Pentecost and You

Pentecost is a couple of weeks away. Just think, not long ago, we were back at the Oasis for the last day of 111 Bread. We all assembled together in the congregation in Cincinnati and Dayton, and we were there for the last day of 111 Bread. During the days of 111 Bread, there's a special ceremony that would take place in years past. That ceremony was the Wave Sheaf Offering. It actually began a countdown to the Feast of Pentecost. Mr. Myers, a couple weeks ago, gave a sermon titled, The Brief on the Sheaf. That was given on May 19th, in case anyone wants to look that up on our website. The Brief on the Sheaf. He explained the symbolism of the Wave Sheaf Offering, and it's a good review, something to think about before Pentecost. As I mentioned, Pentecost is just a couple of weeks today, and today I'm going to talk about Pentecost and you, and me, and Pentecost and all of us, for all of us. It helps us think about Pentecost as we approach this particular feast. Helps us prepare to keep this feast. I'm not going to talk about anything new today. This will be a review for most of us that are here. Of course, good teams, good athletic teams or sports teams, do review the basics, and this is going to be a basic message. Again, championship teams go over and over the basics, as well as other things. They practice and they practice a lot. Today is also going to be somewhat like a Bible study. I'm going to have a fair amount of scriptures, however, I'm not going to turn to some of them. So today I'm going to talk about Pentecost and you, and me, and us. So I'm going to start out trying something different. I don't think I've ever done this before. I've not seen it done often before. And what that is, I thought it would make this first part of the sermon interactive. Have some audience participation. I'll ask a couple questions like, what does God want to impress upon us by observing the feast of Pentecost? It's said differently, why does God want us to keep this feast? And I'll throw this out to you. Just in case there's not a great response, I've jotted some things down myself and hopefully you're not going to come up with anything that I have not jotted down. So anyway, anybody, don't be shy, why does God want us to keep the feast of Pentecost? Remember the Holy Spirit. Okay, remember the Holy Spirit. Okay, Van, you had your battle, your hand up.

Yeah, I think He wants us to keep in mind our chances to become first-groups and to be a part of this spiritual family. So, remember God's plan? To become first-groups. Okay, well, we are first-truths.

But in a fuller sense, born into the family. Exactly. Okay.

Okay, I saw another hand out there. Part of his overarching plan for mankind. Okay, so remember God's plan. I'm sorry for the interruption here or the pause. If this were a classroom or something, you'd have a whiteboard up here and I'd be writing and I'll be watching me and you'd feel like you're participating. Now there's this dead air. But I'm writing. It's not totally dead. And any other thoughts, any other ideas? Why does God want us to keep Pentecost? Yes.

The church's family.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay. Another one. Go ahead. Basically, to commemorate the helper that was promised to us at Passover.

So the making the Holy Spirit generally available.

Okay, tradition.

And there was a hand in the back.

To encourage us.

Say that again. To encourage us. To encourage us.

Okay, I don't want to belabor the issue. If someone wants to contribute another, I'm open for it.

So this is a good list. Not a good list as far as the number of items, as far as not necessarily the quality. I wasn't looking for specific answers. However, it's nice that your answer is I anticipated most of them. You'll hear most everything covered as we go through the message today, is remembering the Holy Spirit was poured out upon this day. To remember we're going to be first fruits into God's camp family into the kingdom of God as immortal spirit beings.

To remember God's plan for mankind. To remember the church as a family.

The beginning of the New Testament church. Can't read my own writing up here.

Beginning of the New Testament church. The Holy Spirit being made available to mankind. Those are events that occurred on Pentecost in the past. The giving of the law at Mount Sinai.

And to encourage us. That's a list. We'll say we'll move forward with this.

I'll go through and I'll through the message and we'll cover most of these points.

If not, you can see me later. No showing of hands just before the conclusion.

So first, you know, why does God want us to keep the feast of Pentecost? And I'll break this down into points which will somewhat correspond to the items that were mentioned. Well, first, well, actually no one mentioned this one. This is this is mine. I shouldn't start out with one of mine, should I? It's on the top of my page. I have to start out with one of mine. God tells us to.

God gives us instructions. He says, you know, keep my, well, actually, feasts. Let's turn to Leviticus the 23rd chapter. Leviticus the 23rd chapter. And I'll start reading in verse one. Leviticus 23 in verse one. We'll see that, you know, God tells us to keep, well, all of his feasts. Specifically, we'll look at the Feast of Pentecost. But we'll start out in verse one where it says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, the feasts of the Lord. You shall proclaim to be holy convocations. These are my feasts.

Now there's a lot packed in that little scripture there, that one verse.

Actually two verses. Verses one and two. It says, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, the feasts of the Lord. So again, and I know this is just review, but as I mentioned, review is good. Whose feasts are they? They are God's feasts. They're not the feasts of Moses.

They're not the feasts of the Jews. They're not the feasts of the church. These are God's feasts.

It says, Which ye shall proclaim. And again, these days are proclaimed. Now it's nice to be able to figure out when these days would be. It's very technical, very complicated, but regardless, these days are proclaimed. They're not something that God says to go figure out, you know, what day it should be all by yourself. These days are proclaimed, and they are holy convocations.

And again, a convocation. This is an invitation, but it's more than an invitation. It's a commanded assembly. It's not optional. It's like, you know, you're pulled over by a policeman for doing something wrong in traffic, and they invite you to go to court.

That's like a convocation. It's something, it's an offer you can't refuse. It's a mandatory getting together, and in this case it's a holy convocation. God is involved. God is setting this apart. God is there. And then he says, these are my feasts. Oftentimes God does repeat himself when he wants to emphasize something. This is not necessarily the case. This is saying, you want to know what my feasts are? These are my feasts. No more, no less. In other words, somebody, you know, might come up with, well, what about new moons? They're not here. No more, no less. These are my feasts. Continuing on in verse 3, it says, six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. So this is the first feast, this is the weekly Sabbath. A holy convocation, and again, that's what we're doing here this afternoon. You shall do no work on it. It is a Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. Well, what does that mean in all your dwellings? It means wherever you are, when the sun goes down on the sixth day of the week, it's the Sabbath. If we're here in Cincinnati, Ohio, it's approximately 852, 853, something like that.

But if you're on the west coast, it's not going to occur for another three hours or so.

Well, I don't know if it's depending on time. Anyway, it's going to be a different time, but whenever the time is, when the sun goes down, it's the Sabbath. You could be on the other side of the world. You could be in New Zealand. You know, in fact, well, it's already passed in New Zealand.

When the sun goes down, that's when the Sabbath is, and when the sun goes down again, that's when the Sabbath is going to end. And then in verse 4, it says, these are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim, again, at their appointed times. And then he talks about Passover, in the Days of Unleavened Bread. We're going to skip down to verse 9.

Verse 9, and it'll be a fair amount of reading to verse 17. It says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. You shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted on your behalf. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer on 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. You shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor fresh grain, until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God. It shall be a statute forever, through all your generations, and all your dwellings. 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 habitations two wave loaves of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits of the Lord, excuse me, to the Lord. And then dropping down into verse 20, it says, the priests shall wave them, this is talking about the wave loaves, will wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering. So these breads are, those loaves are first fruits. You shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priests. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation. So again, another commanded assembly to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings, throughout all your generations. So this basically is one of the places where the instructions are given, keep the Feast of Pentecost. Actually, the Feast is not named at this particular point. It just talks about you shall have a holy convocation. Elsewhere, it has various names depending upon, let's say, its meaning or the point of emphasis. It's also called the Feast of Weeks. And again, you count weeks to get to Pentecost. It's called the Feast of Harvest.

It's called a Feast of First Fruits. And mostly in the New Testament, it's called the Feast of Pentecost. That's because the New Testament is written in Greek. The word for Pentecost in the New Testament is Pentecostikos, or something like that, which means 50th, according to Vine's complete expository dictionary of old New Testament words. So the Feast can have various names. But one of the reasons we keep the Feast is because God tells us to. Another point why we keep the Feast, God wants us to understand His plan, and also our place in His plan. This was mentioned by one of the volunteers at the beginning of the message. Turn to 1 Timothy 2, 1 Timothy 2, and I'll start reading in verse 1. 1 Timothy 2, and I'll start reading in verse 1. God wants us to understand His plan and our place in His plan. 1 Timothy 2, starting in verse 1, it says, Therefore I assault that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. For kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and reference.

This is good and acceptableness in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. God wants to save everybody. He wants to save all mankind. God says that He wants all to come to repentance, and He says that in 2 Peter 3 verse 9. God wants everyone to come to repentance.

We know John 3 verses 16 and 17, for God so loved the world. He loves everybody that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God loves everybody, and He wants to save everybody. He wants all to come to repentance. God's plan is prophetic, and it performs an outline, or it forms the outline of prophecy. God has a plan, and He's working this plan, in a systematic and an organized way. This plan was developed to save mankind before the foundation of the world. Turn back to Matthew the 25th chapter. Matthew the 25th chapter, I'll start reading in verse 31. Matthew 25, and I'll start reading in verse 31. With this plan, to save mankind was developed before the foundation of the world. Matthew 25 and 31, it says, When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them, one from another, as the shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left. In verse 34, Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world. From the foundation, before the world was, before Adam and Eve. There's a little fella back there, it's got a lot of dinosaurs. Before they were dinosaurs, the plan was developed, it was thought out, it was conceived, and in great detail, before the foundation of the world. Revelation 3, verse 8, which I'm not going to turn to, says that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. I will turn to 1 Corinthians the 15th chapter, 1 Corinthians the 15th chapter, and I'll start reading in verse 20.

As soon as I get there, 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 20, it talks more about the plan of God. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20, it says, But now Christ has risen from the dead and has become the first fruits. So Christ has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since my man came death, my man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order. There is an order. God intends to save everyone. He would like to save everyone, but he's not doing all at once. There is an order. Christ the first fruits. Afterward, those who are Christ at his coming. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom of God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. So there is an order dropping down into verse 50. Dropping down to verse 50, the same chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, it says, Now this I say, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed. In other words, Paul thought that he was going to be alive when Jesus Christ returned. He said, you know, we shall all be changed. It says in a moment. Obviously he wasn't, but it doesn't make this any less accurate. But we shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. And then it says, for the corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So here, again, there's a group of people who are going to be resurrected at the last trumpet. I don't know, whenever I read that, I have this thought it's really a diversion. But the last trumpet, you know, we think that, you know, the first century church, well, they didn't know all that much. But here's Paul is talking about the last trumpet. How much did he know about trumpets? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. In any case, that's a diversion. It says that the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. There will be a resurrection of those who are dead and a change for those who are alive. It happens each in its own order. So we understand that there is an order of salvation. God is not trying to save the world now. By Pentecost, we understand that there is a plan, and again, that God is not trying to save the world now. And I'll come back and see a few more words about that later when I start talking about firstfruits. So that's another reason why God wants us to keep the feast of Pentecost. A third reason, God does not want to forget about him or about his plan. God does not want us to forget about him or his plan. It said differently in one of the suggestions that was offered up is God wants us to remember his plan. One way to do that is by observing these days. Turn back to Deuteronomy the 8th chapter. Deuteronomy the 8th chapter, and I'll start reading in verse 11.

Deuteronomy 8, and starting in verse 11, there's a warning that is issued to Israel. It says, beware that you do not forget the Lord your God. In other words, don't forget. Remember, beware you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, his judgments, his statutes, which I command you today. And of course, his feasts are included in that. Lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell on them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied. In other words, going to be really blessed. When your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. God knows that we have a tendency to forget. In fact, it's rather interesting. There's various places in the Bible where God says, remember this. And of course, those are the things that people tend to forget, and we can read where they have forgot. And then he has other things he tells us to forget. And guess what we remember? The things that we're not supposed to. In any case, here this says, don't forget. It's remember. Do not forget God. Do not forget his laws and his ways. These feasts, all of the feasts, and I'll say specifically Pentecost, because that's what I'm talking about, keep us in mind of God's plan. Now, if we stop keeping these days, we tend to forget. I don't know how many of you have had this experience of talking to a former church member who has gone another direction. And we can see just the understanding that they once had, I assume they once had it, I'm pretty sure they had it, that understanding is gone. It's not there anymore. I've actually heard, with a good, reliable source, there are some former Ambassador College students, actually Ambassador University students, that, you know, they've gone another direction, and some of them have actually become atheists. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that, but I'm afraid that it's a reality. Again, by keeping God's feast, it keeps us mindful of His plan. I came across a quotation, and it was by a Jewish rabbi, and I don't remember his name, and I don't know if I could pronounce it if I had his name written in front of me. But in any case, it's not so much that we keep the Feast of Pentecost. It's rather, Pentecost or God's feasts keep us. It's not so much that God's holy days, that we keep God's holy days. God's holy days keep us. There's a lot of truth in that statement. We remember, because we rehearse year by year, and we keep these days, we meet with God year by year on His feast days. So that's another point. God does not want us to forget about Him or about His plan. Point number four. Point number four.

Had to do with firstfruits. This was another item that was mentioned. Firstfruits. God wants us to know our position in His plan, that we are firstfruits. Christ, as I've already read, is the first of the firstfruits. Christ is the firstfruits. He's called the of the firstfruits in Romans 8, verse 29. But turn to James 1, James 1, verses 17 and 18. James 1, and we'll read verses 17 and 18. Again, it's a good, basic scripture that you probably not going to be the last time you hear it this Pentecost season. James 1, verse 17 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of life, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Verse 18, of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. We are firstfruits. We're firstfruits now as humans, and then, as was mentioned, we will be born at the resurrection. When Jesus Christ returns, we'll be the firstfruits to God the Father and to Jesus Christ. Revelation 14, verses 1 and 4, which I'm not going to turn to, calls 144,000 firstfruits. So we have the opportunity as firstfruits now to know God and to live by His ways. Other people do not have that opportunity. God used the annual harvest in Canaan to illustrate His plan to the people then, and for those of us reading about it now, He used the physical harvests to illustrate a spiritual lesson. The first harvest was the smaller harvest, and that's, you know, the spring of the year. It's a smaller harvest. It goes from the time the wave sheaf offering is presented until the feast of Pentecost. It's one that is smaller in number, comparatively speaking. The second harvest is larger and occurs in late summer or early fall. This would be after the harvest is in, and that's the feast of tabernacles. That's the much larger harvest of the two. The feast of Pentecost, it's pictures, the smaller harvest. Again, as I mentioned, comparatively smaller. The church in the New Testament is called a tiny flock, a small group of people. It's not the great large majority, it's the tiny minority. It's a wonderful blessing and privilege to be called at this time. Something that, you know, just a tiny, tiny percentage of people have this opportunity at this time. Familiar Scripture to all of us, which I'm not going to turn to, John 644, also 665, where it says, no one can come to Christ unless God the Father calls him. It takes a special calling. He must call individuals in order to know them. And he gives us a heart to be able to know, again, God the Father and the real Jesus Christ. And when I say no, I'm not talking about facts or figures or data. I'm talking about a relationship of knowing by experience, of walking with God, of serving Him and Him going forward with you, helping Him along the way. God gives us His Spirit to create in us a new heart and to walk with Him. And again, I'll say more about that a little bit later, but now turn to Deuteronomy the 29th chapter. Deuteronomy the 29th chapter. Now read verses 2 and 4.

Deuteronomy the 29th chapter. And in verse 2, it says, now Moses called all Israel and said to them, you have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all His servants and to His land. And then dropping down into verse 4, it says, yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive. This takes a special calling. God did not give Israel a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear to this very day. No, it takes a special calling from God. God has to give us a new heart. He has to give us His Spirit. He has to give us of His mind that we can know Him and that we can walk with Him and that we can serve Him. So one of the reasons God wants us to keep this day, the day of Pentecost, is the fact, you know, just emphasize that we are His first fruits. The second is almost a chorus, and the next point, which would be point number five. Point number five is almost a corollary of the first. There are first fruits, and if there's first fruits, there are what I'll call ladder fruits. God wants us to know that there are ladder fruits. Again, God is bringing His plan to come to pass. He's working it in order. There are some that are called now. There are some that are going to be called later. First Corinthians 15 says, everyone in His order. We understand through Pentecost, God is not trying to save the world now. Sometimes, you know, we might look out there and, you know, why is this happening? Well, it's happening that God is not trying to save the world now. God has a plan for everybody, but as I mentioned, not all at once. Turn to Revelation the 20th chapter. Revelation the 20th chapter, and I'll start reading in verse four.

This is a scripture or passage that we often hear read at the Feast of Tabernacles. It says, revolution 20 in verse four, and I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And these are the firstfruits who are on these thrones now, and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus, and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and did not receive the mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Again, as I read in verse in 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul talks about those who are at the last trumpet, those who are resurrected at that particular time. Verse five, it says, but the rest of the dead, and this is a parenthetical expression, the rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection, blessed and holy as he was part in the first resurrection. They're part of the firstfruits, the first ones born into God's family. But we have some categories of people here. Again, everybody in their order. There are those who are Christ's, who are resurrected or changed at the last trumpet when Jesus Christ does come. There are humans who will live during the millennium. There are the rest of the dead who don't live until after the thousand years are over. So there are firstfruits, which are resurrected when Christ returns, and there are laterfruits or latterfruits, those who are alive during the millennium, as well as those who will be resurrected in the white throne judgment. So that's another reason why we keep the Feast of Pentecost. Again, to understand what God is doing, as I mentioned, the feasts are prophetic. God's plan is prophetic. So there are firstfruits and there are latterfruits. And point number six talks about the events that took place in this day, in the past. Historical events that took place in this day in the past. This was one of the other items that was mentioned. The Jewish people believe and have good reason to say that the law was given from Mount Sinai on Pentecost. I don't know that that's directly provable, but certainly it's going to be very close to that time and it would make sense. And there's a lot of analogies between the law and the Spirit. Between Christ giving us His Spirit, writing His law on our hearts and minds. Again, this is an event that very likely did occur on this day. As I said, I'm not sure that it's directly provable. Another item that did occur on this day was the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles and the disciples. It was made generally available for mankind. Up until that time, there were certain individuals that had a specific function or job where God gave His Spirit. But now He's making His Spirit generally available to everybody. And then number three is, this is the beginning, the anniversary of the beginning of the New Testament church. As was mentioned in the video, you know, where would the church today be if there was no book of Acts? There's just so much that we wouldn't know and understand about our beginnings, our roots, so to speak. Turn to Acts the second chapter. Acts the second chapter, and we'll read about the beginning, about that first Pentecost. Acts the second chapter, I'll start reading in verse 1.

It says, now when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And again, they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when the sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in their own language. They all heard them speak. This was a miracle. God was doing something special, and because He was doing something special, it is accompanied by signs. Again, the signs of, you know, the tongues of fire, the noise, the language, the tongues. God gave signs to draw attention to what He was doing. There was a commotion that was taking place. God wanted to call attention to this fact that this is something that God is doing, or God was doing at that time. I thought it was kind of interesting. Joy and I have been watching a series on, I'd say, the life of Jesus Christ, and then going over to the beginning of the New Testament Church. And obviously, for the last Passover, when Christ was killed and was crucified, there was a lot of commotion in Jerusalem. It was not a peaceful, happy place. And towards the end of that particular episode, you know, Christ is killed and in the grave, Pilate said, you know, the Feast of Pentecost is coming and we're not going to have a commotion when Pentecost. It's not going to happen. And of course, this is in the movie. I don't know if Pilate really said that or not, but it's in the movie. You know, we've had a commotion. There's going to be peace. We're not going to have, you know, a big uproar at Pentecost. God does what He does. God had a commotion. He called attention to what He was doing. He wanted them to know and understand what that He was doing, something special. This was the beginning of a, I don't know if I want to say new dispensation, if that's necessarily correct, but certainly the beginning of the New Testament Church. God does what He does and nobody stops Him.

Well, I think that pretty much covers the points that were mentioned.

I'm just quickly looking over the list, but one, as far as encouraging us, God encourages us all the time. Certainly, one of the times is on His feast days. He encourages us, well, I say on the Sabbath. That's also a feast day. This is also a feast day. God encourages us by teaching us His plan, by having understanding, by having understanding that if a relative of yours dies, not in the Church, they're not lost forever, or they haven't gone to a bad place. It's an understanding of the truth, what happens after death. It's an understanding of what life is all about. It's an understanding of a tremendous future that does lie ahead.

And of course, between now and there, it's going to be rough sailing. But there is a tremendous plan, a tremendous future that God has for all of us. So these, I think, six points pretty much summarize the items that were listed as far as why we keep the feast of Pentecost. But in case anyone looks at their watch and says it's only a quarter to four, I'm not through. Not through at this time. I've got a couple other questions for you. Number one, and you can mull on this one a minute, why do we need God's Spirit? Why do we need God's Holy Spirit?

Well, recall that there were two wave loaves, and they were baked with leaven. We read that back in Leviticus. The loaves were baked with leaven. Interestingly enough, these loaves, they must have been giant loaves. I calculate that they're about seven pounds each, and two of them were, you know, you go to the store and seven pound loaf, that's a lot of bread.

In any case, that's the only offering that I know of where it's offered to God with leaven. None of the other offerings, anytime there's bread, it's going to be unleavened. However, this is leavened. The reason is the two loaves represent the Old and New Testament church. I'll say the two dispensations, if you will, the two two ways that God is dealing with mankind. That represents the Old and the New Testament church. And in the church, humanly speaking, no matter how hard we try, we falter and we fail.

Of course, the Apostle John said, you know, if anyone says that he does not sin, he deceives himself. So no matter how hard we try, we do fail. But God gives us his spirit so that we can have successes, so that we can grow, and they can overcome. In the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, the problem with that covenant was they did not have a heart to obey.

I'm not going to turn there, but Deuteronomy 5.29 is lamenting, saying, oh, if they only had a heart, they would obey. And that would go well with it. They did not have a heart to obey. Turn to Hebrews the eighth chapter. Hebrews the eighth chapter, and I'll start reading in verse seven. We'll see about that Old Covenant and about what God, what actually what God is inspiring the Apostle Paul at this point to write. Hebrews the eighth chapter, and I'll start reading in verse seven, where it says, for if that first covenant, and talking about what we consider the Old Covenant, had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

So there was a problem with that covenant. And again, the word covenant means agreement. It's a contract. So there's a problem with the agreement with the covenant. Verse eight, it says, because finding fault with them. Again, in this covenant, you had different parties. You had God, you had Old Testament Israel, and then you had the condition which was the law. It says, finding fault with them, them being the people of Israel. That's where the problem was. Again, Deuteronomy 5, 29, oh, if they only had a heart to obey. It says, because finding fault with them, behold, the days they're coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because it did not continue in my covenant.

And I discarded them, says the Lord. Verse 10, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind. And again, how does he do this? He does this with his Holy Spirit. He writes his laws in our mind and on our hearts and says, and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. So there was a problem with the old covenant, and that was the people.

But God has a solution. He provides us a, quote unquote, new heart. He gives us more of his Holy Spirit. He helps us to be able to serve him, to obey him, in which it's impossible to do so without his Spirit. Turn back to Deuteronomy 30th chapter. Deuteronomy 30th chapter, we'll actually look at a prophecy for days ahead. Deuteronomy 30th chapter, I'll start reading in verse 1. It said, if you'll come to pass when all these things, I'll read verses 1 to 10. This is again a longer passage. It says, now it shall come to pass when all these things come upon you, the blessings and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among the nations where the Lord your God drives you.

And I want to stop and interrupt myself at this point. I mean, this is a long passage. But remember, you know, one of the things that was mentioned in the video is that when we look at the scriptures and we get the context. Well, what is the context for Deuteronomy 30? There was a generation that came out of Israel and they died. This is what I'm going to call a second generation, although that's probably not totally accurate. But anyway, a new group of people, they are getting ready to go into the promised land.

God is going to bless them. Moses is talking to them and he says, you should come to pass when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, you call them to mind among the nations where the Lord your God drives you. They're getting ready to go into the promised land.

Now they've got the land on the east side of Jordan, but they haven't crossed the Jordan River yet. They haven't gone into the promised land. And it says, you call them to mind where the Lord your God drives you. God is saying that you're not even in the land yet. You're going to go into captivity. Think about that for a minute. Verse 2, it says, and return to the Lord your God. Now remember, see if I can pick up a sentence here. It says, then you call them to mind among the nations where the Lord your God drives you.

And you return to the Lord your God and obey his voice according to all that I command you today and your children with all your heart and with all your soul. So now they're going to return to God with all their heart and all their soul. It says that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity. Again, they haven't even gone into the promised land yet. They're going to come back from captivity. And by the way, when was that? It wasn't. Israel never came back out of captivity. The lost tribes of Israel. They never came back.

So here it says when the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity. So obviously this is for the future. The future ahead of us now. It's for if it's for the descendants of these people, it's going to occur during the millennium. If it means these specific people that Moses is talking to, it's going to occur in the white throne judgment period.

It says that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity. Again, the millennium or the white throne judgment. And have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you and from there he will bring you. Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart. Again, that hasn't happened in this age at all. But they are going to have their hearts circumcised. And the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live. And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you and persecuted you. And you will again obey the voice of the Lord to do all his commandments which I command you today. Verse 9, and the Lord your God will make you abound in the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in increase of your livestock, and the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as you rejoiced over your fathers. If you obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in the book of the law, and you turn to the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul. So this is a time when Israel is going to be brought back from captivity, but they're also going to get have the opportunity to receive God's Holy Spirit, to be able to walk with Him, to be able to serve Him with a circumcised heart. It's going to be a wonderful time where everyone starting with Israel, and again this will go into all nations, all will have the opportunity of knowing God. Again, there are firstfruits and there are what I'll call later fruits. They will have a heart that's inclining to God and to obey Him. Turn to Ezekiel 36 chapter. Ezekiel 36 chapter. He says something very similar.

Ezekiel 36 chapter, and if you're so inclined later today and you can start reading in verse 16 and go to verse 37, that's a lot of reading and I know it's not necessarily easy sitting there listening to someone read to you. So I'm not going to read that, but again if you'd like to study that later today verses 16 to 37, I still I will start reading in verse 22. Ezekiel 36 and verse 22 where it says, Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God. And again this is to Israel.

Where was Israel at the time? Where was Israel at the time when Ezekiel prophesied? They're in captivity. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God, I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. And the nation shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from you among the nations and gather you out of the countries and bring you into your own land. And again this hasn't happened yet, not at all. As I mentioned in Deuteronomy, Israel never came back. Verse 25 it says, Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and a new spirit. This is the same opportunity that we have today. This is the time for their opportunity sometime in the future. I'll give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I'll take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk by my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell on the land I gave to your fathers. You shall be my people, and I will be your God.

So the question I asked now, why do we need the Holy Spirit? We need the Holy Spirit in order to serve God, to worship God, to obey God, again to serve Him in spirit and in truth. And this is only possible if we have God's Holy Spirit.

Well, that leads us to another question which comes back down to each and every one of us. How do we know if we have God's Holy Spirit within us? How do we know if we have God's Holy Spirit within us? It's a question that many have asked themselves on various occasions. Today, God's Holy Spirit is not given in a dramatic way. We can look at Acts and say, wow, they had God's Holy Spirit.

There are other cases, you know, at Cornelius, where wow, you know, they had God's Holy Spirit. Today, you know, if a person witnesses a baptism, you know, you see a person baptized. After the person comes out of the water, the minister lays his hands on the person and prays. You don't see anything. Let's say someone who doesn't really realize what's going on happens to, you know, come across a group.

You know, maybe someone's getting baptized in the basement, someone's going to look in the basement. He doesn't see any electricity going from the minister and to the person. He doesn't see anything at all. So how do you know? You know, how do you know if you have the Holy Spirit? The way we know is by evidence. Evidence. Turn to Matthew 7, Matthew 7, and I'll start reading in verse 18. Interestingly enough, the evidence is more easily seen in others, and this is this is my opinion. I can't really study scriptures for this, but it's more easily seen in others as far as I'm concerned than we can see it in our own selves.

But it is observable. There is evidence. Matthew 7, starting in verse 18, where it says, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them. By their fruits, by evidence.

This is how we can know we have the Holy Spirit. What kind of fruit is God seeking? I won't turn there, but John 13, 34, and 35, where it says, by this shall all men you know you are my disciples. I think you can finish it.

If you have love, one towards another. This is one of the things, as was mentioned, we're a family. We're together. That was one thing I guess I didn't get in my sixth, but I'll get it in now. We're a family. We're part, we're called to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We're not to be lone wolves, you know, going off in a cave somewhere, reading our Bible, saying, oh me and God, you know, me and God. It's not that way at all. How do you show love one for another if you're by yourself?

Very, very difficult. Very difficult indeed. This is evidence. Love one for another. How is our example, you know, what do we do, you know, when we're shopping, when we're eating here, you know, when we're driving, and we're not in our neighborhood, or at work, or at school, you know, wherever we might be. You know, what is our example like? You know, do we live the way that we know we're supposed to live?

By and large, I would say, yes. However, again, there is sin in the church. We do slip up. We do make mistakes. And of course, that's the reason why there are seven days of unleavened bread. And I think that lesson was illustrated. God gives us a period of time to grow and to develop, and He wants us to grow and develop to overcome. Other fruit that we have, well, Galatians 5, I'm not going to turn there, Galatians 5 verses 22 to 25 lists some examples of the fruit of the spirit that a Christian should have.

You know, love, joy, peace, long suffering, etc. The fruit of the spirit. We should be demonstrating these fruits in our lives. And again, it's not like we're baptized, and we have all these fruits, and all this love, and everything all at once. It doesn't work that way. It takes a lifetime of growing and overcoming to become more Christ-like.

Let's turn to Matthew the 13th chapter. Matthew the 13th chapter. We'll look at something else that Jesus Christ had to say.

And this is along the line of, you know, why do we need the Holy Spirit? Again, the Holy Spirit, we know that we have the Holy Spirit by fruits, by evidence. Matthew 13. And I'll take a look at 1st verses 3 to 9. I will not read it. I'll paraphrase it. It's a parable that's familiar to many of us here. It's the parable of the sower and the seed, where a sower went out to sow, and he sold some seed. Some fell by the wayside, and birds came and devoured it. Some of the seed fell on stony ground, and it sprung up quickly, and then it died. Some of the seed fell among storms, thorns, thorns, and it grew, but it was choked. And then some seed fell on good ground and produced a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold. And then the answer, or the explanation of the parable, is given in verse 18. So Matthew 13, and I will start reading in verse 18. It says, therefore here, and again Christ is saying to his disciples, this is what the parable means. This is the understanding. Therefore, here the parable of the sower, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and snatches it away, excuse me, and snatches away what was sown in his heart. Then he was... So that's category number one. I read through that maybe too quickly. The person does not understand it, and even when comes, and snatches it away what was sown in his heart. And this is he who received the seed by the wayside. Verse 20, he who received the seed on stony places, this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. You know, this is great. This is a pearl of great price. Verse 21, it says, yet he has no ruin in himself, but endures only for a little while. For when tribulation of persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Verse 22, he received the seed among the thorns as he who hears the word, and the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, choked the word, and he becomes unfruitful. So it was bearing fruit and now becoming unfruitful. And then in verse 23, it says, he received the seed on the good ground as he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit, try this again, but he who received the seed on good ground as he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some 100-fold, some 60, and some 30. This is a parable of the sower of the seed, and depending how long you've been around, you've probably seen various categories, whether you thought about it that way or not. This parable reflects reality. It's, say, the way that it is. Looking around, I'll say at our group here, I really doubt there's anyone here that's being category one, and hopefully no one accused me of being judgmental. I don't think anyone's here in category one. There might be someone here in category two. There could be. Very likely could be someone here in category three, and hopefully most of us are in category number four. However, even in category number four, some notice that some are more fruitful than others. 100-fold, 60-fold, or 30-fold.

Something to think about. These groups describe everyone who hears, those who do hear. As I mentioned, you know, we, the various groups, are not going to go over them again. I would anticipate most of us here are in group four, and certainly hope that's the case, and hope we all bring forth an abundant amount of good fruit. So the question I asked in the beginning, or a similar question, what meaning does the feast of Pentecost have for you, for me, and for us? Now, I like to think as Pentecost is our day, and I say this collectively our day, the Church's day. There are some people who like to celebrate birthdays, or their children's birthdays. They have special days. This is not like a birthday. Pentecost is not like a birthday, but it is a very special day to us. This is the feast of Pentecost. This is our day. It's a day about us. We're living this now at this time. We have understanding now at this time. We have understanding of the order that God is bringing things to come to pass, His plan of salvation. We understand our place in this. This, I like to think of, as I say, is our day, the feast of Pentecost. Now, just knowing the way people are, someone may be out there thinking, well, what about the feast of trumpets? You know, that's the time of the first resurrection. And it is. However, there's other events that are also pictured to take place on the feast of trumpets. The feast of Pentecost is most specifically about Jesus Christ, and it's about us in our place in God's plan. This is the feast of Pentecost. This is our day. I want to encourage all of us to think about God's plan and to think about, you know, the feast of Pentecost this year, to plan and prepare well, and to have a wonderful feast of Pentecost this year.