A Season of Firstfruit Harvest

Well, brethren, we have arrived here at the Feast of Pentecost. We've approached it with a great bit of anticipation, I would say, because we've been counting. Right? From the time that the wave sheaf was lifted up during the days of 111 bread, we have now counted. And you're closing in. It's 48, it's 49, and today it's 50. And the Feast of Pentecost has arrived. And that is, after all, what Pentecost means in the Greek, it means 50th, or 50th day. And it's based upon the biblical instructions to count 50. It's found in Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 16. You know, this makes Pentecost a bit different from the other festivals of God. This is not something that occurs on a set date, although it will always be on a morrow after the Sabbath, a Sunday. But we count 50 days from a specific point, and we arrive here then. At a day that is holy. It's holy to God. It's holy to Jesus Christ as it has been established, and it is holy for us as we assemble together and worship before God and observe the significance of this day. This is a day of reflection. Actually, a time to think about where we've come from. Actually, we can go back to Passover and through the holy days up to this point and reflect on where we are in this annual plan of salvation that, you know, God has brought for us to walk through each year, where we are in this timeline. We can reflect upon where we're going from here. It's a time of gratitude unto our God for His manifold blessings towards us.

First message has already ventured into the topic of the wonderful gift that was poured out through the giving of the Holy Spirit. And indeed, we should be grateful and rejoice in this day and what is portrayed by it. And it's also a day of worship. We've responded to the God's call. We've come together today in assembly, and we're singing songs of praise. We're delving into His Word, and we're in our heart and spirit worshiping before Him. In addition, this day of Pentecost is ultimately a day of harvest. This day is a day of harvest. In fact, all 50 days that we've been counting from the time the wave sheath was lifted up during the days of 111 bread to this very day, and I hope we've been keeping track. Maybe it wasn't every single day, but for me at least it was Sabbath to Sabbath. It was kind of a focal point to come back and say the second Sabbath, the third Sabbath. We are in a season, as we've walked up to this day, a season of harvest, 50 days since that wave sheath was lifted up. And it's a reflection, this season, of the first fruit harvest which took place in ancient Israel over the course of those days. You recall the harvest didn't begin until that sheath was cut and then was waved and accepted before God, and then the harvest began.

I'm going to hammer home this concept today of a harvest throughout the message, and if you get nothing else from my message, what I would like for you to take with you is this is a feast. This is a season of harvest, and that is indeed my title today, a season of first fruit harvest.

It is what we are in the midst of as the people of God, and not just because it is this feast day, but actually because it is the age in which we live. We're living in an age and a season of the first fruit harvest. Now, besides the name Pentecost, representing the 50 days of the first fruit harvest, this day also is referred to by other names in the Bible as well. It is the Feast of Weeks, as described in Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 16, and Deuteronomy 16 verse 16, the Feast of Weeks, referring again to the counting that takes place from the wave sheaf up to this day. But again, the focus of what's happening during that time is what is tied directly to the counting. It's also referred to in the Bible as the Feast of Harvest, the Feast of Harvest in Exodus chapter 23 and verse 16. And it is the day of first fruits, as referenced in Numbers chapter 28 and verse 26, the day of first fruits. So all of these names are rooted in the description of this day and the emphasis as a harvest festival, and indeed all these names, even the ones that are tied to counting, point to the harvest and the season. Again, this festival then that we're now, it's the culmination of what all these days have pointed to in the counting. We're here, but it is the emphasis and the focus as it has been all along. Again, this feast was tied to the early summer wheat harvest in Israel. In Old Testament times, they were to observe this day by making an offering of first fruits to God. First fruit harvest had taken place, and they take the first fruits and other things that they were to combine with that, and an offering was made to God, an offering of the first fruits on this day. Let's begin by turning to Leviticus chapter 23, by way of introduction, and see the instructions that God gave to ancient Israel regarding the observance of this day. And then we're going to turn our attention forward towards the modern application of this harvest festival and what it means for the Church of God today.

But Leviticus chapter 23, this is still a foundational point that we would focus on during this feast, even as New Covenant Christians, because the emphasis in the symbolism is contained here. Leviticus chapter 23 and beginning in verse 15, and it says, "...and you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheath of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be completed." It says, "...count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath, then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord." So this was actually a special offering. You didn't just dig into the back of the storehouse and pull out some of last year's grain to pull together and offer this offering to God. This was a new grain offering of the first fruits harvest now that is being brought forward and presented to him. Verse 17, "...you shall bring from your dwellings two wave lobes of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flower. They shall be baked with leaven." And I'll come back to that point. So, be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the Lord. The term first fruits here simply refer to the first of the ripened crops of the harvest year, and the first fruits harvest is a smaller harvest. In the spring harvest is a smaller harvest as compared to the latter harvest or the later harvest of late summer and fall time. You know, we celebrate a harvest festival, the Feast of Tabernacles and a feast of in gathering, a much larger harvest pointed towards the fall, but it begins with the first fruits, a much smaller crop, and through this crop then an offering was presented again as the first fruits to the Lord. Verse 18, "...and shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year without blemish, one young bull, two rams.

They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord." Verse 19, "...you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering." Okay, take note of the sin offerings to proceed and then accompany this to male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering.

Verse 20 says, "...the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest." And I want to just sort of cut to the chase here. We understand the symbolism by which we are the first fruits of God called out of this world today. And just as Jesus Christ was the first of the first fruits, he was symbolized by that wave sheep that was lifted up and waved during the days of an leaven bread and accepted before the Father. If you come forward now to Pentecost of the first fruits harvest, this is not just an offering of first fruits, it's an offering of first fruits, plural, and as symbolized by these two loaves which are leavened.

Right? Leaven is, at least we've represented it coming through the days of an leaven bread. We have been called out of this world, called out of sin. You know, we are not like Jesus Christ who is perfect and pure. And so you have these two loaves that were leavened, but they're also accompanying and following with the sacrifice for sin. So if we're going to be presentable to God, and we're going to be, in that sense, lifted up before God as His first fruits, we first have to be under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, imperfect human beings such as we are, but have our sins forgiven, and we are not lifted as these first fruits apart from Him. So you have the sin sacrifice, and you have the peace offering that is accompanying these leavened loaves that are lifted up before God and waved on the Feast of Pentecost, again representing the first fruits and the harvest of that, offering of that to God. Verse 21, and you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it, and shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleanings from your harvest.

You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God. So it wasn't like, you know, we might say, why is this tied to Pentecost? You know, don't harvest the corners of your field, and you know, different thoughts have been put into that, but just consider God, God is provided a blessing. He's provided this bounty, and as we are the firstfruits of God, had this blessing poured out upon us. Should not the blessing we've received have an impact on others as well?

The poor, the needy, the stranger among us. Should not the first fruit blessing go out as an impact for the good for others as well? Perhaps that do not have what you have, but would come along and have contact with you and, in fact, glean something of value from you by the blessing that God has poured out and by virtue of being a first fruit. I just offer that for you to think about and consider, but this is the instruction given to ancient Israel pertaining to this holy day.

But as the Bible shows, what God was walking the nation through physically was actually a type. You know, we can rewind and go back to Passover Lamb. We understand a type pointing to Jesus Christ. We understand the symbolism of the other typology tied up within the days of unleavened bread and what the unleavened pointed to. And now we have this harvest festival and this harvest of firstfruits. And it is a type that points to something spiritual that God is doing among his people under the New Covenant. Understand, it's not a harvest of the firstfruits of grain that God is ultimately interested in, but a harvest of the firstfruits of humanity. God has a field. God has crops. It's a crop of humanity. It is actually what God is growing and bringing into production that he ultimately wants to reap into the storehouse of his kingdom. It is a harvest not of grain. It is a harvest of humanity. And, brethren, this holy day shows us that there is a harvest of the firstfruits.

That's a very special position in the sight of God, but it also comes with a level of responsibility, such as we'll consider shortly as well. But again, it's human beings. It's children harvested out of this world for the kingdom of God. And that's what this day is ultimately about. It's about the spiritual first fruit harvest and the means necessary to bring that harvest to pass.

We've come through the Passover. We've come through the days of Unleavened Bread, and we've moved forward through this harvest season. God is doing something through this harvest to bring into his service that which he desires from his firstfruits. So, this is not just a crop of grain. That is a type. But it points to the spiritual reality of what God is doing in our lives.

If we go to the New Testament, let's go to Matthew 9. We can note an important connection that Jesus Christ himself makes between human beings and a harvest. Matthew 9, and let's go to verse 35.

Matthew 9 and verse 35 says, Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

He says, But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. I've spoken on this point before. Jesus Christ was the answer to what it was that the people were absolutely starving for and craving in terms of godly leadership that would gather them together and point them to God.

Something that wasn't happening among the leaders of their day, by and large. They were like sheep with no shepherd. Verse 37, And Jesus said to his disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Jesus Christ isn't talking about grain crops here. You know, he didn't turn and see this abundant field out here and say, It's time for somebody to get out there. Pray that there's people to go out and harvest this grain before the crop goes to waste. No, he's talking about the crop of humanity. He, the context, it was the multitudes. It was those in which he had compassion. He says, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Indeed, God has a crop in the field he's seeking to bring in, brethren. And this day of Pentecost is a reminder to us, and it points to the very means by which God began to harvest the first fruits of mankind and to prepare them for additional service. Service in his harvest. Pray that laborers would be sent out into the harvest, Jesus Christ said.

This is ultimately referring, at least in our day and age, the first fruit harvest.

Pray for those laborers and pray for the harvest of God. It is the teaching of the United Church of God that the first fruit grain harvest, which happens at the time of the festival of Pentecost, is a picture of the spiritual harvest that is taking place right now. It's taking place now.

This is a season of harvest. We've been counting from the days of 11 bread through a season of harvest, focusing on the harvest. We're actually gathered here today on the Feast of Pentecost as a portion, right? First fruits of the harvest of God. But this is going on right now. As a harvest, you and I have been called to be a part of, but in order to understand how God is bringing this harvest to the past, we first need to understand the spiritual connection to this day. How is God harvesting us? We do need to come under sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We do need to be repentant. We do need to put sin out of our lives. Yet that doesn't end the harvest, and that doesn't end our journey. It moves forward through this harvest season, and this day of Pentecost focuses on something that God did to bring about and seal a first fruit harvest out of this world, to make them his own.

Acts chapter 1 in verse 1.

Acts chapter 1 and verse 1, the book written by Luke, and it says, The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 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. Verse 3, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days, okay, during forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

And so this gives us a little insight into what the disciples were doing for at least forty of the fifty days in this count to Pentecost. This, again, is the harvest season.

They would have understood front and center, probably even more than we do, during this count, what that season was and what the focus and emphasis was. And Jesus, the resurrected Christ, spent forty days with his disciples, and the focus was the kingdom of God, seen by them during forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 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 so we understand that the promise of the Father would be the Holy Spirit. And Jesus had prepared them for this already, following his resurrection. He had come in and been present with the disciples, and he breathed on them. He said, Receive the Holy Spirit. And now preparations in their heart were being made for that, and this forty days that he is spending with them is building up to the Feast of Pentecost and the promise of the Father, which would be poured out upon them.

Verse 6, Therefore, when they had come together, they said to him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? You know, is this the time for the glory of Israel? Is this the time for the establishment of the kingdom of God? Are you going to set yourself up as king at this time?

And he said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. There are things we see clearly from the Scripture and things that relate to even prophecy to the end of the age and the return of Jesus Christ. There are things that are clearly delineated, and then there are things that are interesting to consider.

And then there's things that, you know, at the end of the day, but that's your opinion. That's speculation. That's maybe human reasoning, but it could be interesting. Maybe, maybe not. We don't want to live in that place, but the point is there are things which God has given us to know, and the secret things belong to God. And Jesus said, You know, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. But verse 8, We're getting a glimpse here, brethren, into how the Holy Spirit would impact them from that point forward.

What it is that they would be expected to do once they received the gift, the promise of the Father. How would it motivate them? How would it do the work of God? Well, if you go to the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, which we'll touch on briefly, you know, you see the gifts, right? You see the speaking in tongues, in languages, known languages. But what was the purpose? The purpose was for the spreading of the gospel, for the taking out of the news of Jesus Christ and the gospel of the kingdom of God.

And what he said here is that you're going to receive this when the Spirit has come upon you, and you will be witnesses for me. That's going to be the the thrust of emphasis that the blessing of the Spirit is going to provide. It will bring unity. When you're united, you can go forward and do a powerful work. It will bring understanding. It will bring, you know, God's guidance into your life, and it will allow you to do the work that God has given you to do.

Indeed, a huge part of the blessing of the day of Pentecost. Now, if we go to Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2, and if, you know, I can, along the way, take a little creative license with the wording of Jesus Christ. He said, you're going to receive the Spirit, and you're going to go be witnesses for me, and you're going to preach to the ends of the earth.

They would be laboring in the harvest. That's what God's Holy Spirit was going to enable them and empower them to do. Again, this is the harvest season. This is in the count to Pentecost, and he says, Terry, here, the Spirit is coming, and you will be enabled to go be workers, go be laborers in the harvest.

Not only as go be firstfruits and just hang on till the end, no, it's go be firstfruits and be the answer to the prayer. Provide laborers to your harvest, O God. Acts chapter 2 and verse 1, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, we're counting, we're anticipating, we're 48, 49, 50, and now it's here. They were with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. This is the day of Pentecost, 31 A.D., the day specifically that the Israel of God began. It was the physical nation of Israel under a covenant with him, and then there is the Israel of God, the spiritual nation, the new covenant people, now called out by his Spirit, sealed by his Spirit, and that day the Holy Nation was called forth. The Church of God was born, and as we'll come to see, these are now spiritual people harvested out of the world, harvested as first fruits of God, and they'll be given a job to do.

But it didn't remain with the 120 that were gathered in that place at that time very quickly, right? They spoke in tongues, they spoke in languages. There was a miracle of the speaking, and it was a miracle of the hearing. People heard in their own dialect from which the region they were born, and the point was we are connecting with your ears the truth of God and what it is that he is doing. It was the great miracle on that day of Pentecost. So Peter preaches his sermon powerfully. Jesus was the Christ, and you killed him. But he didn't stay dead. He is now at the right hand of the Father, and he has poured out that which you now see and hear, Holy Spirit of God through Jesus Christ. As the Scripture shows us in a number of places, he has poured that out, and this blessing now has come upon you as these individuals harvested out of the world first fruits of God. And we know the results. 3,000 were added to their numbers on that day. 3,000 who were repentant and sealed as spiritual first fruits by the Holy Spirit of God.

Acts chapter 2 and verse 36. Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, therefore let all the house of Israel know, assuredly, this is Peter, that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? You know, it's like hit them like a ton of bricks. They're impacted of, we killed him. But he's the Christ, he's the risen. He's at the right hand of the Father. And how can we remedy this situation? Peter said to them, verse 38, repent. 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 far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.

Understand, brethren, Pentecost portrays God as the Lord of the harvest, as many as the Lord our God will call. This is his harvest. We are his produce. We're also laborers in his field, and we work in service to him. But it is his harvest, and he is the Lord of the harvest, as many as the Lord our God should call. He is calling, he is choosing, he is preparing the firstfruits of his coming kingdom by giving them his Holy Spirit now, and by enabling them then to go out and be those laborers in the harvest today. Harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Pray the Lord of the harvest to send somebody else out into the harvest. That's not the prayer.

Pray for the Lord to send laborers into the harvest. This is how God is providing those laborers for his harvest, and he is the Lord of the harvest. Again, God's festivals are harvest festivals, all of them, in fact. In ancient Israel, harvested their crops around these harvest seasons, these festival seasons. You have unleavened bread, and in the first of the firstfruits, you have Pentecost, the firstfruits. You have the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of End Gathering in the great harvest in the late summer and early fall. God's Holy Days show us how he is harvesting people for eternal life in his kingdom. Some in an early harvest, called out of the world, given his spirit. Now, laborers send out into the harvest. They're called firstfruits, and some in the latter harvest, as portrayed by the fall feast.

But again, the first fruit harvest is a small harvest, is it not? I mean, we're filling the room up, but really, this is a small room. This isn't a mega church, you know. This isn't a Houston Rockets X stadium with tens of thousands of people. Jesus Christ said, fear not, little flock. It would be a little flock, but it would be a flock that existed, nonetheless, all the way through the season of first fruit harvest.

So God's festivals, all of them, are harvest festivals. But it began with Jesus Christ first. Jesus Christ first. He was that wave sheep that was lifted up during the days of unleavened bread, right? The day following the Sabbath, then during the days of unleavened bread. He was the first of the first fruits. But he was not the only first fruit, because there's a season of the harvest of first fruits. So just as that wave sheaf kicked off the physical harvest season in ancient Israel, a period of time that carried through these 50 days up to Pentecost, Jesus Christ was the first of the spiritual harvest that carries forward even to our day today, the day of the Church of God in the modern day, where the harvest continues. Still a small harvest.

It's not the great harvest at the end of the age. It is the first fruit harvest. But the harvest continues yet even today with the Church of God. These two leavened loaves, waved before God on Pentecost, represent God's spiritual first fruits, those harvested out of the world, both Israel and Gentile alike, yes, flawed human beings, but offered in service to God in conjunction and under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, under the sin, sacrifice for sin, and the offering for peace that was given, were called to faithfully obey God at this time as his first fruits. Jesus was unleavened from the start. We have been, by his mercy and God's forgiveness, made to walk forward as unleavened, but that indeed was not where we started. That God has brought us out of the world into his service. So today is the age of Pentecost. You know, we're living in the age of Pentecost today, the age of first fruits today. This is not the age of Passover, in the sense of, if we're going to say, where are we on God's plan of salvation timeline? Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ came and died, roughly, for the sins of mankind, all right, and was resurrected and sits at the right hand of the Father. Now, you rely on each preceding step as you move forward. We come under his sacrifice. We walk out of spiritual Egypt, but we have come to a point now where it is not, look forward to the day of the Lord and the Feast of Trumpets. That is yet future. We are living in the age of Pentecost today. We're living in the age of the church, the called-out ones, called out of the world, called into assembly, the Ecclesia. It is the age, indeed, of Pentecost in which we live. And so, this is where we are now in God's plan of salvation for mankind. And there is the Great Fall Harvest, which is yet to come, pictured as we go forward in the return of Jesus Christ on the Feast of Trumpets, the blowing of the seven trumpets, the resurrection of the saints of the last trumpet, the Feast of Tabernacles, the eighth day, the Great Harvest of humanity yet to come. That future harvest will ultimately spread to, you know, all mankind as the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth, as the waters cover the sea, but this is the first fruit. This is the beginning. This is where it starts. And it is still the age of Pentecost in God's plan of salvation. And those who have been called out and received God's Holy Spirit today do indeed carry the label of firstfruits to the Lord right now.

Indeed, a number of the New Testament authors drew this conclusion in their day between firstfruits and the called-out ones of God. Let's go to James chapter 1 and verse 17.

I'm not going to go through all the firstfruits scriptures today, but I want to touch on two or three. James chapter 1 and verse 17. James says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

I believe we would all agree that the gift of the Holy Spirit is a good and a perfect gift from God. From God poured out through Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost, 31 A.D., as the Church began. This is the good and perfect and precious gift which comes down from God above. Verse 18, of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures, or firstfruits of his creation, the first that are called out to be in his likeness, given his spirit. As I mentioned in my last sermon, at our creation, we are not complete.

God said, let us make man in our image and according to our likeness. And in certain ways, in the physical flesh, we are fashioned after God and he gave us a spirit of man that can unite with his Holy Spirit. But this is an ongoing creation until one day we see him as he is, because we will be as he is, of the same form and of the same glorified likeness. So this is a continuing creation process that Pentecost actually highlights very directly by the giving of God's Holy Spirit that begins to mold us so much more into his image. But what James says is that of his own will, of the Father's own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. Then we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures, the first of this kind, in advance of the great harvest. But again, the Lord of the harvest does the calling of his own will he brought us forth. It is the Lord of the harvest calling us out of this world into relationship through him, giving us his spirit, bringing us forth to be a kind of first fruits of his creation.

Romans chapter 16 in verse 5.

Romans chapter 16 in verse 5. I wanted zero in just on a specific verse here.

Romans chapter 16 in verse 5, the Apostle Paul writing, he says, Likewise, greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved. Last night I said, what was it, somewhere around midnight, let's pronounce this name right. So I listened to two or three different audio Bibles. I'm like, let's get this name. And every one of them had a different pronunciation of this name. So Paul says, greet my friend in the church, right, in your house, who is the first fruits of Achaia to Christ. The first fruits of Achaia to Jesus Christ, this individual, a church member, a special individual, a special friend, it would seem, to the Apostle Paul. And he referred to him as the first fruits of Achaia, the first of those who have been called out of the world and harvested into the church of God from Achaia, first fruits of that region. And I would just say, in like manner, you are the first fruits of Spokane, Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene, fill in the blank. Where are you from? Missoula. You are the first fruits of this region called out of the world, called into God's assembly, called into the church of God. And don't let that point ever be lost on you. God is doing a work here, and the Lord of the harvest is active in this place. And you're it. And he's given you his spirit. And he says, you are my first fruits. In order to live a life that is an offering of sacrifice to him, we're called to go forth and do something with what he has given us. Don't just pull every bit of produce out of the corners of the field and keep it for yourself. Be willing to share with those around you, the poor, the needy, the stranger, those who would wander in seeking whatever it is that you can provide in terms of spiritual comfort, or the spiritual Israel of God and what he has blessed us with as his first fruits on this feast. Why would you not allow others to glean the blessing in some way of the calling that God has provided to us? Why would we not share this with those around us? What a privilege and what a calling and what a blessing this is to be the first fruits of God.

Further back in the book of Romans, Romans chapter 8, in verse 15, the apostle Paul further defines what the Holy Spirit of God does for our standing in his sight. When we receive it, how does God see us and what does that make us? Romans chapter 8 in verse 15 says, For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption or sonship, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father, Daddy, Happy Father's Day, brethren, the Feast of Pentecost, the ultimate Father's Day, by which you received, or the Church received at the beginning here, 31 A.D., the Holy Spirit of God, making them the children of God, by which you can cry out, Abba, Father. This is truly Father's Day.

The Church, the world around us, and we as well, are celebrating, I think, it's a honorable day, Father's Day. Okay, but let's recognize who we truly call Father. He said, don't call somebody else, Father. I am, he is your Father in heaven, and this is the day that we are his children, begotten by his Holy Spirit. So I think it's kind of cool. Father's Day is the day of Pentecost, and here we are in worship and celebration to our Father in heaven. Verse 16, The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children then heirs, heirs of God, enjoin heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. You know, this is very, very easy to read, but it's actually a much more amazing concept to just simply comprehend. You are the children of God. If you have his spirit dwelling in you, you are his children. Now, back in ancient Israel, we are the children of God, it said, and God is our Father. In the genealogy of Jesus Christ, you go all the way back to Son of Adam, Son of God. So mankind, by creation, are the children of God. The angels are called the sons of God in the Bible. They are the creation of God by creation, but understand when we are infused with the Spirit of God, we are children and heirs by begettle, by the receiving of the Spirit of God, then now moving to be ultimately born into his likeness as the firstfruits of a different kind of creation. So he is our Father by not just physical creation, he is our Father by the Spirit, which dwells in us, by which we cry out of a Father. What a blessing!

Here Paul is telling us plainly that it's through the receiving of the Spirit. We're recognized as literal children now. Those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. That is today, and that will continue forward as long as we remain faithful. But that's not just some day, that is today. We are heirs in the family of God today. The harvest of the firstfruits is taking place today, and we're a part of it, and that is a meaning behind the Feast of Pentecost. Not what God will do someday, but what he's doing in your life and my life today through his Spirit.

A first fruit for his kingdom harvested out of the world today.

Verse 23, if we drop down, Romans chapter 8 and verse 23, Paul says, not only that, but we also have the first fruits of the Spirit, and even we ourselves grown within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. So on the day of Pentecost, the firstfruits of the Spirit was poured out. We are the firstfruits, and we have received the firstfruits of the Spirit, which means there is more to come. Just like the first fruit harvest means there is more harvest to come, the firstfruits of the Spirit, there's more to come until 1 John chapter 3. We see him as he is, because we will be as he is in the full, glorified form and likeness of God, and our spiritual inheritance will come. But in the meantime, we are the firstfruits today, possessing the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit. And as such, brethren, we have been given a responsibility. It's the same responsibility the disciples in Jesus' day were giving. It's a responsibility to go forth and to work in the harvest of God, as those who have been given a foretaste of our ultimate inheritance today. Again, Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 9, verse 38, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. You know, thrust them out there, O God, should be our prayer. Call them, bring them in, empower them with your spirit, and send them into the harvest, as laborers into the harvest. It indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. And yet that prayer should be offered with the recognition that the Church of God today is the modern continuance of that labor force, sent by Jesus Christ to go work in the fields of God's ongoing harvest. Let's go to John chapter 4.

John chapter 4. This is following on the heels of Jesus Christ's interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well. John chapter 4. So, you know, this is maybe what the Jews of the day would say, isn't exactly friendly territory, you know, amongst the Samaritans. But notice what Jesus had to say even in that region. John chapter 4 in verse 31 says, in the meantime, his disciples urged him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. Jesus said, there's actually something that sustains me beyond simply physical food. Verse 33, therefore the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him anything to eat? And Jesus said to them, my food is due the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. There was a responsibility Jesus Christ was given when he walked the earth, and it wasn't just to die as a sacrifice for sins.

It said he came on the scene preaching the gospel of the kingdom, saying, you know, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. And throughout his ministry, he was active in that. He was busy. He says, my father is working until now, and I have been working. And know what he says to the people that he leaves with their spirit to carry forth, you work as well. There's a job to do. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Verse 35, do you not say there are still four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest. The time of harvest is now. That's the message. After the sermon down in the Tri-Cities, Dale Roak said, you know, the wheat field goes through various stages, and you can look out there, and it's a beautiful golden color, but it's not quite there yet. When it's talking about the fields being white for harvest, it means this is the season. Not someday, not when you're rested up, and you feel like getting around to it, the fields, Jesus says, are white for harvest already.

So the time of harvest is now, at least for the first fruit portion of that harvest. And from the time of Jesus' ministry to the time of the disciples receiving of the Holy Spirit, until the time of the Church of God today, the harvest continues. And the fields are ripe. And God has a work that He's doing. And the world is His field, and there's a crop out there, and some of it is going to be brought in now. And some of it is going to be for the latter harvest at the end of the age.

Pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest.

This is an ongoing process. Verse 36, it is a season of harvest. That's what this Pentecost season is. Verse 36, and those who reap receive wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true, one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap for which you have not labored.

Others have labored and you have entered into their labors. And so the sowing and the reaping is the spiritual work of the Church of God, working in the harvest, working in the fields in which God would send us out into the fields of humanity, into the crops of humanity, is the current work of the Church of God. It's a responsibility placed upon us by God the Father and Jesus Christ. It is their work and it is our work as their people as well. In this agricultural cycle of crop production, there are those who are planting seeds. There's those who are coming along and they're tending what it is that has sprouted up. And then there'll be those who are helping to reap and bring in the harvest, to be here when someone walks in the door and to take their hand and help to guide and nurture and answer questions and bring them to the point where, well, now they're going to be baptized and receive the Spirit of God and be harvested out of this world as well. But it's an ongoing process. And some of you have been in the fields working the harvest decades before I came along. And the moment I stepped into the fields, you know what? There's people planting seed. There's people tending the crops. There's people harvesting. And for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years before I even came upon the scene, this has been the work. And now I'm here and it's part of my work and it's part of your work as well. And there's times that we are picking up and moving forward with the labor that somebody else put into place before we were even here. People that are no longer even here among us who are faithfully waiting for the return of Jesus Christ and for the resurrection. We continue on indeed in their labor as well. But it's all the same line of work. It's laboring in the fields of God and it is to His glory. He is the Lord of the harvest and we work in His service. You'll recall in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul, he was straightening out a challenge in the church. People were saying, I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos.

And what did he say? 1 Corinthians 3 verse 6, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. And so God uses human beings as instruments in His harvest, but He is still the Lord of the harvest. And it's not like we can sit back and say, well, you know what? God can raise up stones to do it. He can indeed raise up stones to do the work if that is necessary. But I would just say, if you and me are here and God is required to raise up stones, because we were not willing, woe to us who would have the firstfruits of His Spirit, but not scatter that blessing from the corners of our fields out into the world today. Again, we are working in this service. He uses human instruments. And God still has a church today that is called the Go Forth Planting and Tending and Harvesting. And I like to think of it as God is doing the watering, right? He brings in the book of Joel, we won't even go there today, but it's tied with the Day of the Lord. But Peter said, this is what He's doing now.

The firstfruits of the Spirit being poured out on Pentecost. It is the living water of God. He provides the early and the latter rains upon the crops to bring them forward to fruition.

And we are working in those fields that He is bringing to the point of being white for harvest.

Indeed, this laboring in the first fruit harvest is the great commission Jesus Christ left with His faithful followers during the count to Pentecost on 31 A.D. And I hadn't really, in my mind, made this connection. Friday, I was sitting here looking at a couple of these scriptures, and I said, you know what? This is after the resurrection, and this is before His ascension back to the Father. This is during the count to Pentecost in the backdrop of the harvest season that Jesus Christ gives the commission to the Church. Let's go to Matthew chapter 28, verse 16. Matthew chapter 28 and verse 16.

Don't lose sight of the timing here, brother. In Matthew 28, verse 16 says, then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them, and when they saw Him, they worshiped Him. They worshiped Him. But some doubted.

Okay. This is following the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but before the feast of Pentecost. Again, in the midst of the 50-day count, the backdrop is the harvest season. They knew what was going on better than we really have a conscious awareness in terms of this season. They were connected to the land and to the harvest in a very unique way, but in the midst of that count, Jesus gives the instructions to His disciples, involving their work in the spiritual harvest of the firstfruits, and indeed planting on to the great harvest of mankind. Matthew 28 and verse 18, here's His instructions, came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And we find many places throughout the books of Acts and elsewhere, they baptize them in the name of Jesus Christ into this covenant relationship, okay? Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. This is the commission from Jesus to His church to go labor in the fields of God's harvest during the season of harvest. It's during the season of Pentecost. It's during the season and the age we actually, by extension, live in today. It is the age of the church, the called out ones. The ecclesia is the age of the first fruits of the harvest of God. And He said, you go, and you labor in the fields, and you pray the Lord of the harvest to provide those laborers.

Doesn't that add some impact to His instructions in your mind? I know for me it just kind of hit me when I recognized this is during the backdrop of the 50 days. Go work, go produce, go spread the seed, go labor, go bring in of this first fruit harvest. To be honest, perfectly frank with you, brethren, it is a reason that I'm here. And by here, here with the United Church of God.

And I don't bring this up often because we understand the church is a spiritual body. It's a spiritual organism. And we say, well, the United Church of God is a physical organization. The United Church of God is a corporation in its legalized structure. But understand, it also is filled with members of the body of Jesus Christ, which means it is also an organization which is spiritual in nature. And it's a place where a sizable portion of God's people have come together in a spirit of cooperation. In order for there to be a God-directed synergy to our labors, we are coming together and using our God-given gifts by the Spirit together to produce what it is that He directed His disciples just before He ascended to the Father in heaven.

He said, you carry on with this work. And it is a reason that I'm here because I believe we are wholeheartedly, as a group, seeking to do this. You know, fellowships are good. The ability to come together into fellowship and unity is good. And there's a lot of fellowships that have popped up around the country where God's people can come together and mingle and fellowship and enjoy time and unity. That is what we should be doing, right? In the church, there is more, though, to what God gave the church to do besides fellowship. There is a commission and a work to be done to labor in the harvest and to produce and to seek to bring in a harvest to God's glory. That takes effort by which we are working together in service to God. And so I'm not seeking to hold up a corporation. I'm seeking to hold up what I believe and have believed from the beginning of our founding and why I'm still here 30 years later. That we are doing something together that is seeking to provide for what Jesus Christ gave the church to do. And to the degree we can hold together in unity by the Spirit of God is, I believe, the degree God can use us powerfully in his service to go forward.

And it's important that we do so. To me, the United Church of God has been a vehicle by which we've come together in this labor. The motto, it's on the front of the lectern here, I believe. I didn't ... is the plaque there? Okay, thank you. Preaching a gospel and preparing a people. That's our emphasis and our focus and the direction and the planning and the work behind it. It's front and center and critical to what it is that we do together as a people. They're not just words. They're the biblical driving force behind our focus as an organization. So I'm here, and it's not my intention to point fingers at anyone else besides us. But my point is, we are here for a reason. I am here for a reason. I suppose most of you are here for a reason as well, is what we can do together as the collective people of God as we pull our energy into a productive labor force in God's spiritual harvest. Indeed, I believe it's what he's called us to be and do today.

Brethren, the day of Pentecost is all about the harvest. It points God, or portrays God, as the Lord of the harvest, choosing and preparing the first fruits of his coming kingdom by giving them his Holy Spirit. The harvest is today. The harvest is not just the resurrection at the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons of the things which the Father has put into his own authority. And you know, there's points of interest that people can make. There's concepts that can be brought forward. Maybe there's degrees of human reasoning that can say, well, certain things are going to happen on this day. I can't find that Scripture, but I can find the Scriptures that say, you be there. You work. You put in the effort. You work in the harvest. God will send his Son. This is the day of Pentecost. We're preparing the first fruits for the coming kingdom of God. And through the indwelling of God's Spirit, we are designated as children of God today. Through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit, we are heirs of God and joint heirs of Jesus Christ today. We're those who are called out of this world, called to be firstfruits, living our life in sacrifice to God today. Obviously, the firstfruits are only part of the harvest. God's plan does not end with firstfruits. The firstfruits have a role to play in Pentecost, I believe, highlights that role. He poured out the Spirit and he said, now go in labor and produce in my service, preaching the gospel and preparing the people.

God's ultimate plan will encompass the entire human race, as highlighted as we move forward in and through the fall Holy Days as well. From here, the next Holy Day in God's plan of salvation is the Feast of Trumpets. And it portrays the future day of the Lord, the return of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of the saints unto the fullness of their glory and inheritance at the last trumpet. The Feast of Trumpets portrays the blowing of the seven trumpets in all the events tied to those trumpets. It portrays the day of the Lord, lasting what we believe to be a year's period of time, and those seven blasts, one by one by one, through progression of that year. What day is the seventh trumpet? I cannot tell you, because the Bible does not tell me. You can bring speculations forward at best. That is what they are. But let's be there in God's service, as firstfruits resurrected into our inheritance. We're firstfruits now, but indeed our fullness of inheritance will come in that day. Until the fulfillment of that time, the Church of God has been given a job to do during this age of Pentecost to preach the gospel and to prepare a people for the kingdom of God. Let your food and my food be about the work that we've been given to do. Brethren, let us be about our Father's business.