Gathered Around the Fire

Chapter 2 – How do we proclaim the LORD's Moedim by the Spirit? When Jesus fulfilled the Spring Feasts in His first coming, He forever transformed them into a New Covenant spiritual reality. Before we can proclaim them in the proper New Covenant way we have to understand some basic biblical principles, they are not complex, and you might already know some of them. Last time we talked about this principle.  “First the natural and afterward the spiritual” 1 Corinthians 15:46 In the Old Covenant, all of the Feasts and the law were expressed entirely in the natural realm. The law was written by the finger of God on Stone tablets . Exodus 31:18 Circumcision was a physical mark in the natural flesh indicating being sanctified unto God. The people of God were natural (biological) descendants of Israel and his 12 sons. The sacrifices required the physical death of animals. ·     God's Presence dwelt in a tent covered by layers of dead animal skins stretched o...

Chapter 2  “First the natural and afterward  the S piritual”   1 Corinthians 15:46 Jesus turned the water into wine,  (first the natural, water = natural) the servants poured water into earthen vessels (of the earth or natural) but what they drew out of the mouths of these earthen vessels was wine. (afterward the spiritual or supernatural) .  Wine coming from water is not natural it is supernatural!    We see this transitional principle three times in the first three chapters of the gospel of John.  The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us - John 1 In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.   He was with God in the beginning.   Through Him all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made.  The Word became flesh  (natural) and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, (supernatural)   the glory of the one and only Son, who came from...

Chapter One - Keep it Simple The Hebrew children were slaves in Egypt, and they cried out to the Lord, He heard their cry and sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt. On their way out of Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses, speak to the people say to them… v2 ‘The LORD’S  appointed times  which you shall proclaim  as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: The weekly seventh Day Sabbath – v3 ‘ For six  days work may be done, but on the seventh day  there is a Sabbath  of complete   rest , a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the LORD  in all your dwellings . When we make appointments in our modern day it usually includes a date ; a month, a day, and a time of day.  We enter all this into our calendar to  'set' the appointed time. It usually includes a location  we might also enter this place into our calendar. It might also ...

Eight Reasons the Church must proclaim the Moedim of the Lord?  1. God says they are His ‘special Set apart times’ of proclamation/celebration. – Leviticus 23:2 2. He instructed His people to proclaim them at their appointed times – Leviticus 23:4 3. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings , throughout your generations . – Leviticus 23:21 4. Each Moed proclaims an aspect of the  New Covenant   redemptive work of Jesus the Christ – The  Sabbath  proclaims Jesus is ‘the  Creator ’ – John 1:3, Genesis 2:2 Passover  proclaims  Jesus is the ‘ Lamb of God ’ – John 1:29, 35 Unleavened Bread   proclaims  Jesus is the ‘ Bread of Heaven ’ – John 6:33,  Psalm 22 First Fruits  proclaims  Jesus is  the victor  over Death, Hell and the grave ‘ Overcomer ’ –  Pentecost  proclaims   Jesus is the  Baptizer  with the  Spirit/fire  – John 1:32 Trumpets   proclaims...

SCRIPTURE ALONE WAS THE CRY OF THE REFORMATION We need to return to saying only what God is saying...  So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that  I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me.    John 8:28  Once  the Roman church  left the safe harbor of saying precisely what God said. Protestants may follow the same slippery path unless we guard our thoughts and words. The cry of the protestant movement was Scripture Alone! But we have adopted many traditions of the Roman Church.  I heard a popular new song sung recently - While the lyrics of this song paint a compelling picture and I can agree with some of the sentiments. It is confusing when lyrics contradict Scripture and  can cause confusion. Because people sing the songs perhaps more often than they read the Scriptures firsthand.  Here are the lyrics that caused me some consternation.  Verse...

A small dinner party held at a local religious leader's house was almost totally shut down by a scandal.  The dinner party at Simon's house recounted by eyewitnesses in the gospels has crisscrossed the globe wherever the good news of the gospel has been preached this dinner party story has also been told.  Simon one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, He went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.  A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. (Historians say this perfume cost her about a full year's wages) So in today's terms maybe $50,000-$90,000!  When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touch...

In the Tabernacle of Moses, and in the temple, there were three sections The Outer Court   -  The brazen altar for Sacrifices - The laver for cleansing the priests   The Holy Place   - Only Priests ministered unto the Lord The Holiest of Holies   - The High Priest alone could enter - Only one day a year.   -  E xceptions ended in immediate death.    Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving... Without Thanksgiving, we lock ourselves on the outside... looking in. Like orphan children standing on a street corner on a cold winter night, we can see the warm fire and lights from a distance.  But we are unable to enter into the place of His presence.  We thank God for His goodness , His goodness is all around us everywhere we look.  It is the goodness of the Lord that leads men to repentance.   The outer court is about salvation. His goodness includes Grace, Forgiveness, Patience, Love, and acceptance. Giving thanks for salvation with ...