Pentecost and Jesus Christ

Well, good morning, brethren. Wow! Have we had some beautiful music for services this morning? A very inspiring offer to read and a special music that is just so applicable and meaningful on this day at Pentecost. We'll have the Pentecost to each and every one of you. What a beautiful day it is!

Today we are celebrating the Festival of Pentecost.

And its purpose is to use a harvest season to remind us that God is presently growing and harvesting human souls, beginning with you, His precious firstfruits. You are part of God's spiritual harvest.

The purpose of my sermon this morning is to take a look at the history, the rituals, the sacrifices, the numerology of the original counting of the Day of Pentecost.

Now, for many of us who have been around many years, we've heard much of this message before, but we have a whole new generation that are just coming of age who don't totally appreciate and realize how it is all about Jesus Christ.

How the rituals and the sacrifices and the tremendous meaning behind what Moses was told to do for the people was all about Jesus Christ Himself.

It was approximately 3,500 years ago that God took the time to explain to Moses the importance of observing His holy days.

In what we now know of as the Book of Leviticus, Moses was asked to write down God's instructions for the people to hear and to learn from.

And among these instructions were not only how to determine which days are holy to God, but sacrifices and rituals that should be performed.

And, brethren, we don't perform those sacrifices or rituals today because Jesus Christ is the ultimate and complete sacrifice.

But we proudly and boldly observe the new covenant holy days.

And the reason I want to emphasize that is when Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5, and he told a predominantly Gentile congregation, Let us keep the feast. Regarding the spring holy days, there was no temple in Corinth. There were no animals being sacrificed in Corinth.

When he told a primarily Gentile congregation, Let us keep the feast, he meant God's holy days in a new covenant way of sincerity and truth, not simply duplicating what had been done in the old covenant.

But, brethren, God doesn't do anything without a profound purpose, and the ancient rituals and the sacrifices are no exception.

And today, I would like to drill down a little bit into the rituals and sacrifices that were associated with the Feast of Weeks, or what we today call the Day of Pentecost, because I believe there's a lot that we can learn from this topic about God's plan, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and we can learn a lot about what God is doing with us.

So if you'll turn to Leviticus 23, beginning in verse 10, we'll take a look at these commands that Moses was given.

The entire instruction in Leviticus pointed to Jesus Christ and what he would do as our Savior forever.

In addition, some of these rituals and sacrifices picture us today and what God is doing with us, what he's doing with his beloved firstfruits.

So let's take a look at Leviticus 23 and begin. Leviticus 23 and verse 10 speak to the children of Israel, and saying to them, When you come into the land which I give to you to reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf with the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted on your behalf.

On the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it.

So during the days of unleavened bread, on the day after the Sabbath, that morning, the priest would wave a sheaf that had been picked as part of a ritual.

I'm going to read this from the New Century version, same scriptures.

Tell the people of Israel, You shall enter the land that I will give you and gather its harvest. At that time, you must bring the first bundle of grain from your harvest to the priest. The priest will present the bundle before the Lord, and it will be accepted for you. He will present the bundle on the day after the Sabbath.

So, brethren, in ancient Palestine, a smaller spring harvest was now maturing with green stalks during the days of unleavened bread. At the time this was written, the harvest could only officially begin after the priest presented this bundle of grain to be accepted by God. After that time, the harvest, the physical harvest, was considered holy. And this looked forward to the time when Christ would ascend to His Father and be accepted as the Redeemer, as the Savior of mankind. It pictured the beginning of the spiritual first fruit harvest of God's plan of salvation, beginning with His son, Jesus Christ, who was the first of the first fruits. The sheaf was lifted up and presented to God, literally taken and presented and held high as an offering to God. And this pictured Jesus Christ being resurrected from the dead and being accepted by His Father.

What's so special about first fruits? Well, in a physical way, those of us who garden know what's special about first fruits. First of all, we take that little dried up shriveled seed that appears to have no life, no value, and we plant it into the ground. And by a miracle that we still can't fully explain, life pops out of that seed when it receives a little bit of light, a little bit of warmth, and something begins to grow. And we nurture it, and we fertilize it, and we patiently watch, and we hope that the predators don't destroy that plant. The rabbits and the deer don't get to it. And in time, physically, we see it sprout a flower or something that's going to pollinate and become a fruit, become a vegetable. And then we see the first inklings of that fruit and vegetable, and we wait in anticipation as it gets larger and larger, and it begins to assume a particular color. And at a certain time, we anticipate and know that it is time, that it is ripe, it is time for us to enjoy that first fruit. And as we take it off the vine, we know that it's just a small token of a wave of harvest that will soon follow. In a spiritual analogy, brethren, since the foundation of the universe, God wanted to expand His family. He thought diligently about adding children to His family, and He planted a seed in a garden called Eden. But mankind was thwarted because a predator came along and tried to destroy his goal, his dream, his desire to have children in his family. And God has waited, and He's always known what His plan is, but He has waited with anticipation until the time when His Son could go and redeem mankind and begin the process of salvation and reconciliation. God has waited patiently as He's seen the Holy Spirit given to individuals, and they slowly grow and mature. And He has savored and looked forward to a first small crop of human souls that could be developed and become part of His family that, of course, would lead to a much larger harvest pictured later on in the Holy Days. So what's so special about firstfruits? Anticipation.

Desire. That's what's so special about firstfruits. Leviticus 23, verse 12, And you shall offer in that day when you wave the sheaf a male lamb of the first year without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord for a sweet aroma, and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hen. And you shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day you have brought an offering to your God. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all of your dwellings. I'd like to read a few of these verses again in a new century version just to make it a little clearer.

You must also offer a grain offering, four quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil, as an offering made by fire to the Lord. Its smell will be pleasing to him. You must also offer a quart of wine as a drink offering until the day that you bring your offering to your God. Do not eat of any new grain, roasted grain, or bread made from new grain.

This law will always continue for people from now on.

Let's take a look at this a little more closely. Leviticus 23, verse 12. The male lamb without blemish pictured Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who became the ultimate Passover offering. Remember that when this event took place, it was just a few days after the Passover had occurred. So there are a lot of Passover symbols in these sacrifices. The lamb represents pictures Jesus Christ as the ultimate Passover offering. The death and resurrection of Jesus are pictured in this ritual. The male lamb symbolized as death. The wave sheaf symbolized His resurrection. The grain offering in verse 13, which was fine flour and olive oil, represented Jesus Christ as the provider and sustainer of eternal life. Notice the symbols of the Passover in verses 12 and 13. There's a male lamb which represents Jesus Christ as the ultimate Passover lamb. There's fine flour that's been ground and made into a floury grain mixed with oil, which is symbolic of God's Holy Spirit. And it is put over a fire. It becomes a bread-like substance. So you have Jesus Christ as the lamb. You have this bread-like substance that's made with oil and grain ground up mixed together. And you have wine. The Passover, the bread, and the wine. The complete symbols.

Of the Passover. Let's go to John. Keep your place, of course, in Leviticus 23. But let's go to John 6 and verse 50. John 6 and verse 50. As you look at these offerings, you will notice how significant the grain offerings were. And the portions, as we'll get to in a minute, the portions of the grain offerings are double of what they were in typical offerings made with animals. Jesus said in John 6 and verse 50, He said, This is the bread that comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world. Jesus makes that possible because He is our bread. He is the bread of life. He is the one that fulfilled the symbolism of all of the grain offerings. The bundle of grain that was offered by the priest symbolized the acceptance of Jesus Christ to the Father as the bread of life. The grain offering represented His gift of eternal life to the first fruits.

And that includes you and I. And as we'll see in a minute, we were all made one, pictured by these rituals and sacrifices. Leviticus 23, verse 13, if you'll go back there.

According to Leviticus, the fine flour was to be mixed with olive oil. Of course, the olive oil represented the Holy Spirit, which is what the Day of Pentecost is about, the church receiving the Holy Spirit. And that oil was blended throughout the dough.

When you take the grains from the stalks of the plants that were cut and you grind the kernels up into fine flour and you mix it all with olive oil, you make it one blended batch. You make it one. The process unifies and it merges. Every day, every day, every thing, until it has one purpose. That is to honor God, to worship God, to be offered as a sacrifice to God. The original kernels are indistinguishable from one another after you grind them up in the flour and you mix them together with olive oil. In the eyes of God, His forgiven firstfruits are made righteous in Christ. He considers them His children. He considers us and He loves us because He's given us the same gift that Jesus Christ and the Father have. That is the gift of His Holy Spirit. He has fulfilled what He said in the book of John. He has made our home in them. And that's in you and I.

John 17, verse 20. Let's see the kind of unity that was represented by the fact that the grain that this offering was ground up finely into flour and mixed with oil that was representative of God's Holy Spirit. John 17, verse 20. A statement Jesus said on the eve after the Passover as He was giving some final comments and discussions to His disciples.

He's talking to His Father. He says, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their words. What is Jesus saying here? He's saying, I am not just praying for the eleven disciples that I have left. I'm praying for all of those who will believe because of what they teach and they write. I'm praying for that group of individuals who will be in Revere High School the year 2011, who will be keeping and observing the day of Pentecost. I pray for the firstfruits that you have called out and given My Spirit to. And let's see what His prayer is. Verse 21. That they may be one as you, Father, are in Me and I in you, and that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent Me. And the glory which you gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you in Me, that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent Me and have loved them as you have loved Me. Verse 24. Father, I desire they also whom you gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which you have given Me, for you have loved Me before the foundation of the world. So Jesus is saying, I want them to be part of My kingdom, I want them to be part of the kingdom of God and be with Me and beholding and sharing in My glory. Verse 25. Oh, righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you and these have known that you sent Me. And I have declared to them your name and will declare it, that the love which you have loved Me may be in them and I in them. So that sacrifice going back to Leviticus 23 and all the efforts to take those stalks of barley and to grind them up and to make them fine and to intermingle them together with olive oil that represented God's Holy Spirit is the unity that God desires among His people. He wants all of us to be one with one another and certainly to be one with Him and in the Father. That should be our goal and our purpose. Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 12, I want you to notice the amount of grain that was commanded.

The New Century version gave us some modern quantities. It said four quarts. Well, this is twice the amount that was ordinarily used in an offering with a lamb. If you look at Exodus 24, Numbers 15 or Numbers 28, you will see that this is double the amount of grain that was normally used in a sacrifice. This large amount symbolized the abundance of God's grace and the gladness of God, His willingness to forgive sin because of His Son Jesus Christ. It was an offering that was very pleasing to God, like a sweet incense to Him. He looks forward to the eventual universal reconciliation with mankind because of the death of His Son Jesus Christ and what His death meant and what His shed blood offers for each and every human being. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9 and see the abundance of God's grace, how it relates to God's Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 1.

Paul wrote Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus to Timothy, a beloved son. Grace, which is God's favor.

It's His undeserved pardon. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers day and night, greatly desiring to see you to be mindful of your tears that I may be filled with joy. When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and I am persuaded is in you also. Mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, as much as you're able bring your grandchildren, bring your children to church to learn about God.

When I was a very small child my parents were divorced and because of the shock and the discouragement of their divorce they stopped attending religious services anywhere. But as a little boy my grandmother would be in the middle of the day and I would be in the middle of the day and my grandmother would take me to church on a regular basis.

Now it was not a church whose theology I came to embrace but I will say this because of my grandmother's example. In spite of the example of my parents, because of my grandmother's example I came to respect God, I came to love God, I came to honor God even as a small child because she took the time to follow the example of Timothy's grandmother and to teach me the rudimentary understanding of the ways of God and his values and who and what God was and why he should be considered important in my life.

Verse 6, he says, therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Of course, Paul referring to the Holy Spirit. For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore, I do not, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me all the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with all holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

So, brethren, the large amount of grain that was used in these offerings, double the traditional amount, symbolized God's abundant grace, his willingness, his gladness to accept what Jesus Christ had done so that the harvest could begin, so that our sins could be forgiven, so that we could be reconciled to God and be part of his first fruits.

Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 13, the wine obviously pictured the shed blood of Jesus Christ offered for our forgiveness. His blood was offered for our forgiveness. His shed blood made the calling of the first fruits even possible. Turn with me to Luke chapter 22 and verse 15, a Scripture that we read during the Passover season, but as is all of God's word, it's always good to review the word of God in different times throughout the year.

Luke chapter 22 and verse 15. And he said to them, With fervent desire, I have desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Then he took the cup and he gave thanks and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

And he took bread and he gave thanks and he broke it and he gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Verse 20, Likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. And that's what that wine represented in Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 13, the wine being part of the offering that was given to God. In Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 14, it says, Until this special offering was made, no new grain was to be eaten.

And again, it says that in verse 14. Well, just as the ancient harvest was only holy after the wave sheaf offering and these offerings were performed, so God's great spiritual harvest could only begin after Jesus Christ was accepted by the Father. That is when the spiritual harvest began. This symbolized the salvation that's possible only through Christ. And it began when he came to earth as God's son and became a complete sacrifice for us all. Luke chapter 2 and verse 22. Luke chapter 2 and verse 22. This is a story after Jesus was born a very small child, an infant.

He says, Now when the days of the purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him to Jerusalem and presented him to the Lord as is written in the law of the Lord, every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what it said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simon, and this man was just and devout waiting for the consolidation of Israel, or the consolation of Israel, who was waiting for Israel to be reunited again, for the scattered tribes to be reunited together and with their God. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. Verse 26. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

So he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought the child Jesus to do to him according to the custom of the law, he took him up, this is Simon, in his arms, and he blessed God. And he said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. God, now, he says, I can die a peaceful man according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have preached before the face of all peoples, a light in bringing revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel, and Joseph and his mother marveled at those things that were spoken of him. So this prophet of God, this old man who showed up at the temple, moved by the Holy Spirit of God, understood that because of this life, the life of Jesus Christ, salvation could now begin.

Because of what his life would mean and he would do, the first fruit harvest could absolutely begin.

Salvation was now possible through him.

Let's go now to Luke chapter 19, since we're already in the book of Luke.

Read the story of Zacchaeus, who was considered a sinner by many because he was a tax collector.

Some of us may hold the same opinion today.

Now, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector. Oh, that's even a worse sinner than normal sinners, a chief tax collector. And he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, and he was of short stature.

So he ran ahead and climbed up into the sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and he saw him, and he said to him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.

So he made haste and came down, and he received him joyfully.

But when they saw it, who was they? Well, the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the judgmental ones, when they saw it, they all complained, saying he is going to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.

Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, Lord, look, Lord, I have given half of my goods to the poor, and I have, if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore it fourfold. And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And that includes me, and that includes you, as part of the first fruits of Jesus Christ. The life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ brought salvation to this world. It ushered in a new covenant, providing forgiveness and grace, beginning with the first fruits that God would call throughout all of the ages, including the 21st century. Now let's go back to Leviticus 23, see where we started and examine the counting that was to take place beginning in verse 15, and what it could possibly mean. Leviticus 23, verse 15, And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath, then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be a fine flower.

They shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the Lord. I'm going to read this again in the new century version. Count seven full weeks from the morning after the Sabbath. This is the Sabbath that you bring the bundle of grain to present as an offering. On the fiftieth day, the first day after the seventh week, you shall bring a new grain offering to the Lord. On that day, two loaves of bread from your homes are to be presented as an offering. Use yeast and four quarts of flour to make those loaves of bread. They will be your gift to the Lord from the first wheat of your harvest. So they were told to count fifty days from the morning after the Sabbath during the days of unleavened bread. And on that Sunday morning, another grain offering was to be made. That was how it became known as the Feast of Weeks, counting seven weeks and the day after. Also known as the Day of Pentecost, which we get from the Septuagint, which was the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. They used the name Pentecost, which means count fifty. So, brethren, the counting of the seven weeks led the Hebrews to designating this day in their term, calling it the Festival of Weeks.

But why is the number fifty so important? Numbers have importance in the Bible.

Twelve is the number of complete, and seven is the number of perfection. Three is the number of finality.

What about fifty? Why fifty days? Well, we can learn the importance of that symbolism.

Just a few chapters later in Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 8, we can draw an analogy from what God established physically in the land of Israel to what He is determined to do spiritually. Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 8, if you'll turn there with me.

Moses was inspired to write, And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.

Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, the day of atonement. You shall make the trumpet to sound throughout your land.

So another significant event that occurs in one of God's holy days.

Verse 10, And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.

Brethren, the number 50 is symbolic of liberty, receiving liberty from slavery and poverty and sin. The fiftieth year brought physical liberty to the Israelites, who had become dispossessed and in need of individual personal freedom.

They needed their physical lives to be restored, and God provided for that every fifty years.

In a spiritual analogy, after counting fifty days to Pentecost, pictures the spiritual liberty given to the firstfruits by the presence of Jesus Christ in his church.

God wants to restore the true liberty mankind was intended to have before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, and created a barrier, created a wall that separated mankind from his creator.

When we sinned, we became slaves to sin in our lives and slaves to Satan the devil.

We became dispossessed from God before we were called. All mankind has been serving Satan rigorously and has been in spiritual poverty and slaves to sin their whole lives. But God provides an answer, and the answer is in that number fifty, the counting of fifty days to the day of Pentecost.

Let's take a look at verse 38.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave, as a hired servant, and as a sojourner he shall be with you and shall serve you until the year of Jubilee.

And then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family. He shall return to possession of his fathers, for they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt and shall not be sold as slaves. You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God.

Again, brethren, when Adam and Eve sinned, mankind was sold into sin to Satan.

Our real Father, the one who created us, we became dispossessed from.

The whole world became a slave to sin. Spiritual poverty, dispossessed, torn away from its original family. The number 50 represents a time when mankind will return to God and to his family, and it all begins with us. We started the process as the firstfruits because Jesus Christ was the first of the firstfruits.

God's looking forward to a time when mankind will return to the possession of our loving Father and no longer be slaves to sin. Everyone will return home, will go home again and return to our Father who created us, who loves us, who intended us to be part of his family from the beginning. Leviticus, going back to chapter 23, Leviticus chapter 23 verse 17.

The people were to bring a new grain offering, the Scripture stated, to God, along with two loaves of bread. These loaves were to be made with wheat flour and leaven. Again, the new grain offering represents the resurrected Jesus Christ who's the bread of life. We saw that earlier. But what did the two loaves represent? Well, the two loaves are symbolic in a few ways. I'll just emphasize a couple today. First, they represented the two congregations God would call and work with throughout human history. They were part of his divine plan. They were part of his will. They represented the old congregation, the old covenant congregation of the nation of Israel was what one of the loaves represented. The other loaf represented the new covenant, Church of God, that was established in 31 A.D. that had the help of the olive oil, the Holy Spirit. That's what made a big difference between that covenant and the previous covenant, where only a few rare individuals received the Holy Spirit. They also represent the fact that God would open up salvation, not just to Israel that was represented by the old covenant, but to all the world, to the Gentiles, represented by the other loaf, the new covenant congregation. Let's go to Isaiah 49 and verse 5.

Isaiah 49 and verse 5. Here the prophet was inspired to look forward to the new covenant, represented by one of those loaves. Isaiah wrote, And now the Lord says, Who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, so that Israel is gathered to him. For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. Then verse 6. Indeed, he says, It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. God says, I'm changing the rules.

That was the old covenant. You know what God says inspires the prophet? That was too small of a thing. That's not good enough. That won't bring enough members in the my family. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth. So again, that loaf which represented the church of God, the new covenant, included God's call to the Gentile peoples of every skin color, of every language, of every ethnicity, because God determined it was too small of a thing simply to restore the glory of Israel as part of His plan.

Well, what did the leaven mixed in these two loaves represent? Well, we understand from the spring holy days that leaven symbolizes sin, and this represented the fact that God would work with flawed people who need His forgiveness, His love, and His help. First John, Chapter 1 and Verse 5, if you'll turn there with me. First John, Chapter 1 and Verse 5. Look at the characters of the Old Testament. Were they flawed individuals? Even some of the greatest folks mentioned in the Old Testament, were they flawed? Was Abraham flawed? Well, we know he told little white lies. Sometimes he didn't have enough faith to wait for God's promise of a natural son, and he kind of forced the issue with a handmaid. We know certainly that David had flaws. He was a great king, but he committed adultery. He had innocent men murdered. We could go through the entire Old Testament and see they were men that were flawed. How about the New Testament? Aside from Jesus Christ, we see a lot of flawed individuals. We see in the book of Galatians where Paul calls Peter a hypocrite because he acted differently when Gentiles were present. We can see flaws in all of the disciples.

We can see that God has always worked with flawed people. That's what the 11 minutes. We are people in need of a Christ, in need of a Savior, in need of forgiveness. First John, chapter 1, verse 5, he says, This is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him in walk in darkness, we do not practice the truth. So as a lifestyle, we should not walk in darkness. Verse 7, But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. That's the difference between living a lifestyle of sin and going through our each day and just struggling with our own personal problems and temptations and just messing up and sinning and asking God for forgiveness and starting over again.

Verse 8, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and do cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar. We know that we've sinned. Jesus Christ knows that we sinned because he was the one who had to pay the price in full for our sins. He says we make him a liar and his word is not in us, my little children, these things I write to you that you may not sin, that we become perfected, that we remove ourselves a little bit more every day that we grow and move away from those sins and those problems and those temptations that we have in life by drawing on the helper that was offered to us, known as God's Holy Spirit. And if anyone sins, the Scripture continues, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So, brethren, leaven was used in the loaves to symbolize that God would work even through sinners to accomplish his plans for mankind. The bread had leaven which symbolized sin, but it also had a large amount of fine grain mixed in with it. And that showed that Christ works in us in spite of our weaknesses and shortcomings. The loaves had fine grain, which says and tells us that the leaven was overwhelmed because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is representative of the grain itself. The two loaves showed that God loves both his physical and spiritual congregations, and it says he accepted those loaves. They were okay to him, acceptable, honorable.

Brethren, let's go to Romans 12, verse 1. Romans 12, verse 1.

We've read a lot today about the sacrifices, what they represented, their symbols, how they pictured Jesus Christ, what he did for us. Sometimes they picture us. But here's what Paul reminds us in the book of Romans 12, verse 1. He says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. You see, brethren, that's the part of the new covenant that we have adopted in the church of God. No longer are the physical rituals, offerings and sacrifices important. What is important is that you and I are determined and committed to be a living sacrifice. And as I've said before, the problem with being a living sacrifice is occasionally we squirm off of the altar. And we have to get back on the altar.

We have to climb back on the altar again. But he said, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How are we transformed by the renewing of our mind? By that power, that helper, that comforter, that one he gave us alongside to help the Holy Spirit helps us to transform our thinking and renew our minds, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God. Brethren, it's our personal daily sacrifices that now please God.

It's no longer grain offerings or quarts of wine or burnt animals. What now is acceptable to God, what brings a sweet incense to him, is when we are willing to sacrifice for the sake of him and for the sake of his church. It may mean sacrificing our time. It may be sacrificing finances. It may be taking a loss, accepting a loss when somebody does you wrong. It may be a number of things, but what is important to God is that we are willing to be a living sacrifice, because that is what the New Covenant Church of God is all about. Are we willing to be a living sacrifice? Are we willing to give things up in order to forward the work of God in order for the church to go forward? Are we willing to do its mission for our congregations to grow and become more abundant? Are we willing to be living sacrifices? On the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D., God liberally gave his Holy Spirit to his spiritual children, which is the Church of God. And here we are, almost 2,000 years later. What should we remember as New Covenant or New Testament Christians regarding the day of Pentecost? Well, we should remember that God gave his Spirit to his church on that day to do his will. Not to do our will, not to take care of our agenda, what we want done, but he gave his Holy Spirit to the church so the church could do his will.

His will was for them to be lifetime, lifelong disciples of Christ, to preach the gospel to the world. It was their generation that began this work. And there have been other generations since then. They have done the work and now the baton has fallen to us. We few, but we committed and dedicated flock of God, known as the First Spirit.

Perhaps we're the last generation of the end-time church who have been called to complete God's word of proclaiming the gospel to the entire world. We need to live according to the will and the desire of Jesus Christ. Let's see what his will and desire was in our final scripture in John 4, verse 34.

Here's something that he said that I hope will fire us up today to realize what the original intent was on that day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. I hope it will inspire us.

He said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say there are still four months and then comes the harvest? There's time.

I'm looking at the calendar. Four months from now, the timing should be right.

There's going to be a harvest. But Jesus said, behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white with harvest. They're white for harvest. Brethren, there are billions of people in this earth who need to hear the gospel of the kingdom of God. More than at that time, the world is white for harvest, waiting to become part of the first fruits of Jesus Christ. And for those who God does not call to at least hear the warning and the power behind the gospel message.

Verse 35, And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life. Are we a reaper? Are we doing our part to preach the gospel, to forward the message of the kingdom of God? Again, he who receives, he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this thing the saying is true, one sows and another reaps. Verse 38, I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored, others have labored, and you have entered into their labors. Verse 38 from the New Century Version, I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work on, others did the work, and you get to finish up their work. Brethren, it's time for us to finish up their work, even if we didn't sow the seeds, even if we didn't originally plant the truth in the hearts and minds of people. There is an incredible harvest that is waiting out there for laborers committed to the work of the people for laborers committed dedicated laborers to reap the harvest of God and to fulfill His plan. My final prayer and message to you on this day of Pentecost is this. May we all yield to God's will. May we remember what Jesus Christ and so many other generations who followed Him did for us so that you and I could have the precious knowledge of His truth. May we be the ones with the spiritual courage and determination and the commitment and the faith to finish the work of God. May God abundantly shed His Spirit upon His Church on this very day of Pentecost. Let us know that you are the one who is the one that we all have. May this all be about the Lord's business.