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[0:00] the word then, Numbers chapter 28. Numbers 28 and 29, again, it's a passage of repetition. This is why I'm reading them together, okay? So what we're going to do, we're going to read it, and then we're going to try to bring out the application of it. We're going to see the truth of it. And the truth of it is, is that recently they have recounted the people of Israel. The old generation has all passed away. It's been 38 years since their revolt at Kadesh Barnea. Kadesh Barnea is the place where God said, go in and take possession of the Lamb. Now, when we read the book of Numbers, what we see, and again, this is the beautiful thing of reading the Bible in its entirety, it seems as if in the book of Numbers God said, okay, go spy out the Lamb and then take possession of the Lamb. But it's not until we get to the book of Deuteronomy that we see the reality is, when they get to Kadesh Barnea, God said, go take possession of the Lamb. Moses tells us in the book of Deuteronomy, the people said, hey, what about we send a delegation of spies in? And God said, okay, that's fine, do it. So it was the people's idea, not God's. God's idea was to move forward in faith, to move forward, take possession of the Lamb. The people said, well, let's go look at what we're supposed to do. They rebel, they revolt, you understand. Ten came back and said no.

[1:08] Two came back and said go. We get to this point now, 38 years later, three people remain that left Egypt that were 20 years old and upward. Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. Now, we know that Moses is approaching his day of death or departure because it tells us in Numbers chapter 27, God says, prepare to die. He says, you know, Moses is 120 years old, still full of vigor, still full of strength, still pushing forward. And God says, your days are numbered. It's time to pass on the mantle to Joshua. And he does that. He's passing on the mantle. He gives him some of his leadership. But now there's Joshua and Eleazar. Eleazar is the descendant of Aaron. And Eleazar is the high priest. So there's the repetition of things to do. There is the retelling. The new generation or the younger generation, this is what is about to happen. And we see that here in Numbers 28 and 29. And it really is a laying out of things that we have seen in the book of Leviticus and also things that we saw earlier in the book of Numbers. And it is the sacrifices which God dictates and

[2:16] God determines. Now what we're going to read, I'm going to go ahead and tell you this on the front end. And this is why we're reading it together. We are going to read the worship calendar of the nation. Okay? So it's better for us, you have at least the, I had, I read it and read it and I said, what am I looking at? And had to step back and look at it. Now we get to read it going into it. They're going to, God's going to dictate to them through Moses, what their religious calendar should look like. Okay? What their worship should look like through the year. So you're going to read in these two chapters, one year's worth of worship services. And you'll see it being played out. Now, if you remember, these things can't happen in the wilderness. Okay? These are for the promised land. In the book of Leviticus, when God dictates all the sacrifices and things that must be given to be pleasing to him, there were sacrifices such as grain and first fruits and, and all this, and olives and olive oil and the pure olive oil and the fine grain and the fine flour. Those things couldn't be offered into wilderness because they had no gardens. They had no olive trees. They had no, you know, those things were promised land things. Those were when you get into your land and you get settled and you're living in houses. You did not build and eating from gardens. You did not plant and drinking from wells. You did not dig. And I am faithful to you. So again, I tell you this because even with God giving them this calendar, it is a looking forward to expectation that you are going to take possession of the promised land. You are going there. And when you get there, this is what it's going to look like throughout the year when you worship me. Now, unfortunately, what we see, many of the things we are introduced to here, we don't see being played out throughout the history of the nation of Israel. We can't read that they did these things. As a matter of fact, there are only a number of times that we can read that they even observed the Passover in the Old Testament. Just a few of them. Usually after a great time of national sin. We never read of them keeping the year of

[4:28] Jubilee. We never read of them reverting the land back in the 50th year. But there are a lot of things that God said they needed to do, but they didn't do. They didn't keep the years of Sabbath every 50th year because that was the number of Sabbaths that the land did not get to observe. So God sent them into Babylonian captivity. They didn't do that. They didn't give the land its rest. They didn't do these things. But this is what God says it looks like. So I want you to see, I'll go ahead and give you the title tonight before we read it, a calendar of worship. This is what a calendar of worship, a calendar year of worship looks like to the nation. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, number 28.

[5:07] Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, command the sons of Israel and say to them, you should be careful to present my offering, my food for my offerings by fire of a soothing aroma to me at their appointed time. You shall say to them, this is the offering by fire, which you shall offer to the Lord.

[5:23] Two male lambs, one year old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day. You shall offer the one lamb in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. Also a 10th of an effa of fine flour for a grain offering mixed with a fourth of a hen of beaten oil. It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in Mount Sinai as a soothing aroma and offering by fire to the Lord.

[5:46] Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hen of each or for each lamb in the holy place. You shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord. The other lamb you shall offer at twilight as the grain offering of the morning. And as its drink offering, you shall offer it an offering by fire soothing aroma to the Lord. Then on the Sabbath day, two male lambs, one year old without defect and two tints of an effa of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering and its drink offering. This is the burnt offering of every Sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. Then at the beginning of each of your months, you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord. Two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs, one year old without defect and three tints of an effa of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for each bull and two tints of fine flour with oil for a grain offering for the one ram. And a tenth of an effa of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for each lamb for a burnt offering of a soothing aroma and offering by fire to the Lord. Their drink offerings shall be half a hen of wine for a bull and a third of a hen for the ram and a fourth of a hen for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. And one male goat for a sin offering to the Lord, it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering. Then on the 14th day of the first month shall be the Lord's Passover. Let's just stop right there. Okay, just stop right here. I've told you this before when you read the Old Testament. The Passover is always referred to as the Lord's

[7:20] Passover. When you get into the New Testament, they refer to it as the Jews Passover. They took possession of something that wasn't rightfully theirs. Right? It's always the Lord's Passover.

[7:37] This isn't just a Jewish holiday. I just, that's not in the messes. That's just kind of the stuff on the side, right? It's his. It's all about him. It's not about them. It's not a national holiday.

[7:49] It's not a national holiday. It became a Jewish Passover because it became a Jewish holiday. It was never intended to be a holiday. It's the Lord's Passover. It's all about him. Now we move on.

[8:01] On the 15th day of this month shall be a feast, unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You should do no laborious work. You shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the Lord, two bulls and one ram and seven male lambs, one year old, having with them, having them without defect. For their grain offering, you shall offer five flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for a bull and two tenths for the ram. A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs and one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you.

[8:34] You shall present these beside the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. After this manner you shall present daily for seven days the food of the offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord. And it shall be presented with a drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering. On the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You should do no laborious work. Also on the day of the first fruits, when you present a new grain offering to the Lord in your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You should do no laborious works. By the way, this is Pentecost. This is 50 weeks after the Passover, or 50 days after Passover. This is Pentecost, okay? That's what the Feast of Weeks is. You shall offer a burnt offering for a soothing aroma to the Lord. Two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs, one year old, and their grain offering, five flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for the one ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs. Also one male goat to make atonement for you. Besides the continual burnt offering and the grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without defect. Chapter 29. Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It shall be to you a day for blowing trumpets. You shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the

[9:56] Lord. One bull, one ram, and seven male lambs, one year old, without defect. Also their grain offering, five flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram, and one tenth for each of the seven lambs. Offer one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you, besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the continual offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings according to their ordinance for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. Then on the tenth day of this seventh month, you shall have a holy convocation and shall humble yourselves. You shall not do any work. You shall present a burnt offering to the Lord as a soothing aroma. One bull, one ram, seven male lambs, one year old, having them without defect, and their grain offering, five flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs, one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering and atonement, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings. Verse 12, then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy convocation.

[11:03] You shall do no laborious work, and you shall observe a feast to the Lord for seven days. You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord, thirteen bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old without defect, or one year old which are without defect, and their grain offering, five flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams, and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs, and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and the drink offering.

[11:33] Then on the second day, twelve bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, without defect, and their grain offering, their drink offerings, for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual offerings, and its grain offerings, and their drink offerings. Then on the third day, eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, without defect, and their grain offering, their drink offering, for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance, and one male goat, for a send offering, besides the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offering, then, on the fourth day, ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, one year old, without defect, their grain offering, and their drink offerings, for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance, and one male goat, for a send offering, beside the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

[12:24] Then, on the fifth day, nine bulls, two rams, 14 male lambs, one year old, without defect, and their grain offering, and their drink offering, for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance, and one male goat, for send offering, besides the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

[12:41] Then, on the sixth day, eight bulls, two rams, 14 male lambs, one year old, without defect, Their grain offering and their drink offerings. For the bulls, for the rams, for the lambs. By their number, according to the ordinance.

[12:52] And one male goat, for a send offering. Besides, the continual burnt offering. Its grain offering and its drink offerings. Then, on the seventh day, seven bulls, two rams, 14 male lambs. one year old without defect and their grain offering and their drink offering for the bulls, for the rams, for the lambs by their number according to the ordinance and one male goat for a sin offering besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

[13:14] On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You should do no laborious work, but you shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord.

[13:26] One bull, one ram, seven male lambs, one year old without defect. Their grain offering, their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, for the lambs by their number according to the ordinance and one male goat for a sin offering besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.

[13:43] You shall present these to the Lord at your appointed times besides your votive offerings and your free will offerings for your burnt offerings and for your grain offerings and for your drink offerings and for your peace offerings.

[13:56] Moses spoke to the sons of Israel in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses. There is a year's worth of worship.

[14:09] What we have in the book of Leviticus is worship from the standpoint of the one bringing the offering or the worshiper. What we have recorded for us here in Numbers 28 and 29 is really worship from the standpoint of the Levite or the priest, the priest job.

[14:27] I believe it was Warren Wiersbe who had a complete count of the number of sacrifices of each animal that was offered and I cannot remember each one of them, but essentially it comes down to this.

[14:37] In a year's time over 1800 lambs were slain just by appointment. That does not count any individual's offering.

[14:49] That's just the offerings that were appointed to be standing offerings. So, just in the number of sacrifices we can see, and by the way, each offering is accompanied by fine flour and pressed oil, which are considered high commodities, just in the reality that these are what are prescribed by the Lord shows that he will enrich and bless his people in the promised land.

[15:20] Because God is demanding a sacrifice, they will be able to give. Okay? So think about that just for a moment. They've been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.

[15:32] They have just left Egyptian slavery. They have never known prosperity. They have never known ease. But God is saying, I'm going to so abundantly provide for you, this is what you can give to me.

[15:47] And you will be able to give it to me in worship. And here we have a calendar of worship. And I want you to see, and I know, there are so many animals and so many things.

[15:58] I don't want you to get lost in that. The one thing we need to understand is Jesus Christ fulfills each and every one of these offerings. We have one lamb slain before the foundation of the world who fulfills each and every one of the drink offerings, the grain offerings, the oil offerings, the sacrificial lamb offerings, the milk, without defect, perfect.

[16:22] He is the fulfillment of all of those. So we don't need to get lost in the details of how many animals they need to bring and why they need to bring them. We've already looked at that in the book of Leviticus, right?

[16:32] When we detailed all the sacrifices, we looked at why it had to be this so that it could point to Jesus Christ. And here we're not trying to do that. Here I just want us to glean the information because God says, this is what it's going to look like when you worship me.

[16:48] This is what a year's worth of worship looks like. Now, if we can kind of separate ourselves from the animals and we begin to see the truth that God is showing us, I believe the application would resonate today just as much as it did then.

[17:02] This is what a calendar of worship looks like. Number one, worship is to be directed. It is to be directed because it says, the Lord says, you shall be careful to present.

[17:16] Look at what it says. He says, my offerings for my food, for my offerings by fire of a soothing aroma to me. He said, you're not presenting your offerings.

[17:27] Those are my offerings. Whatever it is you bring to the altar, whatever it is you lay upon the altar, it is mine, says the Lord.

[17:38] It is not yours. Whatever I have entrusted to you, you are just returning back to me. He says, be careful to present my offering, my food for my offerings by fire of a soothing aroma to me.

[17:54] Worship is to be directed. What God is saying is that the focus is going to be completely and totally upon me. It's not going to be upon you. As a matter of fact, God was pleased with these offerings seven times throughout these passages, throughout these two chapters, seven times it says a soothing aroma which is pleasing unto the Lord.

[18:12] It just simply means that God was pleased with it. He accepted that sacrifice. And he says, this is a soothing aroma that is pleasing to me. It isn't like that God takes pleasure in the smell of burning carcass.

[18:23] That's not what it's saying. He is saying, this is pleasing to me. Now, what we find in the Old Testament, the further we read in the Old Testament, they will offer these same offerings, but God says, I have no pleasure in them.

[18:36] Now, why is that? Did God change his mind? No, because it was never about the animal on the fire. It was always about the direction of the worshiper.

[18:49] It was always about the heart of the one bringing the animal. When they were bringing it with their minds and their hearts focused and directed to the Lord, their God, God was pleased.

[19:01] When they were bringing it begrudgingly or maybe unwillingly and doing it because they thought they had to, God says, I'll take no pleasure in that. I don't want that.

[19:12] He says, I want you to understand this is mine and you have the benefit of giving it back to me. It is to be directed.

[19:24] And he says, this is very clearly what it is you should do. This is how it is you should do it. And everything throughout this passage focuses on the Lord God, not on man.

[19:37] Over and over again, it is this focus and this direction. It is not about the one giving. It is not about the one performing. It is not about the one doing anything. The direction of the worship has one direction and that it is geared towards and focused on and directed completely to the Lord God.

[19:56] worship is to be directed and it is to be focused on one point because if it ever becomes self-focused or even self-conscious, God says, I take no pleasure in that.

[20:10] If it ever becomes, you know, other focus or others directed, God says, I take no pleasure in that. He says, this is to be given to me. So we see that worship is to be directed, number two.

[20:22] And this is something that blows us away. Well, it shouldn't blow us away, but it also is something that has application. Now, worship, number two, worship is a daily exercise.

[20:35] Worship is a daily exercise. God starts here with this declaration through Moses to the people. This is what you should do.

[20:47] And I hope you picked up on it. I tried to emphasize it as I read it. You may have to go back and read it. God does this. This is how he starts. God says, this is what you offer me daily, each and every day.

[20:58] Two lambs, one in the morning, one in the evening, each with their grain offering, each with their drink offering daily. And he says, and then every Sabbath, you offer this in addition to the daily offering.

[21:15] And then on the first day of every month, you offer this in addition to the daily offering. And then when it comes to the Passover, you offer this in addition to the daily offering.

[21:31] And then the Feast of Weeks, you do this in addition to. So let's just say the first day of the month, because they followed the lunar calendar, right? So every time there was a new moon, then that was a new month.

[21:41] So they followed the lunar calendar. That's why their year was shorter. It wasn't 365 and a quarter days. I think it was somewhere around 300 days. And this is where we're going to get this overlapping time and things like that.

[21:52] We don't need to really get hung up on that. But let's just say that the new moon or the new month started on a Saturday, which is a Sabbath, okay? So then that day, worship would be your daily worship, your Sabbath worship, and your first day of the month worship.

[22:08] All three at one time. Because worship was a daily exercise. Worship wasn't something you just did every now and then.

[22:19] The things you did every now and then that were special occasions were in addition to what you were doing daily. And we see this, that the special events or the times of celebration or the times of corporate gathering, the festivals, are really what the latter half of chapter 28 and all of chapter 29 deals with.

[22:40] Most of chapter 29 speaks of the festival of booths. More is given to that. We'll get to that in just a moment than any other festival. But all those festivals, when the nation was coming together corporately, they were just doing that in addition to their daily worship.

[22:54] Because see, true worship is not just a once a week or special times, special events throughout the year's worship. True worship is a daily exercise. And only when God's people are worshiping daily, then is their worship sincere when they gather together corporately.

[23:14] That's what God is showing here. Worship is a daily exercise. And if you've been worshiping Him every day, think how much more excited you are when you come together once a week, twice a week, or on special occasions.

[23:33] If a multitude of people have been worshiping daily, and then they come together, think of the excitement from that corporate worship then.

[23:46] It is a daily exercise. Number three, not only is worship to be directed, not only is it a daily exercise, number three, and this one is one that our country, even when I was a kid, was really good at and has really completely failed at now.

[23:59] But we understand that. Worship is to be disruptive. Now, I know that word kind of sounds kind of harsh, but stay with me. That means worship is to disrupt your day-to-day living.

[24:09] The reason there was a special sacrifice on the Sabbath is because you didn't do anything else on the Sabbath. I know that was a Saturday, but that was a Sabbath, right?

[24:22] God gave them, Jesus says, man went and created it for the Sabbath, Sabbath was created for man. Man needed to rest. And this one, I'll just be honest with you, this one brought conviction to your pastor.

[24:32] I said, man, I need to disrupt my life more. Because over and over again, we see in every one of these festivals, he said, it is a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work.

[24:44] What is he saying? Stop. Don't do anything else that day but worship. Stop. That's convicting to me.

[24:56] It's convicting to me, honestly, because Sundays are usually my busiest days. I'm just being honest with you. Right? They're my busiest days.

[25:07] And I don't stop. But true worship is a disruption to your daily life. Think about this.

[25:19] They didn't schedule worship. They scheduled their life around their worship. On the 14th day of this month, I can't work.

[25:32] Or the 15th. As a matter of fact, eight days after that, I can't do anything then either. And I can't do it on the first day of the Pentecost because I can do no work that day, no laborious work.

[25:42] As a matter of fact, it was so much. Now, again, we don't have recorded that they did this. And, you know, if we wonder why God judges his people, it's because God said, don't do this. And over and over again, God said, and if a merchant comes in your city, look, I'm sorry, we can't do that.

[25:55] Can't work today. We've got to shut the gates of Jerusalem. There'll be no trading in the city today. Why? Because we're disrupting our daily life. You can sit outside the gates all you want to.

[26:07] Eventually, you're going to understand today we stop. It is a disruption. And the world didn't understand that. And let's be honest, the world doesn't understand it anymore and doesn't want to understand it anymore and the world takes it away from us.

[26:23] But true worship, God says, and I know it's not popular. I understand that. I get that. But we're not trying to be popular here. We're trying to be biblical and trying to be accurate.

[26:33] God says that worship geared towards him is going to disrupt your calendar throughout the year. Do you see how many times, I mean, weekly they stopped.

[26:45] But do you also see how many times throughout the year he says, and you're going to stop. And you're going to stop. Every time they stopped, by the way, it was to focus more on him, not to just take some time off.

[26:59] He said, you're going to be still. You're going to stop. Now that's, your pastor needed to hear that. To allow sincere, true worship.

[27:12] To disrupt everything you need to do. and to say, you know what, today, I'm going to be still. Tomorrow, it'll be there.

[27:25] But today, I'm going to be still. Because God has called us to stop. And as a corporate body and a corporate community, I mean, think of the gift God was giving them.

[27:38] Think of the gift that God was giving them. God was giving them an opportunity for everybody to be home, everybody to be still, and everybody to worship. And just stop. He was disrupting the whole society's life.

[27:52] So worship is disruptive. Fourth, and finally, we see here, worship is to be directed. Worship is a daily exercise. Worship is disruptive.

[28:03] Number four, worship is to be a display. True, biblical worship is to be a display of all that God was doing. Each and every day, they were to get up and they were to worship him with a perfect lamb and a perfect sacrifice and a costly offering.

[28:21] Because each and every day, they would be putting on display that God is worth it today. God is worth the perfect sacrifice. God is worth the costly flour.

[28:32] God is worth the costly oil. God is worth it today. It was putting it on display that God demanded perfection in the morning and God demands perfection in the afternoon.

[28:42] And God is worth the perfection in the morning and in the evening. They would put that on display every day. And then on the Sabbath, they would put on display that God has given us a time of rest, that God cares about us, God is concerned for us.

[28:57] So God created the Sabbath for us so that we could know more of him and we could understand and we could take time. God has built into our calendar a time to be still.

[29:08] No wonder Satan worked so hard to make sure that we have more time to be busy. And we would be putting on display the reality. And then every month, they would be putting on display, God is faithful.

[29:20] Why? Because it says that he created the stars and the moon and he set them in the heavens to be a what? The Bible says it in the book of Genesis. And if you were here five years ago and you were with me on Sunday nights five years ago, the Lord bless you first of all and I thank you for your faithfulness and your kindness to me.

[29:34] But what did he say? He put them in the sky and he set them for a sign. A sign. That means the stars in the sky and the moon in its rotation, they are a sign set in the heavens to declare the faithfulness of God.

[29:49] That God took you through a number of days and boom, it starts again. God took you through a number of days and boom, it starts again. All of a sudden, the seasons become a display. So each and every month, you would put on display, God is faithful.

[30:01] The world's running its course. Things may be falling apart, but guess what? The world's running its course. We're all the way back again. And then, you would come to the Lord's Passover and you would be putting on display God's deliverance.

[30:13] And you would put all the world, it's not your Passover, it's His Passover, right? He is the deliverer. He is the one who passed over our sins. I didn't pass over anything. And you would put on display His faithfulness, His kindness, His gentleness, His mercy, His forgiveness, and His deliverance.

[30:30] And then you would come to Pentecost, which is the gathering of the first weeks. And you would say, I'm giving God the gathering of this. It would be putting on display His faithfulness in produce. He would give you the first fruits and you would offer it back to Him.

[30:43] And then you would put on display the end gathering or the gathering of your crops. And you would say, God is so good, the very first thing I get out of my garden, I'm giving it back to Him. And the reason I'm putting that on display is because I trust He's going to give me more out of my garden, right?

[30:58] I trust I don't have to be concerned. We had someone living in our house one time that had had food kept from them. And they never had food when they were living in other locations and never had food.

[31:08] I remember one of the first times he sat down at our table, we put food in front of him and he hunkered over his plate and he started scarfing, scarfing, scarfing, and he was eating everything. And I had to tell him, I said, listen man, nobody's going to take your food and we've got more up there.

[31:21] Now that was a learned, he literally, people would take it away from him and I had to tell him, look, there's more where that came from. My wife knows how to cook and she cooks a lot. I mean, I'm testimony to that, right?

[31:32] I said, there's more there. And what you're doing when you're bringing in the gathering of your first fruits, you're saying, God's got more than this, right? God's got more than this so I can give it to him. I'm going to put on display that I'm trusting God for tomorrow's harvest.

[31:43] I don't have to rely so much on today's harvest. I'm just going to give it to him. And then when you came to this festival of trumpets, I mean, it seems kind of odd to us. They were just walking around blowing trumpets. That's putting on display celebratory worship.

[31:55] God's so good, we're going to celebrate, right? We're going to blow trumpets. We're going to make noise. We're going to rejoice that he is worthy. And it was signaling in the new year of the nation.

[32:06] God is giving us another year. And we're going to worship him with admiration. And we're going to make a joyful noise to him. And we're going to put it on display for everybody to hear. And then you come to the one that it speaks of so much in chapter 29, the festival of booths or tabernacles.

[32:22] Doesn't make any sense to us. This is the one where he says, every day for eight days, right? First day, you have a holy convocation. Day eight, you have a holy convocation. And they offered a lot of animals during the festival of booths or festival of tabernacles.

[32:35] What they were supposed to do is that one time a year for eight days, they were to go gather limbs and gather twigs and build shelters out of them and live in those booths inside the city or inside the promised land for eight days.

[32:51] And it was to remind them and to put on display for them, God was faithful for 40 days or 40 years. When they didn't have a house to live in, God provided for them. Their sandals didn't wear out and their robes on their back never wore thin.

[33:06] And for eight days, they were to put on display. God was good to us. He provided for us. He gave to us for 40 years.

[33:17] And then, they were to go back to life. See, worship is always a display. Like it or not, there's this truth that we read so often.

[33:35] I believe it was Martin Lloyd-Jones who spoke of it really in such great detail that when the saints of God gather together, it's a spiritual exercise. It's a spiritual exercise.

[33:47] You know, I'd read, there's a book called Preaching and Preachers by Martin Lloyd-Jones. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote it a number of years ago. It's actually a series of lectures he gave to pastors and I've read it several times and I never really understood it.

[34:00] He said over and over again in there that preaching is a spiritual exercise. It is when the people of God and the man of God gather together to hear a word from God and he flows through them.

[34:11] I never got that until this whole thing COVID hit and I had to stand up by myself and preach because it was, then it became an academic exercise.

[34:21] I was preaching to a computer screen instead of a spiritual exercise and when you remove the people of God from the presence then all of a sudden it's no longer a spiritual exercise.

[34:33] I tried my best and I labored through it. That's why so many pastors struggled through that time just to be honest with you is because they weren't called to that. They weren't called to be academia as they were called to be God's man at that time and it was a struggle but he used to say the greatest thing that you can do for a non-believer is to bring them into the corporate body of God's saints worshiping because when the saints of God are worshiping they put on the display of the worthiness of God.

[35:07] So you think about that. When we gather together to worship corporately we are displaying to the unbeliever who we need to assume will be among us.

[35:19] We must always assume there is an unbeliever among us. We need to know that the unbeliever is seeing a display of the worthiness of God in how we worship.

[35:33] worship. And their response to God too often is dictated by His worthiness as put on display by our worship. So if we are begrudgingly half-heartedly sometimes compellingly worshiping no wonder they go well the world's got more to offer.

[35:55] but when we sincerely worship they say there is something strange about that people and I want to know what it is.

[36:06] Here we see the calendar of worship of God's people. Let's pray. God I thank you. I thank you so much that you call us to worship you call us to adore you and Lord we pray that our hearts and minds will be fixed upon you.

[36:20] Lord lead us daily as we seek to know you more. May we grow closer to you than we've ever been and we give you all the praise in Jesus name. Amen.

[36:50] Amen. Amen.

[37:50] Amen. Amen.

[38:50] Amen. Amen.

[39:50] Amen. Amen.

[40:50] Amen. Amen.

[41:50] Amen. Amen.

[42:50] Amen. Amen.

[43:50] Amen. Amen.

[44:50] Amen. Amen.

[45:50] Amen. Amen.