The Spiritual Harvest of God

One, apologize to John or Jonathan. I called you Mike when I introduced Andrew and should have been John or Jonathan, so I apologize for that.

Well, brethren, tomorrow, May the 24th, is the day of Pentecost. And it's going to mark one of the most important occasions in, really, in the history and future of the Church of God.

That day, the Feast of Pentecost, is a significant turning point in the plan of God.

And you know, it's actually a lot older than the Church. You know, we think about that the, you know, Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was, was relayed or it was poured out on that day back in 31 AD to the Church, but it's actually a lot older than that. And it was established, in a sense, before that. Because God talks about it as one of the festivals prior to 31 AD. And yet, as important as that Holy Day is, that we're going to observe tomorrow, there are many Christians that will not be observing it. I suspect that they have no idea that tomorrow, May 24th, is the Feast of Pentecost. And I know a lot of us were in that category at one time in our lives.

Yet God began revealing the Feast of Pentecost a long time ago in the Old Testament to His people, He has called out people, the children of Israel at that time. But the meaning of Pentecost really transcends the Israelites. In fact, even from the very beginning when it was given, it actually had Christian meaning. The other feast days, in a sense, are no different. They also have Christian meaning. Not long ago we rehearsed the festival of Passover, and we came to understand that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God. You know, we know that there was a Lamb that was slain, the blood was put on the lentils of the door, and that that, in a sense, saved the firstborn. Well, we also know from Scripture that the Passover actually points to Jesus Christ and His death as the Lamb of God, and the one who would after death be the firstborn among many brethren. And the Days of 11 Bread, which followed, among other things, picture the examining of ourselves, looking for sin. We know for the children of Israel, when they came out of, in a sense, Egypt, which typifies sin, they were leaving slavery. They were coming out of it. And for a Christian, it also pictures, in a sense, that we're coming out of spiritual Egypt, that we're coming out of sin, we're coming out of slavery.

Scripture tells us, with the help of God's Spirit, we can begin to come out of the slavery and the bondage of sin. Near the end of his physical life, Jesus told his disciples, Be of good cheer, because I have overcome the world. And we are to be overcomers as well. In fact, God told Cain, when he was, he hadn't brought, remember at the beginning of the book of Genesis, it talks about that Abel and Cain brought an offering. And Cain, the offering was not pleasing to God, and he, he got a little bit affected by that, and his countenance changed. God told Cain that just before he killed his brother Abel, he said, sin lies at the door, but you can rule over it.

But other than, but how is that done? How can you and I rule over sin? Well, this next feast day that we're going to be observing tomorrow, the Feast of Pentecost, addresses this. We're going to begin to see, as we begin to focus on the Feast of Pentecost, that the Feast of Pentecost begins to shed some light on this, and that the Holy Spirit, which is the helper, plays a major role in this process in the plan of God, in overcoming and in ruling over sin. So let's begin. Let's begin to begin to address some of this here. We're going to understand, as we review some of the meaning of the Day of Pentecost, that it really was revealed by God a long, long time ago. And as we'll come to see from Scripture, Pentecost has to do with a spiritual harvest, a spiritual harvest of God. So that's the title of the sermon today, is a spiritual harvest of God. And what we're going to try to do specifically today is we're going to review from Scripture how God uses a simple agricultural concept to help us to understand something that's really profound. He takes a simple agricultural concept to help us to understand something that was almost too wonderful to imagine. And what is it? He's not referring, as we're going to look today in the Old Testament when it talks about the Feast of Pentecost, that it's not talking about a harvest of grain, but the transcendent meaning is about a harvest of people for the kingdom of God. Let's go to Exodus chapter 23 and verse 14. Exodus chapter 23 and verse 14. Let's look at the origin of this festival, the Feast of Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Firstfruits. Let's go back to Scripture.

The context here is shortly after giving the Ten Commandments, God speaks to Israel here. And this is what he says. Exodus chapter 23 and verse 14. He says, three times 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 Abib. For in that month is when you came out of Egypt, and none shall appear before me empty. And then in verse 16 he addresses this festival of Pentecost, also called here the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Firstfruits. Verse 16.

And the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field, and the Feast of In-Gathering at the end of the year. So there was going to be several harvests here, more than one, as we'll read along here. And this Feast of In-Gathering would be a greater harvest that would come later on at the end of the year. But at the first part of verse 16, it talks about the Feast of Harvest, referring to this Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Pentecost.

So this Feast of Harvest, known also as Feast of Firstfruits and Feast of Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks, the Israelites would offer the firstfruits of their late spring harvest. It was a barley harvest that would come into play at that time in that part of the world. It actually was a wheat harvest that would come into play at that time. And months later, they'd celebrate another festival, the Feast of In-Gathering, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. So these festivals were commanded because of what God intends from us to learn from them. But God isn't just commemorating his blessings in the agricultural harvest of the Holy Land. He's teaching us about something more, about something greater, far more important. Actually, it has to do with salvation, of how we are going to be harvested by God. So God's word here speaks of two kinds of harvest. One is an agricultural harvest that's mentioned in Scripture, and the other one is a spiritual harvest. But now let's take another look at a statement in the New Testament. Let's go over to Acts chapter 2 and verse 1. We're going to see here that this Feast of Pentecost is found throughout the Scriptures in both the Old and the New Testaments. So let's go to Acts chapter 2 and verse number 1. Let's make sure we know what we know about this particular festival, and that we'll be able to possibly share this information with someone in the future.

Acts chapter 2 and verse 1. It says, Now when the day of Pentecost had fully come, it says, They, that is the disciples of Jesus, were all with one accord and in one place.

So let's establish some basic facts first of all. We know that the disciples were there.

This is something that they had observed all their lives. So this wasn't the first time they kept the Feast of Pentecost. Okay? So they were there, and that fact is beyond dispute. All their lives they'd observed it. And there's absolutely no teachings that we see later on from Jesus Christ that suggest that it should not be observed after He was gone. Now there's one unique thing about the Feast of Pentecost. The other six festivals fall on a specific date in Scripture on God's calendar. There's seven festivals and the other six outside of Pentecost fall on a specific date in Scripture, but not Pentecost. Pentecost, it doesn't say in the Scripture that you shall keep it on the seventh of Nisan or Sivan or whatever. It doesn't say that in the Scriptures. So that's unique about that. So then how do you know when Pentecost comes? How do you know that it is fully come? That they were there on the right day? How did they know that was the right day?

Well, how do they know? How do we know? You know, do we pull out our pocket Holy Day calendar and say, okay, this is the date because it's printed on our pocket Holy Day calendar. What does the Scripture say? Well, where would you and I turn to say that God says this is the day that you should observe Pentecost. Well, God says we have to count. We have to count. But where do we start? And where do we end? So how would we know that Pentecost is fully come?

Well, the Scriptures tell us. So let's look at where that is in Leviticus chapter 23.

So let's go back to Leviticus chapter 23. This is the section of Scripture where all of the seven annual festivals of God are listed in one chapter. They're listed in other places, but they're all listed here in this particular context. And we're going to pick it up in verse number nine, Leviticus chapter 23 verse number nine. God is speaking to Moses and he wants Moses to relay this information to his people. Leviticus chapter 23 in verse nine, 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 give to you, and you reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave that sheaf before the Lord. And waving means it's lifted up. It's offered to God. Sometimes we think of waving like this, but it was offered to God. It was lifted up, and this very small sheaf of grain was lifted up and offered to God. He shall wave, verse 11, shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted on your behalf. And on the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. So we're during the days of unleavened bread here, and on the day after the weekly Sabbath that falls during the days of unleavened bread is when this offering was supposed to be made. So the day after the Sabbath would be the first day of the week, it'd be a Sunday, they would cut a sheaf of grain, a very small amount called an omer, and then they would offer that. They would wave it before God. This was all during the feast of Tabern... or the feast of unleavened bread. And it was the very first of the harvest. It was an agricultural harvest, and it was barley at that time. The wheat would come later on the feast of Pentecost, but we're during the days of unleavened bread with this wave offering, and it was barley. And this was the very first offering here. And so we realize here that it was to be done, as it says in the latter part of verse 11, it would be offered, lifted up before the Lord, so it may be accepted on your behalf. So the brethren at this time that were in the area of Palestine, they were making this offering, and they were not supposed to eat of any of that harvest until that first barley had been offered. That first wave sheaf was lifted up, presented to God, literally the first grain cut. And brethren, what it does picture is it pictures Jesus Christ being offered to God after His resurrection when He ascended to His Father as the first born from the dead. The very first of the first fruits to be a spiritual harvest of God.

Let's drop down to verse number 14. It says, you shall eat neither bread, nor parts, grain, nor fresh grain, until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Lord. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. So again, they couldn't eat any of the grain until that had been offered to God first. They couldn't cook with it. They couldn't prepare anything. They couldn't do anything with it until God said you have to offer that sheaf first. And then it was offered on that day after the Sabbath during the days of 11 bread. It was a Sunday. Now stay with me because these details are important when we begin to cover some New Testament scriptures. Let's go on to verse number 15. And it says, and you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, even seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count 50 days to the day after that seventh Sabbath, and then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. So that first day when you start is on that day when that wave sheaf offering was offered. That day after the Sabbath during the days of 11 bread. That's when you begin to count. And then you go as it says, seven Sabbaths verse 15, and then verse 16, you count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath, which would come to a first day of the week or the Sunday that follows the Sabbath. And then you shall offer a new grain offering, verse 16, to the Lord. And you shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves.

So now this is a second agricultural offering to God. The first one was the wave sheaf that happened 50 days earlier, and that pictured Jesus Christ resurrected and being offered to God. And then we have 50 days later, we have these two loaves that are offered as it says as a wave offering. Verse 17, you shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be a fine flower. They shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits of the Lord.

And so we're going to come back to the scripture here just a little bit later here.

But this is the 50th day, which would be picturing tomorrow, a feast of Pentecost.

Let's jump to verse number 21. And you shall proclaim on that same day that it is a holy convocation. So you shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all of your dwellings throughout your generations. So this is a festival that we're talking about, the Feast of Pentecost, and it is itself a holy day, a holy convocation. And it is counted.

And so we know when we start, and we know how long it goes. Let's go back to verse 15 here, just for a moment. Verse 15 in Leviticus chapter 23. It says, you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. And so that day in verse 15, day one of the count of 50, again, is that first day after the Sabbath during the Feast of Tabernacles when the wave sheaf is offered. And then it goes 50 days.

And brethren, when we count those 50 days, in a sense, that is exactly the same day that the disciples saw Jesus Christ alive after his resurrection on that first day of the week.

After he had been offered to his father, they saw him alive later on that day.

So brethren, all along, all along, when God had these festivals set up, in a sense, and he talks about this agricultural harvest, really, it pictured all along not only the spiritual harvest of Jesus Christ as the wave sheaf, but also a spiritual harvest of the church.

It pictured all of those things as the firstfruits.

Brethren, some of this is not understood very well. It's been misunderstood over the years.

Now, we've talked about and touched on already that Pentecost is a feast with three names. In the Old Testament, the names are the Feast of Firstfruits and the Feast of Weeks and also Feast of Harvest. And in the New Testament, it refers to it as the Feast of Pentecost.

But the name Firstfruits is there because that's really what it's all about.

That's really what it's all about. The season of Firstfruits was the time when that grain harvest began and it began, in a sense, with barley during the days of 11 bread with Jesus Christ on day one of the 50-day count, and then it ends 50 days later. Now, let's go a little bit deeper into where the Christian connection is with all of that because we want to begin to understand some of these things as we go back in time and also how that meaning applies to the future, how it transcends just an agricultural harvest, but it's a spiritual harvest.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a pivotal event in God's dealing with man. That resurrection was pivotal. But surprisingly, though, it was really a matter of controversy in the early church. Please turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Let's go over there for a moment.

The apostle Paul had to address this topic and, in a sense, it's something that's maybe been overlooked, but it is yet very important. Now, for some reason, in the Corinthian church, some people began to doubt the resurrection of the dead. They doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is hard to wrap our minds around that because we wouldn't even think necessarily about that. But we're going to see here that that's exactly what was beginning to happen. And then Paul had to address this. So let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and we're going to start with verse number three. We're going to see here that Paul had to begin to straighten out some error that was beginning to creep into the church at that time. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 in verse number three. He says, For I delivered to you, first of all, of that which I also received. So Paul says, I'm going to tell you what has been given to me from God. I'm going to share it with you. So he says, I delivered to you first that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and he was buried, and he rose again. So there was a resurrection.

He was buried, and then he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. So there were other Scriptures that talked about that, not just Paul's writing in this letter to the Corinthians.

So we know that's part of the gospel. I don't know really, in a sense, how you can be a Christian without necessarily believing that. But this is the thing he had to deal with at that time.

Let's pick it up in verse five. And he was seen by Cephas, another name for Peter, or Cephas, then by the Twelve. And after that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once. So there was a lot of people that were witnesses to the fact that Jesus Christ had died and was now resurrected. He was alive. So it wasn't just Paul's word. There were 500 other people.

Verse number seven. Well, we'll finish verse number six. He was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present. So I suppose some had died, but the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep, which means they died. Verse number seven. And after that, he was seen by James and then by all the apostles. And then last of all, Paul says, he was seen by me also. So I'm testifying, in a sense, that he was dead and then he was resurrected. Verse number nine. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. And then he goes on to say this in verse number 10.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain, but I have labored more abundantly than they all, and yet not I, but God's grace, which was with me.

Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and you believed. Now he says, now if Christ is preached, that he's been raised from the dead, then how is it that some of you are saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? So that thought was alive in the church at that time.

So as pivotal as the resurrection of Christ is, you really wonder where some of this is coming from, as it's coming into the church of God. So he goes on to defend this truth in verse 13. But he said, but if there's no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ isn't risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. You know, I don't think we understand, really, that it's really the life of Christ, that we are reconciled by his death, but we are saved by his life.

If he wasn't resurrected, we couldn't be saved. We couldn't have everlasting life. So his life is very important. So he goes on to say here that the faith of the brethren is pointless if Christ wasn't raised from the dead. In fact, not only that, if Christ wasn't raised from the dead, he says, then we are false witnesses.

We're lying to you because we have told you that he was raised from the dead. Verse number 15, we are found false witnesses because we've testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up if, in fact, the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

Boy, he's just really driving this point home, isn't he? He keeps talking about this over and over again. Verse number 17. And if Christ isn't risen, then your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. So, in a sense, our life depends on Christ being raised from the dead.

Otherwise, we're still in our sins. Verse 18. Then also, those who have fallen asleep, in other words, those that have died, have perished and they have no hope. If Christ did not raise from the dead, then they're gone. They're perished. In verse 19, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, then we are of men most pitiable.

If this is it, this is all there is, then we are really most pitiable. But now he comes to the point that I really want to focus on in verse number 20. But now, Christ is risen from the dead and He has become the firstfruits. That's very important here, that term firstfruits, of those who have fallen asleep.

He was the first of the firstfruits of the spiritual harvest. He was the first one to be born from the dead. So we see here that this reference here in verse number 20, that Christ being the firstfruits, I think that's no coincidence with the Feast of Firstfruits. No coincidence. I think it's connected. And then he goes on to say in verse number 21, For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as an Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order. So there's an order of this harvest. There's Christ first. He's the first of the firstfruits.

Afterwards, those who are Christ's at His coming. So if you're staying with me on this right now, we're going to realize what the comparison is here to the offering of the firstfruits. So you couldn't use any of the grain until that wave sheaf offering was offered first, until you made that offering. And so in the same way, Christ had to be the first of the firstfruits to be offered, to be ascended before God, to be offered before God, before the rest of us could go there.

He had to be the first. Now, when we understand that this book of 1 Corinthians was actually written just around the Passover season, it actually fits together really well. It all fits together. And the terms fit very naturally. They would have understood a lot of what He was saying, because it was at that time of the year that He wrote the book. We're going to go back to 1 Corinthians 15 here in a moment, but let's turn over to John chapter 20 and verse 11. John chapter 20 and verse 11. You know, when we think about the time of Christ, and of course He was crucified, and then He was raised from the dead, and then He was offered to God the day after the Sabbath.

He rose to meet the Father. But at the same time that He was doing that, God's people, the Israelites in the temple, what they were doing was at the end of the Sabbath after Christ had died, a small band of men went out into the field, into the barley field.

And they cut a very small bit of grain, a sheaf, if you will, and it was barley, and it was a small amount that they prepared that they were going to offer to God. And at the very same time that they were making that wave sheaf offering to God is the very same time that Jesus Christ was rising to be offered to the Father. Let's read about that here in John chapter 20 and verse 11.

It says, Mary stood outside of the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and she looked into the tomb. And there were two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. You can imagine you're going into what you think is an empty tomb, and there's two angels that are there, one at the one end, one at the foot end, one at the head end.

And she saw these two angels where Jesus had lain. Verse 12. Verse 13. And then they said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? And she said to them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they have laid him. Now when she said this, she turned around, and she saw Jesus standing there, but she didn't know it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? And she's supposing him to be the gardener. She said to him, Sir, if you've carried him away, please tell me where you've laid him, and I will take him away. And then Jesus said to her, Mary. Well, that got her attention because she thought she was talking to someone who didn't know her. And he said to her, Mary. And she knew right away. She turned and she said, Rabbani, which means teacher. And Jesus said to her, Don't cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father. So he had not yet been offered in a sense as the fulfillment of the wave sheaf offering. This is again the first day of the week after the Sabbath during the days of 11 bread. He said, Don't cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father and to my God and to your God. Brethren, this is a significant fulfillment of that wave sheaf offering.

And notice there's a little bit of a transition here in this particular verse. Verse number 17.

Do you see that here? He says, I don't. He said, he said here, but go. He doesn't say, go to my disciples. He says, go to my brothers and my sisters. See the transition there?

Go to my brothers and my sisters. Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father. We're talking about the same family here, aren't we?

There's a transition here. We're talking about family.

Go. I'm ascending to my father and your father and to my God and your God. So Jesus is telling Mary here, he has not yet ascended. So don't cling to me. I've not yet ascended. He had not yet been presented as that wave sheaf offering, but he was about to be.

It was coming up momentarily. So he said, don't cling to me.

The presumption is at the very moment, brethren, again, that Jesus actually is ascending, is the very moment that they're offering the wave sheaf offering at the temple to God, from the priests. Now, later on that evening, Jesus does appear to his disciples. First day of the week, later on, he's already ascended to the father and now he's descended. He's back down, back to the earth, and he does appear to his disciples. And he says, okay, for them to touch him. It's okay for them to cling to him. Let's take a look at that here in verse number 19 of John chapter 20, verse number 19. It says, in the same day, at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came, stood in their midst and said, peace be with you. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side and the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So, brethren, God uses a very simple agricultural concept to help us to understand something much bigger.

Much more profound. Almost too amazing to wrap our minds around. That when God discusses these agricultural feasts in Scripture, he's really trying to help us to understand a spiritual harvest of human beings. Let's go to John chapter 12. We're here in John 20. Let's go to John chapter 12 and verse number 23. John chapter 12 and verse number 23. We're going to again review that Jesus Christ was the first of the first fruits. So, we're actually talking about three spiritual harvests. Jesus Christ is the first, and then we'll talk about what's the second one that comes later.

But the spiritual harvest first of the first of the first fruits was Jesus Christ, John chapter 12, verse 23. It says, but Jesus answered them, saying, the hour has come that the Son of Man is going to be glorified. So, we already know he's going to be killed, but then he's going to be glorified. Most assuredly, verse 24, I say to you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. You know, if it just doesn't ever get planted, if it doesn't die, if it doesn't get put under the earth, it just stays alone. But he goes on to say, but if it dies, in other words, if it's been planted, if it dies, it produces much grain. He goes on to say in verse 25, he who loves his life is going to lose it, but he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. So now he's talking about another spiritual harvest. Verse 26, if anyone serves me, let him follow me, and where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, him my father will honor. So Jesus Christ even refers to himself. He's about to be glorified, and he's going to have to die. He's like that grain, that agricultural harvest, but when you plant it, it just, there's an incredible production of grain, as it says in verse number 24.

Second point, we talk about three spiritual harvests. The first spiritual harvest was Jesus Christ, the wave sheep offering firstborn from the dead. And then there's a second spiritual harvest, which is the rest of the first fruits, and that has to do with the church of God. Let's go over to Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 15. We touched on that just a little bit, but let's touch on that under this point. The second spiritual harvest is the rest of the first fruits, the church of God, Leviticus chapter 23, and we'll pick it up in verse number 15. Leviticus chapter 23 and verse number 15.

This is a title, a subtitle of this paragraph in my Bible. I don't know if yours has this. It says, the Feast of Weeks. Now, that's not originally inspired. That was put in by men. That's what they're thinking. It's talking about the Feast of Weeks, which is the Feast of Pentecost.

And I think they've got it right here in this particular case. Leviticus 23 verse 15, And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. So that's tomorrow.

That's tomorrow when we count. You know, if we start at the Sabbath after the days of, during the days of eleven bread, and we count fifty days, it comes to tomorrow.

And that's how we know that tomorrow is an annual Feast of God. Verse number 17, there's going to be a new grain offering in the last part of verse 16. Verse 17, You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be a fine flower, and they shall be baked with leaven. Now, the wave sheaf offering was not with leaven. And of course, we know that leaven typifies sin, and Jesus Christ was sinless. So that's why that grain offering, the wave sheaf offering, was without leaven. But this one is with leaven. Why? Because no one's been sinless, but an older brother by the name of Jesus Christ. And so these loaves, God says, have to be leaven, because we're not perfect. We make mistakes. We have sinned. And yet God is going to accept this offering. He's going to accept it. And there's two wave loaves, and there's been some speculation. Why two wave loaves? And, you know, I don't know if we know for sure. You know, we speculate a little bit. It could be that there are some under the old covenant that will be one of the loaves, and some under the new covenant that will be. Or is it the children of Israel and then the Israel of God, the church? You know, we speculate. But we do understand and know that most likely, in fact, probably for sure, that one of these loaves represents God's people today, the church, since the Holy Spirit was poured out in 31 A.D. Verse 17, you shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven. And notice, they are the first fruits to the Lord. They are the first fruits. So this is a second harvest here, an agricultural harvest here, but actually pointing to a spiritual harvest.

Let's look at the fulfillment of the spiritual harvest in Scripture here. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 35. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 35.

That this second spiritual harvest of the rest of the first fruits is the church of God. We'll pick it up here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 35. He's still, in a sense, addressing this question about the resurrection. Some doubted there was one, and he said, well, you know, there was one. Christ was the first. And then he begins to address some of the questions that they had here in this context. 1 Corinthians 15, 35. But someone's going to say, okay, if there's a resurrection, then how are the dead raised? How are they raised? And in a sense, I'm really glad that somebody asked that question because Paul begins to answer with God's inspiration. So someone will say, verse 35, well, how are the dead raised up? And what body are they going to come with? You know, what are they going to look like? How does it happen? What body are they going to have? And Paul answers, verse 36. He says, oh, foolish one. What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. Now, he starts talking about kind of an agricultural relationship again, doesn't he? But he's not talking about an agricultural harvest. He's talking about a spiritual harvest, but he's using that analogy, the same analogy that God used, the same analogy that Jesus Christ used when he said, I'm about to be glorified, but unless a grain dies, it won't produce.

And so Paul, in a sense, follows Jesus's example here, and he says, 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.

It's going to be different. So the body that goes into the ground is not going to be the body that comes up out of the ground. Verse 37, and what you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he pleases, and to each seed its own body. He says in verse 39, all flesh is not the same flesh. Even if you look at flesh, some of it's different. And he goes on to give some examples here. There is one kind of the flesh of men. There is another kind of flesh of animals, another of fish, another of birds.

And then he starts to talk about celestial bodies. He said, there are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. And he says the glory of the celestial is one type of glory, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. He goes on to say there's one glory of the sun. There's another glory of the moon. We understand that you can't look at the sun for very long without going blind, but you could look at the moon all night long. And so there is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, there's another glory of the stars. And now sometimes it's hard to see the stars because of our atmosphere, and it's changed. A haze sometimes that's there. You can look at the stars too and not have to worry. One star differs from another star in glory. Some are brighter than others. He goes on to say in verse 42, so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. And, brother, we've seen that in people that we've known that have died, and we've seen their bodies prior to burial. And it is sown in corruption, but it is going to be raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, but it's going to be raised in glory. He goes on to say, it is sown in weakness, but it's going to be raised in power. And God, who cannot lie, is telling us exactly how it's going to work. There is going to be a spiritual harvest.

He says in verse 44, it's sown a natural body, but it is raised a spiritual body. It is a spiritual harvest. There is a natural body, and we know all about that. And there is a spiritual body, and we have never experienced that. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, shall be became a living being, but the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural. And afterwards, then comes the spiritual. That was God's plan from the beginning, flesh and blood, and then spirit, his design. Verse 47, the first man was of the earth, was made of dust. The second man is the Lord of heaven, referring to Jesus Christ.

And as was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust.

And as is in the heavenly man, so also are those who are going to be heavenly.

As we have borne the image of the man of dust, verse 49, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. What an incredible thing to think about. What an incredible design that God has, right from the beginning. Brethren, how is the Holy Spirit involved in this process?

We know God's involved. We know that Jesus Christ is involved. But how is the Holy Spirit involved in this spiritual harvest that God is talking about? Let's go over to Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8.

There are so many aspects to the Feast of Pentecost that we can cover. Let's take a look here.

Romans chapter 8. And we'll pick it up here in verse number 11. Romans 8 and verse number 11.

How is the Holy Spirit involved in this process? It says this, But if the Spirit of Him, referring to the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you. If the same Spirit of the Father who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. Of course, we can't have it unless it's given to us as a gift. We understand that. Scriptures talk about in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost, when the people realized that they were guilty of taking the life of the very Messiah that they had hoped for, and they asked the disciples, what shall we do? And immediately, God inspired Peter to say, well, to repent of your way of living and to be baptized and then to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's something that we don't have unless it's given to us. So verse 11, that if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that dwells in you.

So that Spirit's pretty important, isn't it? And God designed it that way. This feast that's coming tomorrow is very important. Verse number 12, therefore, brethren, we're debtors. We're debtors. Not to the flesh, to live the way we used to live. Because of this incredible gift that He's offered to us, we're debtors. Not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, because if we live according to the flesh, we're going to die. But if by the Spirit, which God puts in us, if we put to death the deeds of the body, utilizing that Spirit and following the Word of God and the living Word of God, Jesus Christ, if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, then you will live.

And He's talking about eternal life here, isn't He? He's not talking about physical life.

Verse 14, for as many as are led by this Spirit of God, they are sons of God.

And we talk about that in a sense, that spiritual seed that's been planted in us, that we've then become begotten. Not born yet, but we've got a little bit of something in us that was not there before, given to us by God once we're baptized and we received that gift. Then we become His begotten children. We become His sons, yet to be born, yet to be harvested, but yet still begotten children of God. Verse 14, for as many as are led by that Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage, again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, or sonship, as it can also be translated, you have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. And when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead as the firstborn from the dead, and He said, Mary, don't touch me, but go tell my brothers and sisters, not disciples, but brothers and sisters. Because I'm going, don't cling to me, because I'm going to ascend to my God and your God, to my Father and your Father. We're in this together as a family, a Spirit family. And so what an incredible thing that God is doing. What an incredible thing that God is doing. He is a Father. He wants to have a family.

Verse number 16. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit. There's a spirit in man.

You know, that's how we can talk and think and reason. Animals don't have the Spirit, but there is a spirit in man. It says this Spirit, this Holy Spirit that we're talking about, which the Feast of Pentecost refers to in verse 16. This Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs. Heirs. Which means there's going to be an inheritance. We understand that. For those of us that have lost parents or grandparents, sometimes you inherit things from them. So there's going to be an inheritance. Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. And so Christ is also an heir, and we will be joint heirs with Him.

If indeed we suffer with Him. I wish that wasn't in there.

But it's there. It's there. So we understand there may be some suffering. And I suppose, no surprise, Jesus said, if they persecuted me, they're probably going to persecute you.

And so it says, if indeed we suffer with Him, it's going to be worth it, brethren, because it goes on to say that we may also be glorified together. Pretty moving in that sense.

So, brethren, He's talking about a harvest when we talk about being glorified together. He's talking about a spiritual harvest of people into spirit life, into the family of God, into the kingdom of God. You may recall the scripture that Jesus Christ was talking to His disciples, and He said, you know, look out in the fields. The fields are white with harvest. And, you know, in that context, He wasn't talking about the actual agricultural crop. He was talking about human beings. You know, pray the Lord to send forth laborers for the harvest, because there was a spiritual harvest that was out there, but there weren't enough laborers at that time. He said, the fields are white with harvest. Well, let's try to come to a conclusion here. At the end of the 50 days of counting, there were two loaves of leavened bread that were offered to God, and they were symbolic.

They pictured and pointed to all along the Church of God, the people of God for a spiritual harvest, the remainder of the firstfruits after the first of the firstfruits, Jesus Christ, went 50 days prior. If we follow the theme of the harvest of firstfruits, we begin to understand what God was really saying right from the beginning, helping us to understand why He had these feast days set up, why He had them given, why the children of Israel kept them, why we keep them today.

Let's go over to James chapter 1, verse 18. James chapter 1 and verse number 18.

Brother, the day of Pentecost represents a harvest. These saints of God or firstfruits will rise or be harvested and meet Christ in the air, and they'll come back with Him to help Him rule the earth as joint heirs. Jesus was the first of the firstfruits of mankind to be raised to immortal life from flesh and blood, from death, and that's represented by the wave sheaf on day one of the count. Christians, those who are the true children of God, are represented by at least one of those two wave loaves that are offered 50 days later when we count to Pentecost. They are also called the firstfruits. Let's notice that here in James chapter 1, verse 18. It says of His own will, James 1, verse 18, of His own will He brought us forth, birthed us in a way by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Firstfruits of His creatures.

For then these saints or Christians will be the first spiritual harvest of God into His family and into His kingdom. And so, God uses a very simple agricultural concept of a harvest, harvest seasons, to help us understand something that is a lot more profound. Its meaning was much more transcendent, a harvest of human beings. It's a miraculous change of a person that's human beings with human shortcomings and human flaws, with human character, to be changed and transformed into someone with divine character and a divine nature and a spiritual body.

So, brethren, these are actually just two of the agricultural harvests, Christ being the first, the church being the second. There's going to be a feast of in-gathering at the end of the year, an agricultural feast that was talked about also in Leviticus chapter 23. And that has something to do with the Feast of Tabernacles and another spiritual harvest to come that will be coming later on in the plan of God. So the Feast of Pentecost, we've got that Holy Spirit, God's has called us into the body of Christ, then we're considered a first fruit. And that transformation, an incredible transformation and harvest will take place. How it will be done?

By the incredible transforming power of God's Holy Spirit.