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It is autumn, the harvest season when all kinds of grains and fruits ripe. The last three feasts—the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, so-called “autumn feasts,” among God-established seven feasts in three times, are also the season when God’s abundant blessings and the gospel fruits are reserved. The Church of God members around the world kept the feasts godly, hoping to harvest many fruits of the gospel, clothed with God-given grace of the forgiveness of sins and with the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Feast of Trumpets: Confess your sins with a contrite heart

On Sept. 21, 2017, (the first day of the seventh month by the sacred calendar), the autumn feasts began with the Sacred Assembly of the Feast of Trumpets. This feast originates from the incident that the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments were broken into pieces because of the Israelites’ worship of a golden calf in wilderness after the Exodus. The people who realized their sin repented wholeheartedly, taking off their ornaments. At this, God called Moses back to Mount Sinai, granting the Ten Commandments a second time. The day when Moses received the Ten Commandments again and descended from Mount Sinai was the Day of Atonement (the tenth day of the seventh month by the sacred calendar). The first day of the seventh month by the sacred calendar, which is ten days before the Day of Atonement, is the Feast of Trumpets when people were urged to repent with trumpet blasts (Ex 34:1, 28; Lev 23:23–24).

The work of the Israelites is a history that awakens to our sins against God. In celebration of the Feast of Trumpets, Mother earnestly prayed that heavenly children’s sins committed in heaven and on the earth, knowingly or unknowingly, would be completely washed away so that all their souls would be as white as wool and clean as snow.

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角笛祭をはじめに贖罪日、仮庵祭大聖会が、新しいエルサレム板橋神殿をはじめとする全世界の 神様の教会で執り行われた。

General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol emphasized two points: prayer and preaching, explaining the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets and importance of repentance. “God has given us ten days of prayer week to lead us to complete repentance by confessing all our sins with a contrite heart. Since the Spirit, too, intercedes for us, who do not know what to pray for, with groans that words cannot express, let us give heartfelt prayer of repentance,” Pastor Kim said.

“True repentance is displayed through the act of preaching. Let us realize the will of God who wants all people to repent and be saved and blow the trumpets aloud, urging them to repent,” he added (Nu 29:1–6; Ro 8:21–34; Mt 7:7–8; Ps 51:17).

The worship service during the prayer week was offered at dawn and in the evening for ten days from that evening.

The Day of Atonement: All sins are washed away and our souls become white as snow

The church members, who had attended the worship service every morning and evening, confessing their sins after the Feast of Trumpets, greeted the morning of atonement on Sept. 30 (the tenth day of the seventh month by the sacred calendar).

The ceremony of the Day of Atonement performed in the Old Testament times shows well the principle of the forgiveness of sins of mankind. The sins people committed at ordinary times were passed on to the sanctuary through sacrifices such as sheep and goats. The people’s sins that the sanctuary was bearing temporarily were passed down to the scapegoat as the high priest chose it by lot and laid hands on it on the Day of Atonement. Then, the goat was sent into the desert with all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites. When the goat died in wilderness, all their sins perished.

Mother, who prayed earnestly for the repentance and forgiveness of sins of all Her children up to this day, said, “All your sins, even a small sin as a dust, have been destroyed by the love and sacrifice of God. So do no longer remain in sin but resemble God who is holy, so that you can live a blessed life by helping seven billion people repent and guiding them to heaven with holy faith.”

General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol emphasized, “What is urgent for mankind, who was expelled to the land of death because of sins, is to turn away from sins and return to God.” He clearly revealed the Savior hidden in the ceremony of the Day of Atonement. According to the Old Testament law, the high priest entered the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement, and made atonement with the sin offering, and then sent the scapegoat into the desert after laying hands on it, confessing all sins of the people. Without the Most Holy Place, there is no forgiveness of sins (Lev 16:8–30).

“The Most Holy Place is referred to as the heavenly Jerusalem, the Mother of our spirits. For us, who cannot be cleansed by our own strength and methods, Heavenly Father opened the way for us to come to our Heavenly Mother, the reality of the Most Holy Place,” said Pastor Kim Joo-cheol. He asked the members to make more efforts to spread this good news so that the whole world can return to Heavenly Mother and receive the perfect forgiveness of sins and salvation” (Lev 16:6–17; Mal 3:7; Isa 44:22; Heb 9:1–12; 10:19–20).

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The Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Day of the Feast: Accomplish the movement to preach to seven billion people through the power of the Holy Spirit

On Oct. 5 (the fifteenth day of the seventh month by the sacred calendar), five days after the Day of Atonement, the members attended the Sacred Assembly of the Feast of Tabernacles with hope and excitement and with a desire to quickly accomplish the movement to preach the gospel to seven billion people through the power of the Holy Spirit of the latter rain.

Mother bestowed abundant blessings of the Holy Spirit of the latter rain on Her spiritual children all over the world, and prayed for them to be born again fully enough to become greater vessels and to have faith worthy to receive the Holy Spirit. She reminded them of the Feast of Tabernacles in the Old Testament, where the Israelites built booths with branches from olive trees, myrtles, palms, and so on and rejoiced together. Mother also gave Her children confidence, saying, “If we receive the power of the Holy Spirit in this age when God has prepared abundant fruits and many other blessings for us, we will be able to find all of our heavenly family members, represented as trees and materials for the temple, and so to complete the Heavenly Temple.”

General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol said in his sermon that every prophecy could be accomplished by God’s power, mentioning the case of Joshua and Caleb. Ten of the twelve spies made the Israelites fall into despair by giving them a bad report about the land of Canaan they had explored. Unlike them, however, Joshua and Caleb said confidently, “God is with us, and He will lead us into that land.”

Pastor Kim reminded the members of the attitude they should have in this age, saying, “Only Joshua and Caleb, who had absolute faith, were allowed to enter Canaan just as God had promised. Let us remember this historical event and keep in step with prophecies, completely trusting the prophecies and the power of the Holy Spirit (Ex 35:20–29; Ne 8:13–18; Mt 9:27–29; Isa 41:10–12; Php 4:13).

From the evening of that day, the Preaching Week of the Feast of Tabernacles started. Just as the Israelites willingly brought all the materials needed for the tabernacle, the members all around the world joyfully participated in preaching, with gratitude to God for forgiving them for their sins and bestowing the blessings of the Holy Spirit on them.

In the country where the Preaching Week fell on a long autumn holiday, the members focused on preaching the new covenant to their family members and relatives whom they hadn’t met often due to their busy schedule. The church members all around the world gave further impetus to cultivating the Gospel Regions through various evangelistic activities including short-term missions, and so the movement to preach to seven billion people was being carried out more fervently.

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Meanwhile, the Last Day of the Feast of Tabernacles came; it fell on Oct. 12 (the twenty-second day of the seventh month by the sacred calendar). On this day, 2,000 years ago, Jesus shouted out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (Jn 7:37–38).

At the morning service, Mother Herself delivered a sermon titled “Receive the Water of Life” to the members who had wholeheartedly observed the seven feasts in three times of the year. She reminded them of the existence of the Spirit and the Bride—the source of the water of life, and asked them to lead all people to the spring of the water of life through the power of the Holy Spirit they received on the Feast of Tabernacles, saying, “These days, many people are suffering from spiritual thirst, having not yet received the water of life from God. How can they hear about God and believe in Him without someone preaching to them?”

She added, “When we receive the Holy Spirit, God lets us take action and do everything—even things that are impossible for humans.” By saying this, Mother encouraged them to participate in the Holy Spirit Movement with patient faith, and desired them all to receive eternal rewards in heaven (Zec 14:8; Rev 22:17; Jn 4:7–30; Rev 22:1–2; Isa 55:1–6; Am 8:11).

At the afternoon service, General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol delivered a sermon titled “Our Gospel Mission and Heavenly Blessings.” He said, “The prerequisite for receiving the latter rain of the Holy Spirit is to press on to know God” (Hos 6:3), and retraced the history of the early Church where the Holy Spirit was poured out only on the apostles and disciples who received Christ who came in the flesh.

Then he urged, “Let us not put out the fire of the Holy Spirit that God the Father and God the Mother have given us, but carry out God’s command to preach the gospel to Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Ge 1:26–27; Gal 4:26; Ro 8:16).