Pentecost

We've already touched on the fact that one week from tomorrow is an annual festival, the Feast of Pentecost. And you know, that festival marks one of the most important occasions in the past and the future of the people of God, of the Church of God. That particular festival. We touched on the fact in the first message, what's the greatest gift? And, brethren, there is no greater gift than the gift of God's Holy Spirit. And yet, that festival that's coming, that Feast of Pentecost, really, it's actually a lot older than the Church, which began approximately 31 A.D. when that spirit was poured out. But that festival goes back prior to that. And it was actually preached a long time ago, preached to God's people, taught, commanded, and observed by the children of Israel way back long before 31 A.D. And yet, as important as this particular coming day is, there are a lot of Christians out there that don't even observe it. In fact, they're not even aware, most likely, a lot of them, on June 8th, of an annual Holy Day that's going to be kept, that is a very, very important day for them as well. And yet, we can't be too overly critical, because there was a time when we were not aware of that date either. But God has opened our eyes and our minds to it.

The Feast of Pentecost actually transcends the meaning, in a sense, that it had to the children of Israel.

It actually transcends that meaning, and it has Christian meaning. In fact, all of God's days, festival days, have Christian meaning to them. It wasn't long ago we rehearsed the Feast of Passover, the Festival of Passover. And what that meant, it talked about the death of the firstborn, but actually it referred to Jesus Christ, didn't it, as the death of the firstborn son of God.

And that after death, he would be the firstborn, Spirit-born son of God, the first among many brethren that were going to follow. And then we went on to the Days of Eleven Bread, and some of the things that it pictures. And among other things, it pictures the examining of ourselves to find out some of the things that remain within our hearts and minds that need to be changed.

And that's there. And that we're to come out of that. To come out of that slavery, that bondage, to come out of the world, if you will. And some of those things we rehearsed in the Days of Eleven Bread. And near the end of his physical life, Jesus Christ told his disciples something very interesting or noteworthy.

He said, you know, he said, Be of good cheer. He said, I have overcome the world. And then he tells you and I to be overcomers as well. To come out of this world and to look at ourselves as well and the world that's there in us to come out of that as well or to put it out. And those are all part of the meanings of the Days of Eleven Bread. In fact, even at the very beginning, God told Cain, just before he slew his own brother, he murdered his own brother, God told Cain, you know what?

Your countenance has changed. Sin lies at the door. He hadn't sinned yet, but he was close. He said, sin lies at the door, but you can rule it. He said, you can rule it.

That's back in Genesis, our first family, human family. He said, you can rule over it. But how is that done? Well, the next Holy Day, the Feast of Pentecost, touches on some of that, and it addresses this. We're going to begin to see as we begin to focus on the Feast of Pentecost that it begins to shed light on this and the Holy Spirit as a helper, as a helper to be able to help us. It plays a major role in us in helping us to overcome and rule sin.

Let's begin to see and understand how God began revealing the Day of Pentecost and its meaning a long time ago, as we'll come to see from Scripture. We're going to come to see today, and this is our focus. It's a little bit more of a basic message today, but it's something that's very important. We're going to focus on the fact that Pentecost has to do with a spiritual harvest. The title of the message today is just that, is Pentecost in Spiritual Harvest of God. Today, let's rehearse. We talk about Leviticus 23, these annual days, that God says, these are my feasts and they are holy convocations.

That word convocation means being convoked together and to rehearse about something that's going to happen in the future. The reality of something that's going to happen in the future, we rehearse. So let's rehearse some basic meanings today. What we're going to take a look at from Scripture is how God used a simple agricultural concept to help us to understand something that's profound. He takes a simple agricultural concept to help us to understand that something that's almost too unbelievable to fully grasp and comprehend. That this little understood, at least it was for most of us in the past and Christianity at large, this little understood festival of Pentecost or firstfruits, as it's also known, explains a great mystery.

A great mystery about the plan of God that many do not understand today. That it's having to do with a feast or a harvest, not a physical harvest of grain, but a spiritual harvest of people. Let's turn to Exodus 23, verse 14, as we begin here. Exodus 23, verse 14. Let's look at the origin of this festival of firstfruits, as it's also known. Feast of firstfruits. Now, as we turn to Exodus 23, verse 14, the context here is that God has just recently given the Ten Commandments to them.

And then He commands Israel the following in Exodus 23, verse 14. He says, three times or seasons, as it could also be rendered, three times or seasons, you shall keep a feast to me in the year. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days, as I commanded you at the time appointed in the month of Habib. And for in it you came out of Egypt. So we rehearsed that already. Egypt typifies sin. God's people begin to become out of a way of life that they had lived before.

And then He goes on in verse 16 and He says, and the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field. So, you know, we read what we sow. And so God says, when you come into this Promised Land, I want you to keep... And notice this is another name for the Feast of Pentecost. He calls it the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field. And then He goes on to say, and the Feast of In-Gathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruits of your labors from the field. So these are two different festivals. The first one, the Feast of Harvest, is the Feast of Pentecost. There was an early harvest at that time in Palestine and it was barley. That's when the barley just began to be ready. It was the first grain that was available to be harvested at that time of the year. Excuse me, I'm misleading you. The Feast of Harvest was a wheat harvest that was later on. That was about this time of the year in Palestine. There was an earlier harvest of barley, but this harvest was a harvest of wheat. So this Feast of Harvest, also known as the Feast of Firstfruits or the Feast of Weeks, the Israelites would gather the firstfruits of the late spring wheat harvest. A month later, they would celebrate another harvest festival, the Festival of In-Gathering, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. This was at the summer's end when there would be a greater harvest of various fruits and vegetables. So, brethren, what God is wanting us to understand is that as he opens up our eyes, or as we rehearse these things, these festivals were commanded because of what God intended us to learn from them.

They're not just commanded because they're blessings of an agricultural harvest in the Holy Land, but he is celebrating and teaching us something a lot more profound. They actually transcend a physical agricultural harvest, and they're pointing to a spiritual harvest of people.

Let's consider a statement from the book of Acts back in Acts 2, verse 1. We'll go back to the New Testament here, because this Feast of Pentecost is found throughout Scripture, both Old and New Testament. Acts 2, verse 1. The context here is, it is the day of Pentecost. Jesus Christ has told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and to wait for a while because there's going to be a promise that's going to come from the Father.

Which you've heard from me. So let's notice Acts 2, verse 1. It says, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they, that's referring to the disciples of Christ, were all in one accord and they were in one place. So let's review and establish some basic facts first. The fact that Jesus Christ's disciples were there on the day of Pentecost is beyond dispute.

Everyone agrees with that in the Scripture. And for all their lives, the disciples had kept the Feast of Weeks. They kept the Feast of First Fruits and Pentecost. And there's nothing that Jesus Christ had taught that would make them change from that thought. In fact, Christ told them to assemble and to be there. Now, there's one unique thing about the Feast of Pentecost that's different from the other annual six festivals. It's unique only to the Feast of Pentecost. The other six festivals all are on a specified date in Scripture, aren't they? On the other six, God says, on a certain day of a certain month, you shall keep this Feast. But that's not true with the Feast of Pentecost. It's unique in that way. And that's what's unique about this. There's no specified date of Pentecost. So then, how do you know when Pentecost fully has come? How do you know? Well, do we pull out our pocket, you know? Do we pull out our pocket Holy Day calendar? And that's how we know? No, brethren, I think we know. God tells us in Scripture, most of us know this, that we have to count. That we have to count, don't we? So, brethren, we know this, but what Scriptures would we turn to? What Scriptures come to mind right now when you think about if somebody says, how do you know when Pentecost has come? How do you know when it's fully arrived? How did they know? How do we know?

Let's review some of that basic information today, because God's Word says we have to count. Let's notice Leviticus 23, verse 9. Leviticus 23, verse 9.

The Scriptures say we have to count, but where do you start? And where do you end? Well, God's Word, of course, tells us. Leviticus 23, verse 9. Of course, Leviticus 23 covers all seven of God's annual festivals. And in this context, he's discussing the days of 11 bread when he says the following. Verse 9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, and he said, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you come into the land which I am going to give to you, and you reap its harvest, so we understand agriculture is involved here in reaping of a harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. Now, what's a sheaf? You know, if you and I were to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of our harvest, what would we bring? Well, a sheaf is actually a few stalks of grain that have been bound up with some cord or something. And you may have seen them, if you can imagine this in the field, sometimes you're driving down the road, and you'll see several sheafs. They kind of stand up on end, and then they're tied in the middle, and sometimes they have this kind of look to them, an hourglass look with a rope that's tied that keeps them. And that's just a few bundles of that grain. That's what a sheaf is. And so it says here in verse number 10, that God says to his people, When you come into this Promised Land that I'm giving to you, and you reap its first harvest of the year, which would be the barley harvest in this case, then you shall bring a sheaf of that firstfruits to the priest. What's the priest going to do? He's going to wave it before God. He waves it before the Lord. Now, when you look at wave, you may think, well, you're waving at somebody.

But that's not what that means here. In the wave, it's not horizontal. It's actually lifting it up. You're waving it that way, and you're presenting it before God. And so it's up in the air, not back and forth, but they lift it up. Verse 11, he shall lift up or wave this sheaf before the Lord. Notice, to be accepted on your behalf. Now, what does that mean? To be accepted on your behalf. Well, we'll cover that here as we go along. So, during the days of Unleavened Bread, on the day after the weekly Sabbath that falls during the days of Unleavened Bread, that next day is Sunday, a morning the priest would wave a sheaf of grain that had been cut. I'm going to read it from the New Living Translation here, verse 10 and 11 here, in the New Living Translation. Same scriptures that we've been reading here in the New King James. It says, give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land that I'm giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain. That's the sheaf. Bring the priest a bundle of grain from that first cutting of the harvest. On the day after the Sabbath, which would be, of course, the first day of the week, a Sunday, the priest will lift it up before the Lord. Interesting that it's a very, very good translation here, in this particular case. You're going to lift it up before the Lord so that it may be accepted on your behalf. No, brethren, at the time in the area of Palestine, again, that barley was just maturing. And so it was the very first cutting, that first sheaf that would be offered to God. And again, this is during the days of 11 bread. Now, why is this important? Why is this important? Because that is the day, well, it's important for many reasons, but in the context of counting, that is the day that the count begins. Of counting. Let's drop down to verse number 14. It says, You shall eat neither bread, nor parched dry grain, nor fresh grain, until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God, that shall be a statute forever in your generations, in all your dwellings. So the idea was, is before you eat any of that first harvest, before you eat any of those first crops, you couldn't eat any of it. You know, whether you were going to make bread out of it, whether you were going to have some kind of other food item, however you were going to use it, they were not to do anything with it until that first offering of that first fruit of the new year had been made to God. And again, this is all happening on that day after the Sabbath during the days of 11 bread. So stay with me here, because these details are important when we begin to cover some New Testament scriptures. Verse 15, and now we get to talk about counting when things start.

And then notice, you're going to offer a new grain offering. So there's already been a grain offering here back during the days of 11 bread. And then after that Sabbath, that Sunday, after the days of 11, during the days of 11 bread, 50 days later, there is another grain offering to God. And what's this picturing? Well, we're going to talk about that today. Verse 17, verse 16, count 50 days to the day after the 7th Sabbath, and you shall offer a new grain offering. And you shall bring from your dwellings two wavelengths of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be a fine flower. They shall also be baked with leaven. Now, the other offering was an unleavened offering. That happened during the days of 11 bread, 50 days prior, wasn't it? That had to be an unleavened offering. But this one is a leavened offering. And of course, that is going to picture something as well. We'll come back to this verse later on in the sermon. But they shall be a fine flower. They shall be baked with leaven. And notice, they are the first fruits to God. So these are first fruits as well. The one 50 days prior was the first almost of the first fruits. And then 50 days later, these two wavelengths are also first fruits to God. Let's jump to verse number 21. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation. So that Sunday, that 50 days later, that Sunday, which is in God's calendar coming up this June 8th, is a holy convocation to you. It's an annual Sabbath. You'll do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your generations. So this festival we're talking about, this Pentecost, is itself a holy day. And it is the day after the seventh Sabbath, as it says in verse number 16. It falls on the first day of the week. And you shall count, going back to verse number 15, for yourselves. From the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheep of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be completed.

Count 50 days, verse 16, to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Now, brethren, this is important. On that day in verse number 15, day one, from the count of 50, day one, when you first bring that sheep of grain, and it was offered to God on the day after the Sabbath, a Sunday during the days of all 11 bread, is the first day that Jesus Christ's disciples saw Him alive. Think about that. Remember that? You know, the Messiah was cut off in the midst of the week on a Wednesday, and they got Him into the grave just before sunset, because that next day was a high day. It was a Thursday.

And then, when did Jesus Christ appear to His disciples, when did He appear to Mary? It was on a Sunday, wasn't it? First day of the week. During the Sabbath, excuse me, the day after the Sabbath that falls during the days of 11 bread.

Brethren, all along, though, all along, and from the beginning, this first agricultural harvest, this first fruit, this wave sheaf looked forward to the time when Jesus Christ would fulfill that. That He would be offered to His Father, ascend to His Father, be accepted on our behalf as a Savior, as a Redeemer, as a Savior, actually, of all mankind. And it pictured the beginning of a spiritual harvest.

It pictured the beginning of a spiritual harvest, but Jesus Christ being the first human being to be spiritually harvested by the Father.

You know, the first fruits are the first agricultural products to ripen, to mature, and throughout the Bible, God uses this analogy, particularly of Pentecost, and the first fruits to illustrate important aspects of His plan of salvation.

And yet, this hasn't been understood by many, many people. Now, let's go a little deeper here. You know, this feast has various names, several names for exactly the same Holy Day. We've already seen the Feast of Harvest, the Feast of First Fruits. We've seen the Feast of Weeks. And, you know, I think it's pretty plain why it might be called the Feast of Weeks, because you have to count.

You've got seven Sabbaths to count, fifty days, seven Sabbaths, in a sense, these Feasts of Weeks. So, it makes sense why that would be. But I think what isn't well understood is why the term Feast of First Fruits is because that is really what that Feast is all about. First Fruits. You know, for those of you that garden, you know how excited you are when those first fruits start to come.

You're anticipating that. You know, you've done all this work, all of your labors, and you anticipate those first fruits. Wow! God the Father is no different. In this spiritual harvest of the first fruits of Pentecost pictures, He is anticipating. Just like you and I do. You know, when that first, imagine your garden, you know, when that first tomato starts to ripen, or those cucumbers, or all of the different, you know, the peas, the corn, or whatever it is. You anticipate that too, of the things that you've sown. And God is no different, brother. We're in His image. We're just like Him. We're just like Him. Alright, so let's go some deeper into now a little bit of some of the Christian connection with all this. Because it's not just for the children of Israel. It wasn't an agricultural harvest alone. It was talking about the transcendent that it was much, much deeper than that. And to understand the connection, we've got to cast our minds back to Passover for a moment when Christ died, but even more specifically to the day when He first appeared to His disciples alive from the dead. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. You can see the resurrection of Christ is a pivotal event in God's dealing with mankind. Now, surprisingly, His resurrection was a controversy in the early church. And the Apostle Paul has to address this topic here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. For some reason, it seemed like Corinth was a hotbed for a lot of different religious ideas, a lot of different thoughts. And there was a controversy here. There was some doctrinal discussion. I mean, somebody was coming up with a new idea or wrinkle about things all the time. And somebody had come up, even as strange as it sounds, somebody had come up with an idea that there was no resurrection from the dead. So let's take a look at this because Paul had to address this. There were people who did not believe in a resurrection, and Paul is having to deal with us here. Let's pick it up in verse number 3 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 3. Paul said, For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day. Rose again means a resurrection. It's another way of saying he was raised from the dead. It was a resurrection. He rose again the third day according, by the way, to the Scriptures. You know, it's part of the Gospel. I don't know how a Christian can go without this knowledge that Christ died. He was buried, and he was resurrected. Paul is saying. And verse 5, And then Christ was seen by Cephas, and then by the twelve. And then after that, he was seen by over 500 people. People that had known that he died, that he had been resurrected on a stake, that he had been buried. And now, all of a sudden, they see him alive. 500 people at once saw him alive, of whom some have fallen asleep. So some of the 500 had died, at least literally, possibly figuratively. And verse 7, And after this he was seen by James, and then by all the apostles.

And then, last of all, he was seen by me also. Paul said, I saw him alive as well.

Last of all, he was seen by me as one born out of due time. Verse 9, For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I had persecuted the true people of God. I had persecuted the church, is what he says.

Let's go on to verse number 10.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain, because I have labored more abundantly than they all, and yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach. We're preaching, whether it be the others or whether it be me, we're preaching, and so you have come to believe.

And he starts to address things in verse 12. Now, if Christ is preached that he's been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? Paul's saying, hey, wait a minute. If you believe because of our preaching, and we preach that Christ was raised from the dead, how is it now that some of you are saying that he did not be resurrected from the dead?

Verse 13. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, if Christ hasn't been spiritually harvested and is alive, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ isn't risen.

And if Christ isn't risen, then our preaching doesn't mean anything. It's empty. And your faith is also empty.

I don't think a lot of us understand sometimes that our life is really the life of Christ that enables us to have life. The living Christ, raised from the dead, is what makes our salvation possible. You know, we can be forgiven of our sins because of his death. We can be reconciled to God because of his death. But as it says in Romans 5 and 10, we are saved by his life.

So it's very important that Christ was raised from the dead. Very important.

So, Paul says, your faith is pointless if Christ was not raised from the dead. If he's not alive, then your faith is futile.

Verse 15, not only that, but then we're found to be liars. He says yes, and we're found to be false witnesses because we have testified on behalf of God that God did raise him from the dead.

And apparently, if he didn't, though, we're found to be liars. If in fact the dead don't rise.

Or if the dead don't rise, then Christ is not risen. Well, Paul really spends a lot of time on this, doesn't he? He's really trying to drive this nail all the way in to make sure everybody understands.

Verse 17, if Christ is not risen, then your faith is futile and you're still in your sins.

So our life depends on Christ being raised from the dead.

Verse 18, and then Paul goes on to say, you're still in your sins. Verse 18, then all those who have fallen asleep in Christ have died. They've perished. That's it.

If Christ hasn't been risen from the dead, if he hasn't been spiritually harvested back to life, then we have no hope.

And we are of all men most pitiable.

But now he comes to the point that I really want to focus here in verse number 20, what we're looking for.

But he says, but now Christ is risen from the dead and he has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Brethren, this reference to Christ being the first fruits is no accident. It is definitely connected with the feast of first fruits.

It's connected with that. It's deliberate. It's connected. Verse 21, for since by man came death, by 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 one in his own order, Christ the first fruits, he kind of ties into that early barley harvest during the days of 11 bread, and afterward those who are Christ's at his coming.

Brethren, stay with me here on this because we're going to realize that there's a comparison here to that offering of the first fruits. You couldn't harvest any grain until you had that first sheep that was done.

You couldn't harvest until that first sheep had been offered to God.

And so Christ had to be the first of the first fruits presented before God before any of the rest of us could be harvested.

He had to be resurrected first.

Now, when we understand that 1 Corinthians chapter 15 was written during the Passover time, you know, days of 11 bread, and Paul writes very naturally, fits all of this in here, it's during the season of the first fruits when he's writing this book, and Paul seems to use the term very, very naturally here. And I really, it's more important than that.

Now, at the end of this Sabbath, during the days of 11 bread, after Christ had died, there was a small band of men that made their way down near the temple, Mount, where there were probably several sheaths of grain, the first grain that had been harvested. And they picked one. They went over to one of these sheaths, one of the first ones, and they picked one waved sheath of the grain. And he was to take an omer, a basket of grain, to the temple area and wave it before God to present it as a gift of God to God on behalf of the people.

So it would be offered to God.

Now, we're going to come back to 1 Corinthians 15, but let's go over to John 20, verse 11, just for a moment. John 20, verse 11.

For the early that morning, during the time in the first century, during the time of Christ, during the days of 11 bread, when these men were going to make that offering on the day after the Sabbath, during the days of 11 bread, they were going to make this waved sheath offering. During that same morning, that Sunday after the Sabbath, during the days of 11 bread, Jesus Christ made his first appearance to among all people at that time. It was Mary Magdalene.

She'd come up with standing outside the tomb. Let's go ahead and read it. And she probably had no idea at this time of a resurrection. It wasn't even a thought that was floating around in her mind.

Let's pick it up in verse 11 of John, chapter 20. But Mary stood outside of the tomb, and she was crying. She was weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down, and she looked into the tomb. You can imagine that the situation. Here you're going inside the tomb, you're stooping down, and you're looking inside the tomb. And what does she see? She sees two angels. Two angels, one sitting at the head of where his body had been, one sitting at the feet of where his body had been. And then one of the angels says to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said, because they've taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they've laid him. Now, when she said this, she turned around, and she saw Jesus. But she didn't know it was him.

She didn't recognize him. She supposed that it was the gardener. And so she turns around, and she sees somebody standing there, and she says, Sir, if you've carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. And then this who she perceived to be the gardener, it was Jesus. Suddenly Jesus called her name and said, Mary. And she realized who it was. She realized it was Christ. It was Jesus. She turned to him, and she said, Rabboni, which is to say, teacher. So she understood now who this was. And then Jesus says something to her, very noteworthy. He says, Don't cling to me. Don't touch me, in other words. For I have not yet ascended to my Father. I've not yet been raised up. I've not yet been offered as a wave-sheaf. I've not yet fulfilled that part of what Leviticus 23 was saying all along. That it wasn't a sheaf of grain. We're talking about a spiritual harvest that was about to begin. Jesus Christ being spiritually raised from the dead. He's the first born son of God. He says, I've not yet been offered to my Father. And then he goes on to say, but what I do want you to do is I want you to go to my brethren. And I want you to say to them, I'm ascending to my Father and to your Father. I'm ascending to my God and your God. So Jesus is telling Mary that he has not yet ascended to the Father. He's not yet been presented as the wave-sheaf. He's not yet been lifted up to God.

Brethren, when is this happening? When is all this happening? Again, it's happening during the days of 11 bread. It's happening on that day after the Sabbath that falls during the day of 11 bread, on that first day of the week. It's happening on a Sunday. So the actual fulfillment of Christ of these days helps us to understand how all of this works. Now, kind of a side note, but do you notice the humility of Jesus Christ? Here he's about ready to be harvested as the first-born Son of God, with many brethren to eventually come later on. But the humility of him here, you know, go to my brothers, go to my sisters, go to my brethren, and say, I have not yet ascended to my God and to your God, to my Father and to your Father. There's no exaltation here that I'm the first. I'm pretty cool, you know? That type of thing. No, that at all. I'm just the first. And you're my brothers and sisters. The Father's my God, He's also your God. Very, very much a humility here. Same God, same family. We're in this together. So the presumption is, at the very moment that the wave sheep was being offered by these men that had taken that first wave sheep and gone to the Temple Mount and offered it to God, the presumption is, at the same time, Jesus Christ was being offered as the wave sheep to God, the Father. Verse 19 says later on, on that same evening, so this is later on that same day, first day of the week, that evening, so the first day of the week is probably close to being over, but it's still close to that day. It says, when the doors were shut, the disciples were assembled together for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, peace be with you. And when He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. And so He said, it's okay to touch me now. He'd already been offered to God. And now He'd come back down later that day towards evening. So He'd already been offered as the wave sheep.

Brethren, as simple as this is, God uses a simple agricultural concept to help us understand something much, much bigger, much, much more fascinating, a spiritual harvest of people. And that's been His transcendent message right from the beginning. It wasn't really talking about physical grain being offered to God. It was talking about a spiritual harvest of human beings. Let's notice John 12, verse 23.

John 12, verse 23. We talk about Jesus Christ being the first spiritually harvested human being. He was the Son of Man as well as the Son of God. John 12, verse 23. We know that that wave sheep pictured the spiritual harvest of the first of the first fruits, Jesus Christ. From Scripture we know that. Let's notice what it says here in John 12, verse 23. That ties into this very well. It says, But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. So He's near the time of the fact He's going to die, but then be glorified. It says, The hour has come.

Verse 24. And I'm telling you the truth, and I say to you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and it dies, it remains alone. So it doesn't go into the ground. If it doesn't die, it's going to remain alone. But He said, But if it dies, in other words, if it falls into the ground, it's going to produce much grain. That's got to be planted, doesn't it? In order to produce. So you see, He's again talking about an agricultural concept to help us to understand the spiritual reality.

Verse 25. He who loves his life will lose it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also. And brethren, he's our life. He's our life. Jesus Christ is our life. If anyone serves me, him, my Father will honor. So we know the very first of the first fruits. The wave sheep pictures Jesus Christ.

Let's go back to Leviticus 23 and verse 15. We come back there. Let's go ahead and go back there. Leviticus 23 and verse 15. And now we'll talk about that second harvest that comes 50 days after that wave sheep. Leviticus 23 verse 15. Because although it did have to do with an agricultural harvest, it also has to do with you and me.

Leviticus 23 and verse 15. And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheep of the wave offering. So that's day one of the 50-day count is when the sheep is offered. You shall count from there. Seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall offer a new grain offering.

Now what is that picture? Verse 17. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves. So there are going to be two wave loaves that are going to be offered up to God. And at that time, 50 days after this first offering was made.

And notice, they shall be of two tenths of an ephile. They shall be of fine flower. They shall be baked with leaven. But we know what leaven pictures. Leaven pictures sin. And so basically what God is saying here is that this is going to be an offering which God is going to accept. But it's not perfect. It's not perfect. And for those of you that have been around for a while, you've probably heard some speculation about what do these two wave loaves represent.

What do they represent? Well, we believe that they, of course, we know that they have to do with the firstfruits because it says they are the firstfruits of the Lord. So they're talking about a harvest of spirit beings, a harvest of human beings, to spirit life. We have speculated that it could be the church and the wilderness, children of Israel. Some of them are going to be part of the firstfruits. We know people like David and Moses and Noah and the New Testament church. So the church and the wilderness or the New Testament church under the Old Covenant, one hand under the New Covenant, the other.

There's been speculation it has to do with the Jews or the Israelites and the Gentiles, that they will all be part of this first harvest. One loaf of the other. But most definitely, brethren, God willing, you and I will be at least one of these two loaves that are being offered to God at this time and in this context. And so, brethren, as it goes on to say here, let's jump to verse number 20, it says, The priests shall wave them, so there's more than one, there's two loaves, the priests shall wave them in the same way as, you know, upward, not back and forth, with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord with two lambs, they shall be holy to the Lord.

Brethren, can you imagine, God says, even though we're imperfect, even though we have leavens still in our hearts and our minds, we're not completely de-leaven, God accepts us and we are considered holy to Him. Isn't that inspiring to think about? It says, they shall be holy to the Lord for the priests. So that's pretty exciting to think about. Okay, so we've talked about the spiritual harvest here of the wave sheep during the days of 11 pictures Christ. Now, the second firstfruits that are offered during Pentecost has to do with the Church of God.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 35. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 35. Again, Paul is still addressing in this chapter that some are thinking there is no resurrection. Well, that's very, very important. We definitely need a Jesus Christ to be raised from the dead, for He is our life. Without that, we're in trouble. And so He was the first spiritual harvest of God.

But now He begins to address others as well, the firstfruits, the rest of the firstfruits, which are the people of God here. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 35. But someone's going to say, okay, if there is a resurrection, okay, someone's going to say, well, then how are they raised up? How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Notice the agricultural tie-in again. Foolish one, verse 36. What you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

And what you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but you're sowing mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain. Again, God's trying to use the agricultural concept to understand the spiritual concept. Verse 38. God is going to give it a body. And He's going to give it a body as He pleases. And you know, God does a pretty good job with what He does.

He's a very much of a perfectionist. God is going to give it a body as He pleases. And to each seed its own body. We're going to be planted, if you will, in the ground when we die. But our body that comes up is going to be different. Verse 39. All flesh isn't the same flesh. There's one kind of flesh of men. There's another flesh of animals. There's another fish, another flesh of birds.

There's also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. But the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There's one glory of the sun. There's another glory of the moon. Another glory of the stars. For even the stars differ from one another in glory.

Notice, in the same way is the resurrection of the dead, in this harvest of people. It says, so is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption. More ways than one, brethren. We'll be old and decrepit on one hand and we still won't be spiritually unleavened completely on the other.

But that body is going to be sown in corruption. But it is going to be raised incorruptible, unleavened spiritually and in the spiritual power via the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit. It's going to be done, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, as he says in the Old Testament.

Let's go on. Verse number 43. It is sown in dishonor. It's raised in glory. It's sown in weakness. But it's raised in power. It is sown a natural body, a fleshly body, in other words. But it's going to be raised a spiritual body. It's going to be harvested in that sense.

There is a natural body. And boy, we know that. And there is a spiritual body. And we have not yet experienced that.

Verse 45. And so it's written. The first man, which we know is Adam, he became a living being. But the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Oh, Christ is a life-giving spirit. He needed to have been harvested. He needed to be raised. You know, when they said Christ hasn't been raised from the dead, well then there's no way that we could have life. Because He is a life-giving spirit.

We're given eternal life through Jesus Christ. The Father designed it that way. Verse 46. However, the spiritual is not first. Don't you wish it was sometimes? Okay. It is not first. But the natural is first. That's the way God designed it. He knows what He's doing.

And then afterwards, then there is the spiritual.

Verse 47. The first man was of the earth. Adam was of the earth. He was made of dust. But the second Adam, not made of dust. He's from heaven. The Lord from heaven.

And as was the man of dust, so also those who are made of dust. That's you and me. But as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. So we'll be in His image.

Verse 49. And as we born the image of the man of dust, we shall in the future also bear the image of the heavenly man. We're talking about a spiritual harvest, aren't we? And how God's going to do it. The first fruits.

How is God's Holy Spirit involved in all this?

This greatest gift that we heard about in the first message. How is the Holy Spirit of God involved in this spiritual harvest? Let's turn over to Romans chapter 8 and verse 11. Romans chapter 8 and verse number 11.

I'm going to touch on this a little bit. I'm going to raise some questions that hopefully will answer on the day of Pentecost. Romans chapter 8 and verse number 11. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead, it was the Father, wasn't it? The Father raised Jesus from the dead by His Spirit, by the power of God's Spirit.

It says right here, verse 11, that if the Spirit of the Father who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead is also going to give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit. Boy, that's a pretty important gift. He's going to...we're going to be raised from the dead from the Spirit of God. We're going to be harvested through His Spirit. If it dwells in us, as it says in the latter part of verse 11, verse 12, understanding this therefore, brethren, we're debtors. We are debtors. Not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, because if we live according to the flesh, then we're going to die. We're not going to have eternal life. So, we're debtors. Not to live according to the flesh. For verse 13, if you live according to the flesh, you'll die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, then you're going to live. So, we need God's Spirit to help us to live the right way of life. Verse 14, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God. So, we heard about that in the first message. God's Spirit leads us. Doesn't push us. Doesn't twist your arm and say, you've got to do this. No. It's there as a leader. As Christ said, follow me.

Then we also have to follow the lead of the Spirit of God. That gift that He's given to those of us that have committed to God and have received it through baptism and the laying out of hands.

Verse 14, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God. These are the sons of God. God's sons and daughters follow the lead of the Spirit that He's given. That dwells in you, as it says earlier. Verse 15, For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage. No. That's not what the Spirit is. It's not a Spirit of bondage. So that we could fear, but you have received a Spirit of adoption. Or as it could be better rendered, sonship. You've received a Spirit from a father. A gift from a father to a son and a daughter. That's what you've been given. It's a Spirit of sonship, which now He says, You are my son. You are my daughter. Of whom we cry, Abba, which is a term of endearment. Abba, like daddy. We cry, Abba, Father. Verse 16, the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit. So there's a Spirit that we have. There's a Spirit in man. You haven't been baptized yet. You haven't received a gift of Holy Spirit. There's a Spirit in you that God's given to you. It's not the Holy Spirit. But it says, verse 16, the Spirit itself bears witness with our Spirit, then, that now we are the children of God. And if children, then we're heirs. Heirs of the one who has the most that anyone could possibly ever have. The most powerful being that exists, that has all these gifts. Whether it be the gift of the Holy Spirit, whether it be the gift of wisdom that he gave to Solomon, whether it be the gift of understanding. God is the bearer of these types of things. Heirs of God, enjoint heirs with Christ, which we've talked about, if indeed we suffer with Him.

So that's a role that we may have to do, that we may also be, future, glorified together. You know, how often did Jesus Christ often use this harvest metaphor as well? Remember the time when He was talking with His disciples and He says, you know, He says to them one day, don't look and say there are four months to the harvest. You know, I'm telling you, pray that the laborers would be sent for the harvest because the fields are ripe for harvest. You know, He's not talking about a physical harvest, was He? He's talking about a spiritual harvest, wasn't He? So He used that metaphor. He's talking about harvest of people for the family of God, for the King of God.

Brethren, hopefully this has been some basic review, but you know, we need to know. We need to really have it encompassed in our mind. We need to know how to count. When you know, we've got to go back to Leviticus chapter 23 of When Do We Start? When do we end? What does the wave sheep picture? What do the two loaves picture? You know, they're offered as well. And they're symbolic, aren't they, of the remainder of the first fruits? You've got the first of the first fruits, Jesus Christ, and then there's some other remainder of first fruits. And then there's the feast of in-gathering at the end of the year, another harvest. Another harvest. Now, they're not called the first fruits. They're not. They're called something different. But it's a harvest. We follow this theme of harvest of God. It helps us take a very simple thing, to help us to understand something really important. We can begin to understand what God really has been doing all along. Let's turn to James chapter 1, verse 18. James chapter 1, verse 18. The Day of Pentecost represents, it's called a feast of harvest. It's a harvest of first fruits. Saints of God, or first fruits, will rise or will be harvested to meet Christ in the year and return with Him to rule the earth. Jesus was the first of the first fruits. Christians then, and possibly others in the Old Testament, will be the remainder of these first fruits. James chapter 1, verse 18. James chapter 1, verse 18.

Want to know what God's will is? Of His own will, He brought us forth. Birthed us, as what some translations say, He birthed us by the word of truth. It's a living word of God. It can change our lives. He birthed us by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. These saints or Christians will be the first spiritual harvest of God into His family and His kingdom. So, brethren, as we close here, a little shorter message today. I just want to get you to be thinking about this. God uses a simple agricultural concept to teach us something very, very profound. He's not talking about the harvest of grain. He's not talking about the harvest of barley. He's not talking about a harvest of wheat.

He's not talking about the harvest of fruits and vegetables at the end gathering at the end of the year, because the grains came early, the fruits and vegetables came later.

He's talking about the harvest of people, a miraculous change of a person, the flaws with imperfections with human nature. He's talking about a harvest, a change of people, a transformation of people into a spirit being with the divine nature and with a character like the fathers. Brethren, how's this going to be done? How is this going to be done? How does God's Spirit transform us? How does that work?

What role does it play? What role do we have in responding to the lead of the Holy Spirit?

Well, those are all good questions. And we're going to talk about them on the day of Pentecost.