment to pass over. So, right after they killed that "Lamb of God", they started going out of Egypt into the desert. Before you start a journey, you need some food. Now, there was no time for a good New York-style bagel.
There was no time to put yeast, wait for the dough to rise, and then bake nice bread. All they had was flour and water. They had to mix it together and put it on the oven. They had to, literally, pierce that dough so that it would not rise. Then when you put it and pierced it all around, you see stripes and you see piercing. That is what the unleavened bread looks like, the matzah bread.
It says, “On that fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened bread to the Lord. Seven days you must eat unleavened bread.” Interesting, 7 days. Seven days shows you the length that you need to understand that the bread has no leaven. You should inspect it. You should see that it is long enough to determine there is definitely no leaven in it.
That brings me to 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Therefore, purge out the old leaven.” typology is a symbol of sin. “...that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.” When we are being forgiven of our sins, we become unleavened. In fact, in 1st Corinthians 5:8, it says, “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, not with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
Interesting how Passover is Jesus being killed and the blood applied, but the unleavened bread speaks of the sinless life of Jesus. Jesus was here not for a week, not for 10 days, but for three years. There was enough time for every person to see that he is, indeed, sinless. Even Pilate, himself, knew that Jesus did nothing wrong.
So, Jesus is not only the Passover, but he's definitely the unleavened bread. That's why he said when he took the bread, "He broke it and said, 'Take it for this is my body broken for you.” Speaking of the unleavened bread, as a symbol, not as if it is his own body, himself. We are not eating the body of Christ, here, at least.
Then, in a very interesting manner in Leviticus 23 it says, “...then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest... on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it...” Isn’t that interesting? The day after the Sabbath.
So, if Passover took place on Tuesday, you wait until the Sabbath comes, and on Sunday you bring that sheaf. If Passover took place on Friday, then you wait the Sabbath, and on Sunday. It was always the day after the Sabbath. Interesting, the day after the Sabbath.
They don't even call it Sunday. In Hebrew, we don't call it Sunday. It is a pagan name, Sunday, the day of the sun. Monday is the day of the moon. We call it: 1st day, 2nd day, 3rd day, 4th day. The only day that has no 4th, 5th, 6th, is Shabbat, the Sabbath, because it means "cease from working". But the day after the Sabbath is always the 1st day of the week, Sunday.
It is interesting how in Matthew 28, “Now after the Sabbath...” Look, the New Testament uses the same exact lingo, “After the Sabbath as the first day of the week began to dawn... the angel said... [as they came to the tomb] 'He is not here, He has risen, as He said...'”
That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But now Christ is risen from the dead. He has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep...” Jesus was the "first fruit". His resurrection had to be on what day of the week? The first day after the Sabbath, and how do you call it? Sunday. Wow! So, it's okay to celebrate the day of the Lord on Sunday.
It's interesting, because you can see how Jesus is fulfilling everything from being the Passover Lamb, being the sinless person, all the way to being offered, and then resurrect, as the first fruit, on the day after the Sabbath. Then, of course, comes the Feast of Weeks. The Bible says in Leviticus 23, “You shall count for yourself from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be complete.”
You have to understand something, people talk about blood moons, tetrads, blah, blah, blah. When the Bible wants you to start counting something, the Bible tells you to count something. When the Bible wants you to look into a specific phenomenon or specific time period that you must, the Bible tells you that. So, you have to count 7 Sabbaths. So, one, two, three, four. How many days? 7 X 7? 49.
Then he says, “Count fifty days...” [which means on the fiftieth day, you] “shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you.” Wow! The Jewish tradition is that it took 50 days for the children of Israel to walk all the way from Egypt to Mount Sinai. They believe that when the Lord brought the law to the people of Israel, they...
By the way, it's written in the Jewish Talmud, not only that the law came, but also tongues of fire came with it. It is written all over the Jewish Talmud. It is interesting because the Jews believe that the law was given on that festival, 50 days after the first day of the week of the first fruits.
Acts, chapter 2:1-4, “Now when the day of Pentecost had fully come...” And as good Jews... By the way, I want to remind you, Jesus was a Jew. Now, I'm not saying that for nothing. Seven days ago, in Washington DC, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who was the pastor of President Obama. He stood up there in front of many Muslim Americans and said that Jesus was a Palestinian. I am not kidding you. He said, "Jesus was a Palestinian." Namely, he was an Arab.
Now, excuse me, but that's not what my Bible says. My Bible says, not only he was a Jew, but everything that God prescribed to the Jewish people he, himself, fulfilled. So, in Acts chapter 2, as they came together in "one accord, [And it's not a commercial for Honda here.] "and in one place. Suddenly there came sound from heaven... [and of course] they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” You see, that day that the Jews are celebrating the coming down of the law, on that day, God brought down, what? The Holy Spirit.
Make no mistake, you are enjoying something that none of the Jews in history enjoyed before. You are all, hopefully, having the Holy Spirit in you. I hope, because if you don't have the Holy Spirit in you, you are not going to see Christ. You are going to see him coming and going. You are those virgins who don't have oil in their lamps. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit never filled someone and he was never sealed with it.
The Bible says that in the Old Testament that the Holy Spirit would come upon you, and the Holy Spirit could leave you. This is why David, the King, begged the Lord in Psalm 51. When Nathan came and Nathan was basically, telling him, “You're a sinner! Look what you did with Bathsheba.” David said, “Yes, I am a sinner”. He is praying to God and says “Please, take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” Because he knew it was an option.
It is interesting, because now for the first time the Holy Spirit is descending, corporately, and you are sealed with it. Do you know what it means, "sealed"? Nobody can open it. Nobody is allowed to open it, "sealed". It is interesting because...
Why do you think the people of the tribe of Levi, the Levites, were set apart? How come God chose Levi and not Manasseh, or Judah? It is because the children of Israel, when they were impatient until Moses would come down from Mount Sinai, started building that golden calf, the only tribe that did not take part in that horrific pagan ceremony was the tribe of Levi. That is why God set them apart. God honored that.
The Bible says in Exodus 32, “So the sons of Levi did according to the Word of Moses.” But then the judgment that came upon the people of Israel because of the golden calf, because of that law that came, “...about 3000 men of the people fell that day...” Isn't that interesting, the parallel? In Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit came, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. And that day about 3,000 souls were added to them.” See, the Bible says that “the law killeth, the Spirit gives life.” Amen?
So, you see there is a great parallel between that which was written and that which has come later, in order to fulfill, in order to be that substance. Don't go back to the shadow, continue to focus on the substance. Now, comes the interesting thing. You see Jesus fulfilled Passover, the Unleavened Bread, the First Fruits, and, of course, the Holy Spirit came and Pentecost was fulfilled. These are the "spring holidays". Now comes a long period, and the "fall holidays" are coming. That is the time that had to pass, from the time of Jesus, to our time today.
Now come the exciting things, are you ready? Now comes the Feast of Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets is the most bizarre and weird festival on the Jewish calendar. Come, blow the trumpets, and go home. It says, "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing the trumpets, a holy Blowing the trumpets?
Holy convocation? What for? Why do people blow trumpets? What for? What is it all about? And that throws me back to trumpets in Numbers, chapter 10. Moses was given an instruction by the Lord, "...Make Two Silver Trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the assembly and for directing the movement of the camps." Which means, "get ready", calling the assembly, get ready. Get ready to move! Get ready to fight! Get ready for something or for someone!
That is what it was all about. Now, we understand what trumpets are all about. But why two, and why silver? Two... Let's go, "Why silver?" Silver is a precious metal but it's not perfect. Trumpets, we already understand, it's to warn. Why two? Hmm, very interesting.
It takes me all the way back to Matthew 24. Jesus said to the disciples who asked him about the signs of the end times, “Learn this parable from the fig tree:” He spoke about world events and global catastrophes. Then he stopped right in the middle and he says, "Learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that the summer is near."
Do you understand? Jesus says, "I'm telling you, learn the parable from the fig tree". It's a parable. I'm not talking about the fig tree. The fig tree resembles something. I immediately went back to study about the fig tree. I found in Joel chapter one, "For a nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. He has laid waste my vine and ruin my fig tree..."
Israel is God's fig tree. In Hosea 9:10, "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first fruits of the fig tree in its season..." So, you see in Ezekiel, when he speaks of the rebirth of Israel. It is exactly what Jesus prophesied about the fig tree coming back-to life. "For I will take you from among the nations, I will gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you into your own land..."
It's interesting, that Pastor said to the crowd, he said, not only that Jesus was a Palestinian but he said, "the land, the original owners of the land, are the Palestinians." Well, I don't know what Bible he's reading, but I know that my Bible says that God says, "I will take them from among the nations. I will gather them out of the countries, and I will bring them into their own land."
Do you understand? It's very simple. He did it. Do you have a problem with it? Talk to him. I did not bring my grandparents from the Holocaust. God made them survive, God brought them all the way. No country helped us coming all the way back to the land of Israel. No country helped us having to deal with nuclear threats. We had to go and destroy the Iraqi nuclear reactor ourselves and the Americans condemned us for it and imposed sanctions on us in 1981.
We had to take care of business in 2007 and destroy the Syrian nuclear reactor. No country came to help us. They told us you are all by yourself. Now, everybody is thanking us that ISIS, in Iraq and in Syria, is not having nuclear weapons in their hands. But you see, the rebirth of Israel was prophesied already, not only by Ezekiel, but even by Jesus, himself.
And now comes the point why I believe it's two trumpets. You see, according to Isaiah 43 verse 10, Israel is the witness of God, "You are my witnesses.” He says in Isaiah chapter 43, “You are my witnesses,’ says the Lord to the people of Israel." Interesting, they are his witnesses. No wonder, why when Queen Victoria asked her special closest advisor, "Give me one proof that there is a God", and he told her "I'll give you one proof in one word: Israel. If they are still here, there has to be a God.”
Israel is God's witness and this is why the enemy wants to destroy us. Because the enemy always wants to destroy the evidence and kill the witness. The same goes with the church. The church was born in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 1:8, what does it say? It says the following thing, in Acts chapter 1:8. I will read it from here then, okay. No problem.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be [what?] witnesses.” You see, Israel is God's witness, and the church is God's witness. There is only two. The only witnesses of God in this world is the church and Israel. This is why we will always suffer together, not just enjoy things together. Whoever wants to destroy Israel is normally anti-Christian, trust me. It goes together.
So, in 1st Corinthians chapter 15, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep. But we shall all be changed. In a moment, in a twinkling of the eye, and at the last”, what? You see guys? Trumpet is related to a specific event. Here it says that our rapture is going to happen, when? At the last trumpet." You see, I believe that ever since 1948, when Israel was born once again into its land.
God is using Israel and the church, for the first time together, as the trumpets that are telling the world to get ready. Something is going to happen; someone is about to come. It's interesting, because at the last trumpet, we are out of here. I didn't say that, the Bible said that. So, the rapture is related to the trumpets, and related to the Feast of Trumpets. I believe that the Feast of Trumpets is not a specific single day for us. It is a series of events, a series of blowing of the trumpet, and when the last trumpet is going to blow, we are out of here. Amen.
So, we live in those days right now. Israel is all alone. For the first time since Israel was born, it's completely isolated. Russia is not with us, it's against us. Europe is not with us, it's against us. America, the administration at least, is not with us, it's against us. No one is beside us. No one. It had been prophesied. It had been predicted. It is for God to get all the glory, Amen.
Then comes the 6th and the most tragic one, the Day of Atonement. The Bible says in Leviticus 23, "Also, on the 10th day of the 7th month shall be the day of atonement. You shall afflict your souls.” What is to afflict your soul? It is to really understand that you are helpless. You cannot do anything. You cannot save yourself. See, the Jewish people translate it to fasting. When the Bible wants to tell you that you should fast, the Bible tells you, fast. But we don't hear "fasting," here. It is "afflicting" your soul.
Interestingly enough, Zachariah tells us the day is going to come when Jesus will come back, “They will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only Son...” When the Jewish people see Christ Jesus returning in the cloud, coming with his feet, standing on Mount of Olives, riding on his white horse, with us coming with him. Amen? Hello!
Then those who are the remnant of the Great Tribulation, the last third. According to Zechariah 13, "they will look upon him, and they will mourn, and they will cry, and they will repent, and they will be saved." That's what Romans 11 says, “and all Israel will be saved.”
Then, of course, Tabernacles, “The 15th day of the 7th month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord.” The longest and the happiest festival in Israel's calendar. We just celebrated it.
Zechariah 14 says that even in the end times all of us will continue celebrating it. “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, The Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles...” Isn’t that great? All of us are going to go because the Lord will tabernacle with his people. The Lord tabernacles. The Lord is dwelling, inhabits the praises of his people.
So, the seven festivals, were they fulfilled? The Passover, of course, speaks of the crucifixion of the Lord. Unleavened Bread speaks of the sinless life of the Lord, past. We know that Weeks, Pentecost, the descending of the Holy Spirit, the birth of the church, it's already past.
I believe, that since 1948, Israel and the church exist and we are the trumpets. It is now. The Day of Atonement, it is the 2nd coming of Christ, Israel's national salvation. It is in the future. Of course, the Feast of Tabernacles speaks of the Millennial Kingdom when the Lord will tabernacle with his people and that, of course, is in the future.
What is missing? What is missing is the rapture's exact time. You see, I told you everything. But we didn't talk about the exact time of the rapture. Why? Because we should not know the day or the hour, but we know one thing. It is what? It is very soon, very, very soon.
You have to understand something. God, in the festivals of Israel, prescribed his plan of redemption to the whole world, not only for Israel. Israel was just a way for him to communicate his Word for the whole world. He is now putting his blueprint of salvation to the whole world. Everyone who confesses: Jesus is Lord, that he died for your sins, that he was buried, and resurrected, everyone who believes, will be saved. Amen? That's as far as the gospel is concerned.
The plan of God, the plan of redemption, is there and then there is this satanic plan of deception: to tell you that all you need to be is a good person, you need to do good things and you will enter the kingdom of God no matter what. You were here when I taught about that, regarding the rise of the one world religion. The only thing that separates you from God's plan is a choice. It's a free choice.
It is within your hand to decide whether you are adopting the godly plan of redemption or if you are falling into the Satanic plan of deception. The Bible says, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish,” [It is all full of unrighteousness and deception because what happened is] “those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
You see, if you do not receive the love of the truth, then you'll perish. But that's your choice. You choose not to and then, of course, “for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe in the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
What gives you pleasure in this world? Loving God, serving God, or being in the world? Going out, drinking, partying, and dancing? What really excites you in this world? Is it the world, or is it serving God? Is it your business, or is it the Father's business? What really is the motivation of your life nowadays as we reach the last hour of the last days?
Because I tell you something, the victory has already been determined. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8, “For the mystery”, the Bible says, “For the mystery of lawlessness [yes!] is already at work but only He who now restrains [the Holy Spirit] will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.”
Jesus will return, and He will destroy all that the enemy is about to prepare. The victory has already been achieved. Jesus is already on the winning side. We know the end from the beginning. Now the choices are ours: To be with the victorious side? Or to be with the losers? To enjoy the pleasures of the world now, that are so temporary? Or to be on our knees knowing that this is the last hour?
This is the time to share. This is the time to pray. This is the time to love and care. This is it. We must, until he comes, be in our Father's business. We must occupy. We must dominate. We must not be passive.
The Bible says, “What kind of a trumpet are you?” In 1 Corinthians 14:8, remember we are trumpets, it says, “For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?” You see, you are all trumpets. We are trumpets. We are living in the days of the Feast of Trumpets. At the last trumpet, he's going to come and take us. But if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who is going to prepare?
You see, once we reach eternity, there's no way back. You cannot really fix things. Remember what Jesus talks about in his amazing parable? Talking about Lazarus, remember? The poor man and the king, you can't fix things. That's it. If you want to make things right, this is your time. Now, not later on. It's important that we do that because this is it.
I want to conclude the message with something that CS Lewis wrote in one of his books. He is one of my favorite Christian authors. He wrote something very profound. CS Lewis, I don't know if we can show it on the screen, but he wrote something very profound. He basically said, “as we come to the end, there will be those people who will say to God, ‘Thy will be done' and then those whom God says to, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’
Do you understand? If you choose to reject God, God says, “okay, then your will be done." But it's your will. It's your choice. Then he says, “All that are in hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy,” [the joy of our salvation], “will ever miss it. Those who seek, find and those who knock, it will be opened.”
This evening, as we come to an end and we can prepare for the end. I want to challenge you this evening. You see, what is going on in the world is alarming for the non-believer. What is going on in the world should scare the one who is not prepared. What is going on in the world will only intensify, as Jesus said.
What is going on in the world will definitely be going to increase: more earthquakes, more famines, more pestilences, more natural disasters, more wars, more rumors of war, more nations against nations, and more kingdoms against kingdoms. Jesus said, "It is just the beginning."
Now, we are not here to talk about romantic events. We are here to talk about what the world is going through right now and the question is, "Where is your heart this evening?" Are you ready? Are you ready to meet your Creator?
Do you understand that Jesus is looking at you? There are 2 things that he can say: “Well done, good and faithful servant or, I do not know you." These are 2 things that Jesus can say and it's up to you what he is going to say. Because it is up to what you did and what you decided in the time that he gave you in this world.
Ever since things have been going crazy in the last few years, there is not even a single message that I can finish without giving people the opportunity to get right with the Lord. I'm telling you, guys, if I'm not going to let you repent, your blood is on my hands. Ezekiel says that in chapter 33, he says, “I must tell you. What you do with it, or not, that is your problem, but I must tell you."
The Bible says, "he who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit has to say. So, this evening I'm extending an invitation. We have seen, God's Word is fulfilled. God is perfect. He's not late. He is not too early. He prescribed everything. Jesus came and fulfilled everything.
God is love. God wants you to be saved. God doesn't want you to choose hell. God says in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 30, he says, “Choose life! I put before you, death and life." Choose life!