Pentecost

Well, we're here on Pentecost weekend, we'll call it. Today is the seventh-day Sabbath. Tomorrow is Pentecost, the back-to-back Sabbath. One of those special times that we have 48 hours in a row that we're in holy time. Happens every year, at least once. This year it happened at the Feast of Days of Unleavened Bread, too, when we had a Friday holy day, followed by the weekly Sabbath. But the day of Pentecost has tremendous, and I underscore that word, tremendous, tremendous meaning.

So I would typically give a meaning of the day of Pentecost's sermon on Pentecost, but I thought I would give it this afternoon instead, or at least part of it. Because there is so much meaning to the day of Pentecost, it would be difficult to fit in all the meaning that God built into this holy day in just one sermon. Even if you look at the day of Pentecost, or the Feast of Pentecost, it has several names.

Pentecost means Count 50 in Greek, and we'll talk a little bit about that. It's also known as the Feast of Weeks. It's also known as the Feast of Firstfruits. Several names for this holy day. All that have some significance in the meaning of it in God's plan for mankind, God's plan for salvation, if you will. And on this day, so many momentous things happened. Of course, in ancient Israel, they had their traditional rituals that God had them do on Pentecost. Of course, one that He has on every holy day is keep it holy, no work on it, appear before Him.

But they had other things that they did leading up to Pentecost as well. And probably one of the more inspiring sets of scriptures in the Bible is on the day of Pentecost, when the New Testament Church began, if you will. So I want to start there this afternoon. Let's turn back to Acts 2.

Acts 2.

And verse 1.

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And that says a lot right there. They were following what God had said, and on that day, that day, a day after which so much had happened in the disciples' lives, 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 they began to speak with other tongues.

On verse 8, you see, that's languages that they didn't natively speak.

They began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

A momentous occasion. None of them that were there that day ever forgot it.

We don't ever forget that set of scriptures because you can just feel the energy. You can just feel the excitement. You can just feel God in the air on that day of Pentecost.

And the people that were there received something that they really didn't understand.

They had heard about the Holy Spirit, but they received it that day. And the Holy Spirit made all the difference in their lives.

From this time forward, you see the church. A little church of 120. Go forth in power.

Go forth and preach the gospel boldly. Feed different people. They were united together. They wanted to be together, and people from the outside saw the difference in the people that were gathered there that believed and that had received the Holy Spirit.

I want to stop for a moment and think about those people. Sometimes when we read the things in the Bible, especially familiar verses, we can just kind of glance over them. But think for a moment what these 120 people had been through in the seven and eight weeks leading up to the day of Pentecost.

So much had happened in their lives.

They had had highs higher than maybe they ever thought could be, and lows that they never even imagined they were going to experience, all in that short period of time of seven and eight weeks.

It all started back on the Passover, just seven weeks and some days before this day of Pentecost, as they were all gathered. They all knew Jesus Christ. They saw the love that He had. They saw the power that He had. They knew. Well, many of them knew He was the Messiah.

And they saw Him put to death. They saw Him put to death on the Passover day. The disciples that were with Him on the Passover evening, the last Passover He spent with them, He gave them a new way of keeping the Passover, new symbols that they needed to know going forward. The symbolism of taking the wine, eating the bread, washing feet, and how important those things were going to be. What meaning they had for them that would be more meaningful to them as each Passover they kept from then on out, the meaning they have for us today as we keep the Passover just as Jesus Christ did on that fourteenth day of Abib at evening.

And as they sat there that evening and as they went out and heard Him talk, and they heard Him talk about going away, preparing a place for them, the Holy Spirit that would come, a comforter, a helper, someone that was something that would lead them and guide them, they didn't fully understand all those things. They didn't even understand that at the end of that day Christ was going to be killed. That by the end of that time, before His sunset the next day, He would be dead and buried. Even though He told them the Son of Man must be killed and He must be raised the third day, they didn't understand it. And here they were, a people who believed in Him that found Him dead. And they scattered. They scattered at the time that He was arrested. They scattered at the time He was crucified. Only Apostle John was there with Him and some ladies that were there with Him at the time of His death. And they went into hiding. And then a few days later on the first of the week, this is the first day of the week after the Sabbath had occurred during the days of Unleavened Bread, they had someone come back to them and tell them He's been risen. He's alive again. And they could scarcely believe it. You remember Peter running to the grave to see it, to check it out himself. So there was tremendous joy when they found out that He was alive. All in a matter of just a few days, the lowest of low, the highest of highs, and then they were able to spend some time with Him. Let's turn back one chapter to Acts 1.

Acts 1, verse 1. It says, The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, after He was resurrected, until the day in which He was taken up, after He, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles, whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. In his Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul references that five hundred saw Him. But at least we know that the apostles and the disciples there saw Him. After He was erected, resurrected, He was there, walking among them, speaking to them, teaching them about the things of the kingdom of God, things that they may not have understood before He died. But now that that had passed, now that He had solidified the plan of God, now that He had died a perfect man, been resurrected, the first one to eternal life, He could talk about the kingdom of God and teach them what they may not have understood before.

And there they were on the day of Pentecost. So many of the world, and the world's religions would say, Jesus did away with the Sabbath. Jesus said, you don't have to keep the Holy Days anymore. If Jesus wanted to do away with the Sabbath, if Jesus wanted to change it, if He wanted to do away with the Holy Days, He had a perfect opportunity in the 40 days that He worked with those disciples after He was resurrected. And He could have told them, you don't need to do that anymore. I fulfilled it all. But where were they? Where were they after He was ascended into heaven? They were there, assembled together on the day of Pentecost, keeping the day of Pentecost just like He had commanded back in Leviticus 23. They were still keeping the Sabbath forever after Jesus Christ was ascended into heaven. They kept the Passover. Jesus Christ had kept the Passover with them and showed them through His example. It was to be kept forever. As long as there was a heaven and earth, His law, His principles, His holy time would not pass from the earth. And they were there, and He taught them. Taught them the same things that you and I hear about. He taught them that He will return, that it wasn't His time. And you see in a few verses here, they still didn't fully understand that. It wasn't His mission the first time He came to set up a kingdom at that time. He would return again and set up a kingdom. And He taught them about that as He walked with them and talked with them and taught them for 40 days. Verse 4, and being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, you have heard from Me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And on that day of Pentecost, they were. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? Well, okay, You died. You didn't do it then. Now that You are an eternal being, will You restore the kingdom to Israel at this time? They still didn't get it. There would be time that others would be called. Others would be perfected. That they would be perfected. And that at a future time, Jesus Christ would return, and He would and will establish His kingdom at that time.

They didn't get it. Still then, and He said to them, it's not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. You will tell people of Me. You will teach them what I am teaching you. You will tell them to keep the law of God. You will tell them to repent, believe, be baptized, and you will tell them that they will receive the Holy Spirit, and that is the way to salvation, the only way to salvation, to have the Holy Spirit and to do the things that God has asked us to do in the way that He has asked us to do them. You will be witnesses, said, and all the people that are taught be witnesses of His way of life, by the way we talk, by the way we live our lives, by the way we conduct ourselves, and by the message that goes out in power and boldness, proclaiming the kingdom of God. Just as the New Testament church did, that we won't talk about today, maybe later tomorrow. Verse 9, Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight, resurrected, back to life, talked and taught them for forty days, and then they saw Him ascend into heaven, all between that Passover and that day of Pentecost, when they were all gathered together in one accord and one place. Now while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in wide apparel, who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. He will return, and all the world will know when He returns. He will return from heaven to claim His kingdom, and He will set it up, and He will rule it forever and ever. And that kingdom will never disappear, and that kingdom will never fade from the earth. And they saw Him rise into heaven, and just as He instructed them to do, they waited in Jerusalem. They waited in Jerusalem, and not too many days from then, on the day of Pentecost, they received the Holy Spirit.

Good for them. Good for them that they listened. Good for them that they obeyed. Good for them that they were there where Jesus Christ told them to be. Good for all of us when we obey what God says, and put His desires, and put His commands ahead of our wishes or wants. And when they assembled on that day of Pentecost, they didn't know what was going to happen, but they received a grip that was more valuable than anything they could have even imagined. And everything changed when they received the Holy Spirit. Everything changed. It was the beginning of the New Testament Church, many would say. But, you know, it is a... it was foreshadowed in the Old Testament when we go back and look at what God had said about this day of Pentecost back in the Old Testament. So let's go back there and look and see... look and see what God said back in Leviticus 23 about this day of Pentecost. Because all those events in the New Testament were pretty much intertwined. It began with Passover, went through the days of Unleavened Bread. During the days of Unleavened Bread, Christ was resurrected. They saw Him. He taught them. He was ascended into heaven. And on the day of Pentecost, they received the Holy Spirit. It all began, as God's plan does, with Christ's sacrifice, which He... which He completed on that 14th of Aviv, that Passover... that Passover day.

And back in verse 9 of Leviticus 23, we see that the Feast of Pentecost, the day of Pentecost, is certainly intertwined with the days of Unleavened Bread. In fact, we have to be... we have to know when the days of Unleavened Bread are in order to even be able to count and determine when the day of Pentecost is. Let's pick it up in chapter 23, verse 9. The Eternal 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. He'll wave the sheaf before the Eternal, should be accepted on your behalf, on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now, he's talking about the Sabbath that occurs during the days of Unleavened Bread right there in verse 8 that we didn't read. You can see that on the seventh day of Unleavened Bread is a holy convocation. Then he goes right into this wave sheaf offering that occurs during the days of Unleavened Bread. On the day after the Sabbath occurs during the days of Unleavened Bread, bring this wave sheaf offering before God.

Now, that's the first of the first fruits, if you will. In Israel, it was barley. That was the first, the earliest crop. And they would bring the first of the first fruits before God, and they would present it before him. Now, once they presented it before him, and when it was accepted by him, then they could go on with the rest of the first fruits, the harvest of the spring harvest, if you will. The first fruits, the greater crops, of course, being in the fall. It was a ceremony that was kept in Israel all the time, from the time they came into the Promised Land, or should have been kept all the time, that they did. Something that they did is to show God and be accepted by him the first fruits. And during that days of Unleavened Bread, during that time that Jesus Christ was there, all that period of time that goes from Passover to the Day of Pentecost, that was perfectly fulfilled, as we have discussed before. But let's just rehearse that for a moment.

If you go back to John 20, John 20 and verse 17, John 20. This is the day after the Sabbath that occurs in the days of Unleavened Bread. Jesus Christ had already been risen at the time that this incident occurs in verse 17, had been resurrected hours earlier than this. John 20 verse 17, Mary, who had gone to the grave to see him because she wanted to anoint him and do the things that they did to those who had died, she found the grave empty. But Christ, you see in verse 16, called her. She recognized him immediately. In verse 17, he said to her, Don't cling to me, Mary, I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, and to my God and your God. Now, Jesus Christ doesn't do anything without a reason. God doesn't do anything without a reason. He records for us the things that we need to know so that we understand the principles and understand that the plan of God has been in existence since the foundation of the earth. Not to be broken, but always in existence. They know the end from the beginning. It's been so. And so Jesus Christ, when he was redirected, told Mary, Don't touch me.

I have not yet ascended to the Father in heaven. Now, perhaps then, but my guess is later, Mary thought about the wave-sheaf offering that would be being given on that day, where the priest would be waving the first of the first fruits before God to be accepted.

And here's Jesus Christ saying, I haven't yet ascended to my Father. Later on, in Matthew 26, we won't turn to there, but you can see in Matthew 26, when Mary and the apostles see Him later, they cling to Him. They hug Him. And He doesn't say, Don't touch me like He does here. Because by that time, He had ascended to His Father in heaven. By that time, He had gone up to heaven. He had been accepted by God as the first of the first fruits. Well done, God would have said to Him. Yes, you fulfilled the plan completely. You gave up being God. You were born as a human. You lived your life perfectly. You resisted all the temptations, all the trials, everything that was thrown at you. You lived your life perfectly. And you gave it up, and the sins of man could be forgiven.

And you were resurrected, the first to be resurrected to immortal life.

Ascended to God, accepted by Him over in 1 Corinthians 15.

Just like we read back in Leviticus 23 about the first of the first fruits, we find that Jesus Christ is the first of the first fruits. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 20.

1 Corinthians 15 verse 20. Now Christ is risen from the dead, and He has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. He's the first. For since my man came death, my man also came the resurrection of the dead. For since by Adam came death, by Christ also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order, Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. The first, accepted by God, our Savior, our Master, our soon coming King, qualified to replace Satan, displaced him as the God of this world, and we wait for his return when he will set up his kingdom. The first of the first fruits, accepted by God on that Sabbath, or that first day of the week after the Sabbath that occurs during the days of unloved bread. Let's go back to Leviticus 23.

We were in verse 9, and then in the ensuing verses there, it talks about some of the grain offerings and things that need to be brought before God on that day. Let's wrap down to verse 15.

That occurs a notable day during the days of unloved bread. In verse 15, it says, 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. So from that day, the day after the Sabbath, during the days of unloved bread, seven Sabbaths shall be completed. And the next verse says, count fifty, Pentecost. And the Greek counts fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath, then offer a new grain offering to the Lord. Count fifty, Pentecost. Fifty days from that day, fifty days from the Sabbath, the day after the Sabbath occurring during the Feast of Tabernacles is tomorrow, Pentecost. If we don't know when the Feast of Tabernacles, no, the days of unloved bread, get what says the announcement that I...

If we don't know when the days of unloved bread are, we wouldn't know what Pentecost was.

But we count fifty days, and that day is tomorrow. Seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Of course, you know, seven is God's number of completion. Seven days in a week. Count seven Sabbaths.

Seven, it has a notable place in Scripture, as do some other numbers. One of those other numbers is fifty. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Count fifty. Fifty is another one of those numbers that the commentaries and the numerologists that study the Bible say it has significance in the pages of the Bible. Fifty is an important number. We see fifty occur just a couple chapters later here in Leviticus. In Leviticus 25 and verse 8, we find some similar verbiage that we just read, but this time it's talking about Sabbaths of years. Seven Sabbaths of years. Chapter 25 and verse 8 says, 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 49 years.

Then you shall cause the trumpet to the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the day of atonement, you will make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land, and you will consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all 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. The fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you.

A time of release. A time, a special time, that God ordained for the nation of Israel.

A time that will be reinstituted in the kingdom. But the fiftieth year, 50 in the Bible, talks about the number of deliverance, the number of Jubilee.

During the fiftieth year, Israel, the people of Israel, in essence, got a new beginning. It was almost like it was a reset button. If you find yourself in financial problems in ancient Israel, you could sell your land to someone else and receive the money. You could sell yourself as a slave to them. But in the fiftieth year, the year of Jubilee, all those debts were erased.

All the land went back to its original owners. It wasn't like today when we buy a piece of land, and it was there, it's theirs forever, and someone might lose it. In Israel, the land went back to the family in the fiftieth year. It was a time of deliverance. Hopefully in that fiftieth year, when all things were restored, when people had a chance at a new beginning, if they made mistakes in the years before that, hopefully they learned something from it. So when they had a chance to begin again, they didn't make those same mistakes. They had a chance to start over, because debts were forgiven. Freedom was in the land. People weren't encumbered by debt. They weren't under the yoke that they had been in in the prior years before that, often because of their own problems and mistakes. Now, it doesn't stretch to compare that to ourselves. We were all under bondage. We all made mistakes. We still make mistakes, but before we were baptized, before we received the Holy Spirit, we made a lot of mistakes. We had brought death upon ourselves.

That was the debt that we carried that we couldn't pay with anything other than our life.

And it put us under bondage. Ancient Israel never was able to obey God. We'll talk about that a little bit later, some. They were always under bondage. They always gave in to their own desires. They always gave in to the people around them. They always gave in to Satan's influence. They never were strong enough to be free of that. And it caused them problem or caused them problem after problem after problem. The story is the same with us. It just causes us problem after problem after problem because we are powerless against Satan. We are powerless against the influence of the world, the influence of media, our friends, our neighbors. Without God's Holy Spirit, we simply cannot stand.

And that's the story of Israel. But for these people who had their physical lives taken away, and they were literally under bondage, literally under slavery, in the 50th year, there was a year of release, a year of freedom. God put that in there. So in 50, year 50, people could start over again and not be encumbered with the mistakes of the past. Let's go over to Luke, Luke 4. Luke 4, verse 18, Christ is in the temple, as it says, as his custom was, and on this Sabbath, he stood up to read. And he read from the book of Isaiah. And in verse 18, we have recorded exactly what he read when he stood up that day. Luke 4, verse 18, says, The Spirit of the Eternal is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And then he put the book down, and he told the people, You've seen today the Scripture fulfilled in me. I'm the one who will set you free.

I'm the one who will cancel your debts. I'm the one who will make possible a life free from the mistakes, because what you've earned is death. What you've earned is nothing. But in me, Christ said, is deliverance. In me, you will find eternal life. In me, you will find more than your heart can even imagine.

And in that year of Jubilee, in the 50th year, the people of Israel found freedom from past deaths, mistakes erased, a chance to start over, a chance to this time live life, not repeating the mistakes of before, and maybe keeping that land and themselves free if they were to obey God and follow His principles. And God said about the day of Pentecost, count 50. Count 50.

And on the day of Pentecost, when they were all gathered together in one accord in one place, God sent the Holy Spirit. God sent the Holy Spirit. Christ had died. He had paid the penalty for their sins. He had been resurrected, and we had the hope of eternal life. He sent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that sets us free from bondage to Satan, sets us free if we use it from bondage to the world, bondage to friends, bondage to the influence of the world around us, the influence of the media, everything that is, that war is against us and war is against the things that God would have us do.

Without that Holy Spirit, we fall, we fail, we are nothing, we go right back into the misery we are.

When we repent, when we recognize the way of life we've lived and we put it behind us and we're baptized, now we receive the Holy Spirit, then we have the opportunity at life, then we have the opportunity to live, then we have the opportunity to look toward a future and eternal life that only through the way that Jesus, only through Jesus Christ and only the way that He established cannot be found. The Israelites of old, after that 50th year when they were set free again, when they could go back to their lands, if they made the same mistakes again and they had to sell their land, they found themselves in bondage. If they had to sell themselves back into slavery, they found themselves again. Likewise with us. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength and power to be free, to have, receive eternal life. But if we make the same mistakes, if we count it unimportant, if we say the world, our friends, our kids, everything is more important than doing what God's will is, we find ourselves back. And God would even take the Holy Spirit away if He sees we're not using it. Hebrews 6 is very clear on that. So here on the day of Pentecost, when they were all gathered in one accord in one place, they had a new life. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 7. Well, let's go to 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17.

When they repented, when they rejected their old way of life, when they were baptized and committed to God, when they received the Holy Spirit, the same process that they went through, the same process we go through, it says in verse 17, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And on that day of Pentecost, in 30 AD or 31 AD, whatever year it was, all things became new. There was a new life. There was a new church. There was a new spirit. There was a group of people that were going to follow the commission that Jesus Christ came, a very blessed group of people who understood their calling and understood the magnitude of it. Something I hope we ask God, show us the magnitude of what He has called us to. Because nothing in the world, nothing our friends have to offer, nothing our bosses have to offer, nothing our families have to offer can compare to what God is offering us. But we have to choose Him. And we have to use His Holy Spirit to have that freedom and that release from bondage that we are all held to. Well, that's 50. And one of the things of Pentecost is 50. Freedom, release, new life, going forward from here. We can also look at Pentecost as another number. We're here on the seventh day, Sabbath, and we could call tomorrow the eighth day. It's the first day of the week, but it's also the eighth day if we want to call that. And eight has a significant place in Scripture as well. Scholars would tell you that the number eight is the number of salvation and new birth or regeneration. The number of salvation and new birth or regeneration. And there are some eighth days in the Scriptures that we can look at.

One of them I won't turn to. You find it back in Genesis when babies were born, baby boys. There was a sign of the old covenant. Remember that? Circumcision. What day of a baby's life was he circumcised? The eighth day. The eighth day. He lived a complete week, but on the eighth day, he was circumcised. The sign of the covenant between God and his people. And that physical sign of the covenant extended through the time of ancient Israel, but ancient Israel broke that covenant. Another notable eighth day in Scripture is the last holy day of the year. We have the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles. Traditionally, we've called that eighth day the last great day, but Scripture calls it the eighth day. On the eighth day is a holy convocation. No matter of work shall be done among you. The eighth day. What does the eighth day mean? What does that mean? What is that eighth day celebration that we do at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles? The Feast of Tabernacles, of course, pictures the time of the millennium on earth. Christ's reign. We are all together in one place. God's Spirit in one place. You feel the energy. You feel the connection. You feel the fellowship. You hear the teaching all eight days of the week. It's a beautiful time for everyone to be together. But on the eighth day, on the eighth day, the millennium is over.

The purpose for heaven and earth, the physical heaven and earth, is done. Mankind has lived. Physical man has expired his time on earth. The resurrections are complete.

God knows who's his. And some have been born to eternal life. Others are committed to a second death because they rejected or counted unimportant the calling of the truth of God. And the purpose for the physical earth, the purpose for physical man, is done. The project is done. The eighth day.

On the eighth day, there's a new heaven and a new earth, a new beginning.

Because the purpose for this one is gone. And there's eternity then beyond the feast of the millennium. Eternity beyond the feast of tabernacles. The eighth day. And God said, keep this feast of Pentecost on the same day of the week, the only holy day that we keep on the same day of the week every year. Every other one varies according to the calendar. But Pentecost is always held on the first day of the week or the eighth day of the week, if you want to call that.

Eight having some significance. Because when we receive the Holy Spirit, our lives now are just not committed to this physical life. But God gives us the down payment of eternity beyond this physical life. When we receive the Holy Spirit, it certainly helps, it certainly encourages, it certainly leads, it certainly guides, it certainly gives us understanding, it certainly opens our eyes, compels us to do what's right. But it's the seed of eternal life. It's the seed of eternal life.

On the day of Pentecost, God gave his church the seed of eternal life.

He gave it to them. It was theirs to keep, but they could lose it. It was a down payment. You may have heard Mr. Meyers talk about that in the Bible study this past Wednesday. A down payment. It's yours to keep, but you can give it back. You can forfeit the contract.

If we continue to do what God said, then we will receive eternal life.

But if we depart from the way, we can give it all back and become physical men with nothing more than this physical life to look forward. How sad, how sad is that?

So that's built into the day of Pentecost as well. That's built into the day of Pentecost as well.

Let's go back to Leviticus 23.

We had read through verse 16. So we see some of the meanings here of the day of Pentecost. Then in verse 17, we find another thing that they did on this day of Pentecost, counted from the days of unleavened bread. You shall, verse 17, Leviticus 23, 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. So we find another concept. We've got two loaves. They're the first fruits. They're to be offered to God. Now, there's something notable about those loaves.

They're baked with leaven. Most always, when we offer something to God, we offer it with unleavened bread, right? The picture is absence of sin, absence of pride, absence of the effects of this world. At the Passover, we eat unleavened bread. When you read through the offerings that God asked Israel to provide for them, most of the time, well, all the time, they're with unleavened bread.

But here on this day, on the day of Pentecost, baked two loaves, baked them with leaven. Specifically, he says, baked them with leaven. Leaven, of course, pictures sin, lack of humility, puffed up, prideful. What we are, what we were, what we picture in the days of unleavened bread, putting out of our lives so that we become unleavened. So, the course of our lives, we become like Christ, perfect, humble, flat, willing to serve, not thinking others are there to serve us, but thinking and knowing that we are there to serve.

Bake those two loaves, present them before God, bake them with leaven. Now, those of you who have been in the church for a while, you've heard various things about what those loaves mean. Some say they picture the Old Testament and the New Testament. One loave for the Old Testament people, one loave for the New Testament people, because they represent people. Sinful, carnal people like you and I are faulty people and present them to God. And that could be one of the meanings of them, because God's plan of salvation is for every man, woman, and child who has ever lived.

Not just those who were born in America who heard the name of Christ, as some would say. No one is lost. Jesus Christ, God the Father, have a plan that every single man, woman, and child, whether they were born before Christ or after Christ, Old Testament times, New Testament time, they have an opportunity for salvation. At some point, they will know the truth, and they will have the same choice you and I made.

Will we follow God, or will we just follow our own ways? Will we follow the ways of the world and say, it makes sense, I want what they have? That's exactly what Eve did, right? That's exactly what Adam did. Do we choose what seems best to us, or do we do what God says? And every man, woman, and child will have that before or after Christ, irrespective of their date of birth, they have that opportunity.

But when you look at the day of Pentecost and what happened going forward with that church, there's something noticeably different than there was in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God worked with one nation, one group of people, Israel. Abraham was a very loyal servant to God. He obeyed all of his statutes, all of his commands, all of his judgments. Isaac and Jacob and Joseph followed in his ways. They yielded to God. They followed him. Joseph, even in the face of a nation that was greater than him and against all odds, he followed God.

And God blessed that nation. And he wanted them to be the treasure on earth. He wanted them to be an example to all the other people on earth because there were just Israel and Gentiles. Everyone was divided in two categories. You were Israel, the people of God, or you were Gentile. That's just the way it was. And that follows through when you read the New Testament because that was the way people thought back then. And to an extent, I guess we still think that way too because we have the pages of the Bible that divide people into Israel and Gentile, or Jew and Gentile.

When the Old Testament ended, when Jesus Christ came to earth, when he put his spirit on the church, and that church went out and they began to teach and they began to preach and they began to work with people, something happened that maybe they didn't expect to have happen. Peter, one day, saw a vision of sheep, a sheep being brought before him with unclean animals on it. This is back in Acts 10, and God said, rise, Peter, kill and eat. And Peter protested and said, I have never eaten an unclean animal. I know the food laws. I know what you've done. I give myself to you and I yield to those laws and eat exactly what you said because I honor you. But Peter came to see that he wasn't talking about animals. He was talking about people. There were no longer clean and unclean people. There was no longer Jew and Gentile. But the Jews of that day wouldn't even sit down and have a meal with because they considered Gentiles to be unclean. And so the New Testament church learned some lesson, and we can see some of what Peter learned and the people back then in Acts 10. Acts 10, beginning in verse 34.

Acts 10, verse 34. Peter here is in the audience with Cornelius, who God has opened up his mind to the truth.

In verse 34, Peter, after speaking with him, it says, Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all, that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before God, those that we read about in Acts 1. Even to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets witnessed that through his name. Whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision, those Jews who still were practicing the sign of the covenant of the Old Testament, and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. As many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Peter was astonished. The people with him were astonished. What is this new thing? God is opening the minds of Gentiles too? He'll give us the Holy Spirit and He'll give it to Gentiles too? Again, you can imagine if all your life you had been taught one thing, and then all of a sudden you see God working in a different way, well, I never counted on that. I never saw that. God is now giving the Holy Spirit to everyone. It's not dependent on birth. It's not dependent on ethnicity. It's dependent on who will receive the call, who will repent, who will acknowledge, who will yield. Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water that these shouldn't be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?

He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, and they asked them to stay a few days. Over in chapter 11, Peter goes back to Jerusalem, and he is recounting this experience to the people back then because they need to understand what God is doing as well. It's not the same as it was before the day of Pentecost in 30 AD or 31 AD, whatever year it was. Verse 15 of chapter 11.

Verse 15.

As I began to speak, Peter is saying here, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Speaking of Cornelius and the group that was gathered there, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord how he said, John indeed baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. See how the Holy Spirit bought to remember something? It's like the bite bulb went on at that point. And Peter, ah, I remember him saying that. This is what he was talking about. John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. If, therefore, God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God? And the crowd that was assembled with him, the people that were assembled with him, when they heard these things, they became silent.

They just had to absorb it for a moment. What does this mean? How did this happen? This isn't something that we counted on. What is God doing? But the facts were there. It was evident what God was doing. When they heard these things, they were silent, and they glorified God, saying, God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. He has given them the opportunity of salvation, just like ancient Israel. It's open to all mankind who is called, who receives. Who counts it important, who repents, who believes, who's baptized, who receives the Holy Spirit?

Different in the New Testament. Different from the time of that day of Pentecost, going forward into the day that we live today. Back in Galatians 3. Galatians 3, verse 26.

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. Peter was the apostle to Israel. He was in Jerusalem. He learned what God was doing then. And then God raised up apostles that worked with the Gentiles. We have many of the epistles that he wrote to them. Verse 26, he writes to the church of Galatia, You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Every single one of you, he says, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There's the way to salvation. There's the way to eternal life. There's the way to everything that God promises. The Gentiles had to do it just like Israel did. Just like you and I did. They had to follow the prescribed steps that Jesus Christ established. For as many of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, putting in the binocular that they might understand. You have the same promises that Israel had. You have the same right and access to God that Israel did. God now sees you as a special treasure among the earth. He sees you as his people. 1 Peter 2, he says, you are a chosen people, a royal generation. The same thing he said to Israel, but Israel failed miserably. The people of the New Testament, Jew and Gentile, both leaven, both imperfect, both called by God, both with the opportunity to have eternal life. If they yield, if they grow, if they let the Holy Spirit guide direct and teach them. Two loaves. Firstfruits. God calls them. Wave these two loaves. They are firstfruits before the Lord. People from all walks of life. People from all ethnicities. People from everywhere, whoever God would call.

Firstfruits who have their opportunity, we talked about last week, in this life. In this life. And that's a very special calling and blessing to be called in this life. They are firstfruits before God. You know, there was a time in my life, many, many years ago, I'm thankful to say, that I didn't think it was such a great blessing to be called in this life. Or I should say that my parents were called in this life. I had the same thoughts that probably many of you did. Some of our young people today would have. Why did we have to be called now? Wouldn't it just been so much easier if I could just do what I wanted to do in this life and be in the second resurrection? Wouldn't that just be better? Glad to say I don't think that way today. I know to tell young people who are thinking that and who are so caught up in the world and can't leave it behind, don't ever forget. Don't ever forget the calling that God has given you because I'm here to tell you the blessing that being in the firstborn, being in the firstfruits, is something you can't even compare to anything in the world. No friend, no job, no event, no family member, no one can give you what God has promised. And it's there for the firstfruits, those who God calls today. We talked about last week in the Bible study about predestination, what a privilege it is to be called. Many are called, though, but only a few are chosen who really, really count important the truth of God, who really, really are willing to give up what this life has to offer, who catch the vision of what God has planned, who believe what the Bible says, and are willing to be circumcised in heart and not just in flesh, who are willing to give up themselves, give up their own lusts, their own desires, the things that we hold so close that are just sometimes so hard, but sometimes so frustrating they can't just give up. So frustrating they can't just have it be put out of your life. Firstfruits. It's a very important calling. None of us should ever take it for granted. We should never, ever, ever sit and think, eh, whatever. All our heart and all our soul should be put into the calling that God has given us. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians. Now let's go back to Romans. Romans 8. Romans 8. Romans 8, verse 23. Excuse me. Let's just pick it up in verse 18 and read through a few of these verses. Paul here is talking about the Holy Spirit and those who have the Holy Spirit. And we know that we go through trials. We know that we go through tough times as well as good times, all designed so that God prepares us for who He wants us to be, something our minds can't even appreciate, but we must believe. Verse 18, he says, It's tough sometimes to say no. To say no to yourself for what you really want to do or what you really want to feel.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time aren't worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God, you and me, who God has called, who He puts His Holy Spirit in, who had the opportunity to be these sons of God, that he's talking about here, for the creation was subjected to futility. Not willingly. It was created a glorious creation. But because of the sin of man, who was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, who have that in us, that makes us first fruits. Even we ourselves, grown within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, should be translated sonship, S-O-N-S-H-I-P, eagerly awaiting for the sonship, the redemption of our body, out of a corruptible physical body that is the first phase of life. To an immortal, incorruptible body that will last for eternity and that God is preparing for a purpose that we can't even understand. We can't understand. 1 Corinthians 2 and 9 says it hasn't even entered into the hearts of man. No one what God has prepared for those that love Him. That's what He said before you and me. First fruits. Now let's go back to 1 Corinthians 15. We read about Christ being the first of the first fruits. Let's just read that set of Scripture again. Verse 20, 1 Corinthians 15, Christ has risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Verse 22, For as in Adam all die, we will all die once, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. In Christ all shall be made alive, but each one in his own order. Christ first, the first of the first fruits.

Afterward, those who are Christ at His coming, who live the rest of their lives now in a continual state of yieldenness to God, who allow Him to grow, develop, mold them, mold us into who He wants us to be, who wash out, who allow God to wash out the faults, the blemishes, the leavening. Put those out of us replaced with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Resurrected, if we die in Christ, die with His Holy Spirit, the first fruits. Let's go back to Revelation 20, verse 4. Another verse I think we read last week. Let's read it again in this context. Revelation 20, verse 4.

The rest of the dead, the second resurrection, didn't live again until the thousand years were finished. This group in verse 4, this is the first resurrection. Notice what he says in verse 6. Blessed and holy is He who has part in the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is He who has part in the first resurrection. You know someone sent me something this week. And they said God doesn't say that about people in the second resurrection. Nowhere does He say, blessed and holy is He who is in the second resurrection. Blessed and holy is He who has part in the first resurrection. It says a lot. It's a special calling God has given. Not something to be taken lightly. Not something to say, I'll take care of that tomorrow. I'll change tomorrow. I'll put away my own desires of what I want to do tomorrow. If we understood what blessed and holy is He who has part in the first resurrection, it meant if we let God help us see, this is something really special. You and I didn't deserve it. You and I didn't earn it. It's because of God's mercy that you and I are here. Back in Hebrews 11, it calls the first resurrection a better resurrection.

The second resurrection isn't a better resurrection. I wish I had said to myself back several years ago, young people, you can put that in your book of memory things. The second resurrection isn't a better resurrection. The first resurrection is the better resurrection. Blessed and happy is He who has part in the first, for blessed and holy is He who has part in the first resurrection. A tremendous calling. Never to be taken lightly. And you will hear me say that a lot from here on out. Don't take what God has given you for granted. Don't think it's common. Don't treat it as common. Count it as special and live your lives that way. God has given us the Holy Spirit that can help us overcome anything. Satan, the world, our own selves, which is a very difficult thing to overcome and to learn to say no to, our children, our family members, those who would have us do something different than what God said and think that we're doing them a favor by letting them do what they want. A piece of first-proofs. They have Pentecost. The people were gathered in one accord in one place. They received the Holy Spirit. I'm going to stop there today. We'll talk more about the Holy Spirit and what it did and the changes that it made in the church going forward and some other things tomorrow as well. Well, let's read Acts 2, verse 38, because as that New Testament church began, and the apostles went out and they began to speak to the people, and they gave the witness of Jesus Christ, and they spoke boldly, and they spoke with power, and they spoke with authority, and they spoke with surety and conviction. When they heard the people who God opened their minds to understand, they wondered, what will we do? In verse 37. Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.

Amen.