The Wave Sheaf Sacrifice

On June 18th, 1815, Europe was holding its breath. A battle was occurring in Belgium that held the world's wonder and attention, wondering what was going to happen. The stories told about that battle, the Battle of Waterloo, as how the news came over and how it was received in England. Tradition tells that sailing ships came to the south coast of the islands and by signal flags wigwagged to the tower of the Cathedral of Winchester.

And when the message came from those ships to the mainland, hearts failed for fear as the words were slowly spelled out, with the flags moving back and forth. They were spelled out slowly but surely, well-linkeden de fiedet. And then the fog descended and hit the signal from the view of those that were on the coastline.

News traveled very quickly, as news always does, whether it's good or bad, it traveled quickly to London. Everyone thought that everything was lost because of this strategic battle. Napoleon was back. He had escaped from the island of Elba. He had mustered the forces that had come to him in France.

And once again, the beast seemed to have been rooted into Europe. And everybody was afraid and everybody was dismayed. The news was horrible. But back on the coast, after a while, the fog lifted. And with the complete sentence now coming across to the mainland, Wellington defeated Napoleon.

Immediately, the news ran across the country, across the nation, and everyone lifted everyone else up from gloom to joy, from devastation to ultimate excitement. When you think about this story that comes from the historical past, this can also be likened to that same heavy cloud of despair that settled over Jerusalem after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The one who had come, the one that had been proclaimed king just days before, had been crucified, as we just heard about, in the song. Was now dead, was now buried. What were the disciples? What were the followers to do? But just like that story about Waterloo, there's also the rest of the story. And that's the rest of the story that I would like to share with you today. Because when you understand the rest of the story, it changes the complexion of this entire week that we are going through today and does indeed change our lives.

It brings the New Testament Passover, which memorializes the death of our Savior into alignment spiritually with the life that now is, with Him being resurrected and Him being ascended on high in heaven at the right hand of God. It's a story that is met out long before 31 A.D. We're going to go a long way back today, and it may be biblical information that leads to understanding that will allow us to hold our God even in greater awe as we go through this story.

It's God's positive answer to the lament and the question of Job long ago. Let's go to Job. Let's go to Job 14 and read through Job. And as we do, and some of you that are just now becoming students of the Bible, you need to recognize that Job is the oldest recorded literature that we have in Scripture.

This goes way back, even hundreds of years before Moses, and it's right in the Bible. And Job has a talk here, not only with God, but with all of us found in Job 14. Job 14, verse 1, man who is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble.

He comes forth like a flower and fades away. He flees like a shadow and does not continue. Seems like everything is for naught. And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me to judgment with yourself? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

No one. Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with you. You have appointed his limits so that he cannot pass. Look away from him that he may rest till like a hired man he finishes his day. For there is hope for a tree. It is cut down that it will sprout again and its tender shoots will not cease. Though its roots may grow old in the earth and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.

But man dies and he's laid away. Indeed, he breezes last. And where is he? As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and rise up, so man lies down and does not rise till the heavens are no more. They will not awake nor be aroused from their sleep.

Oh, that you would hide me in the grave, that you would conceal me until your wrath is passed, and that you would appoint me a set time and remember me. If a man dies, shall he live again?

The biggest question that each and every one of us have. If a man dies, shall he live again? Because that is tied into the other big question of life. Why were we born? All the days of my hard service, I will wait. Till my change comes, you shall call and I will answer you, and you shall desire the work of your hands, for you number my steps now, but do not watch over my sin.

And my transgression is sealed up in a bag and you cover my iniquity.

So it goes on to speak. If a man dies, shall he live again?

It is the answer as to why Jesus told this comment out of Job. It is the answer as to why Jesus told Mary Magdalene, don't touch me. I have not yet ascended. How do we bring Job, here's the question for you today, it's going to have to move our minds around, how do we bring Job, Mary Magdalene, and ourselves together in understanding the words of Isaiah 46.

Let's look at Isaiah 46 to give us a framework.

Notice what it says. Remember this, and excuse me, Isaiah 46 verse 9, right? Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all of my pleasure. Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes my counsel from afar country, he's going to do it. And he says, indeed I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it and I will also do it.

The meaning of the festivals and the ceremonies therein gives us a key to what God has always intended for his special creation and to the answer of Job's question, will a man live again? The title of today's message is simply this, the wave sheep of resurrection. The wave sheep of resurrection and ascension. I have a question for you. May I? How many of you think you can explain the wave sheaf? That's why we're having this conversation today. And for those of you that can, you can talk about it another time. But we're going to bring it all together again. Remember, how do we bring Job and Mary Magdalene, who was told, don't touch me, I have not yet ascended and yourself in all of this. And why is it important for us to understand?

Some of you are experiencing the Days of Love and Bread for the very first time, and I'm so excited about bringing this message to you. And for those of you that have experienced the Days of Love and Bread over the years, well, repetition is the best form of emphasis on some of these things. Let's begin by understanding the Holy Days were arranged around the harvest season, were arranged around the harvest season of ancient Israel. And the first barley, there were different there were different harvests that were made. And we're going to be discussing that later on. The first was of a barley harvest, and that barley harvest became ripened during this time, during Passover and during the Days of Love and Bread. And there was a special ceremony that was included in it. Now, I realize in the Church of God, we often focus on the Holy Days, the first high day, the second high day. And before that, stay with me. We focus on the festival of Passover, and we observe the New Testament Passover. But this is a ceremony that occurred that is rich in meaning that you and I need to understand. Join me, if you would, in Leviticus 23. And Leviticus 23. And let's pick up the thought in verse 10. Leviticus 23 in verse 10.

Exodus, Leviticus. Okay, 23 verse 10. Let's notice what it says.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you come to the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. And ye shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, and be accepted on your behalf. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it.

And ye shall offer on that day, when ye wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offerings shall be two tenths of an epha of the fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord for a sweet aroma, and its drink offering shall be of wine, one fourth of a hen.

Verse 14 is essential and critical in this discussion.

You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations and all your dwellings. Basically, what the Word of God was saying, you will do this. And until then, life stops. Nourishment ceases for you and for the rest of the community. This is critical that this ceremony be observed and this offering be made. Now, with that overview, let's go back and pick this apart a little bit. Speak to the children of Israel, verse 10, and say to them, when you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, then ye shall bring notice a sheath of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.

And ye shall wave the sheath before the Lord to be accepted on your behalf. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. The first thing I want you to recognize in this study of the Bible is that it talks about a sheath, singular. It is singular in nature. It does not say sheath's plural. That is critical. And also a sheath of the first fruits. So we need to understand that, number one. And they had to bring a sheath of first fruits to the priest. Now, we've already discussed that everything had to come to a standstill. Nothing could move forward. The camp couldn't move forward. You couldn't take in nourishment because, after all, grain and bread was the basic nourishment of ancient society. But then you notice here a little bit further, and it says, let me come down here, where it talks about the priest shall wave it. Now, one thing they want to understand as you go a little bit deeper and get into the commentaries, the priest did not actually wave a sheath by itself. The term there is better rendered in the Hebrew, and that's where the original language is. The language there is the word omer, very simple, O-M-E-R. It was an omer, which was a measure of about two quarts. In other words, they took that sheath and they beat the grain down. They refined it and they beat it into a fine flour. And then it's that flour that, once it was beaten down, that they would offer up, that they would raise up. And let's understand something.

As described here, this ceremony occurred shortly after the Sabbath concluded. So we would call it Saturday night, because it says here that you do it on where it says... let me pick up the thought here a moment... you shall wave it on verse 11 on the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. And as we know back then, the day was from sunset to sunset. So this is occurring on Saturday night.

And to understand that. And so then what they would do is then it says that they would offer it up the next day. That would mean on Sunday morning they would offer up this sheath or this omer, along with the offering. And the morning offering was normally at 9 am in the morning. So that's just giving you some background here. What the priest would do once it was brought to them, they would wave it and or it's better translated, they would lift it or they would elevate it as typifying something that they were elevating and they were lifting up to heaven itself.

It was a sense of that which was yet to come in the future. It was God's purpose as we went through the book of Isaiah where he says he declares the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. And sometimes he has his go through things so that it's typifying something in the future. But think about this for a moment. If they took the first fruit of the barley and they brought it, they took something from the earth and they cut it and they gleaned it and they offered it up and they raised it and they elevated it up to heaven before God. There is tremendous symbolism in this and they had to do that. Until then they could not really eat and the camp could not move on. Everything basically came to a halt. Now, with those thoughts in mind of what happened in ancient Israel, let's go to John 20. In John 20 verse 21, it's the story of the tomb. It's the story of Jesus' resurrection. And it's so important to go through this at this time. Here we are on Sabbath and to recognize that this meeting at the tomb that we're going to be talking about was on Sunday. And to understand that this was being done and occurred during the days of Unleavened Bread.

The days... the Festival of Passover is a time of memorializing Jesus' death, of which he gave for us.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is about life. It's about life. It's about the new life.

It's about the new man. And it's about the new lump. And the wave sheath and what we're about to discuss enables us to have that power and that joy that Mr. Hall just talked about.

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. And then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciples whom Jesus loved and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they've laid him. Peter therefore went out and the other disciples and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together and the other disciples outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen claws lying there. Yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter, following him, went into the tomb and he saw the linen clothes were lying there. And the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen claws, but folded together in a place by itself. And then the other disciples who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and believed. For as yet he did not know the scriptures that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

But now verse 11, but Mary stood outside by the tomb, weeping. And as she wept she stooped down and looked in the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. 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 had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and didn't know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? And she, supposing him to be the gardener, and said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. And Jesus said to her, Mary. And she turned and said, Robonai, which is to say, Teacher. And Jesus said to her, Do not 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 your God. And Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her. And so we understand that story, that the next morning, Jesus appeared. He'd been resurrected. Luke 9 21 says something very interesting. If you'll join me for a moment in this story in Luke 9 21.

In Luke 9 21, the disciples didn't quite get it. And he had mentioned it to it before what was going to happen. And he said strictly warning commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised on the third day. They didn't understand that. But as Mary Magdalene came in and began to rehearse the story, they began to remember those things.

One thing I want to share with you, if I can get across something, if anything today that's important in our walk in Christianity, is to recognize that when we talk about Jesus Christ, is to recognize that he lived and he died.

And sometimes we can focus on that death and stay there, rather than recognizing that he did ascend and he was resurrected and then did ascend. Is he the only individual that ever was resurrected? I have a question for you. Was he the only individual that was ever resurrected?

Have there been other resurrections? Yes, there have, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. So we so often talk about the resurrection, but there have been other resurrections. So what makes his resurrection so special? What makes his resurrection extra special is everybody else had got resurrected. Think about that. Wouldn't it be cool to be resurrected, but then you have to die twice, as everybody did. You know, you ever thought about Lazarus? Wow, he got resurrected. Dying once is hard enough. He had to die twice. Thank you, Jesus. No, just teasing. So you think about that for a moment. He had to die twice. Jesus only died once.

Jesus was resurrected and then he ascended and it all goes back in symbolism to that wage sheep that was offered for 1500 years. That as the first fruit sheath came off that barley harbors, that first harvest, and then was beaten down into fine grain. Just as when Jesus came and was, in that sense, in this human form, he was, as that grain cut from the earth, he was the son of man. He was in the flesh and he was cut off in the prime of life and he was offered up. But before he was offered up and before he was crucified, he was beaten and down into that experience that he went through and then upon that experience and upon that death and upon that resurrection, he, like that, wave sheath was offered up and elevated and offered to God for his blessing and for his acceptance. That's what we need to understand. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 20.

1 Corinthians 15 verse 20. Let's take a little notice here. 2 Corinthians 15 verse 20. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep, like Job, like Mary Magdalene, like those that we know and those that we love. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, but each one in his own order, Christ the first fruits, and after those those who are Christ at his coming.

Again, let's take another look at this dealing with first fruits.

1 Corinthians 1. In the book of Colossians 1 verse 10.

This is a note of thanksgiving. For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. What knowledge? The knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy, and giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints and the light. He's delivered us from the power of darkness, conveyed us into the kingdom of it, the Son of Love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn and or the source of the entire creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven, that are on earth, visible and invisible. Whether there be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence. It all goes back in symbolism.

On that night, in the midst of the Days of Unleavened Bread, when God was doing something through ancient Israel and they didn't fully understand it, they understood that it was something wonderful, it was something beautiful, it was something that God commanded them to do, and just when you do something that God asked you to do, do it. And there's a blessing in it, but they didn't even fully realize what it was all going to be about. But God had a plan. He declares the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end, and he knew that he was going to send his son for you and for me and for Job and for Mary Magdalene. And there was a purpose that was being worked out here below, and it was accepted. Remember what Jesus said on Golgotha as he was dying. He said, it is finished. And then he said, I commit my spirit into your hands.

And he died. The spirit was stuck in him. He was taken down off of that mount, and he was placed in a tomb. But my question to all of you is, wonder if he just stayed in that tomb. Would we have Christianity if we just had a sacrifice? There have been many sacrifices. Think about it over the years. How many bullets, how many goats, how many sheep, and how many turtle doves have been killed over the years to represent, in a sense, to give us a touch or feel of what sin is, and trying to move forward in the presence of God. But it was only in this that we could have that reconciliation with God. But the life, which is beautiful and which was perfect, and how Jesus lived that life was so beautiful that it makes all of us ugly in comparison.

And then he underwent that death of ignominy, of humility, of human embarrassment, as it were.

But he didn't nonetheless, and he died. But wonder if that's all that had been.

You see, on you think about it, that sense that Jesus most likely was resurrected at the end of the Sabbath. He'd been in the grave for three days and three nights. What more fitting time for the Prince of Peace on that day of peace to be resurrected after three days and three nights? Not three parts of a day. Not three parts of a day. In Matthew 12 and verse 31, you can jot that down. He said, this will be the sign of the Son of Man, that just as Jonah was in the belly of the well, the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man shall be in the belly of the earth. It had to be that amount of time, because that was a finality. In the Jewish mind, after somebody had been dead for three days, they were dead. There was no mistaking. It wasn't like they were deep breathing. It wasn't like they were already holding their breath. They were dead like Rover, dead all over. There was no coming back. And then too, in that sense, as he was placed in the tomb, he came up and then to recognize that he was again present on that Saturday night, but he did not show himself until that Sunday morning in a link to what occurred long ago.

And I would think that here, Mary was anxious. You know, when you see something really precious, you want to reach out and touch it. Have you ever been like that, or am I the only one?

I know I used to be a docent at the Huntington, and there were precious items there.

And people just naturally want to touch them, even though they might cost five million dollars. You kind of want to put your mark on it unwittingly. You don't know it, and that's why they always have those security guards, please, backed up. And Mary was right there, and she saw something so very precious to her. She wanted to reach out. She wanted to just grab them and say, Robini!

Teacher!

He's so excited. He's like, no, not yet. There was still a process that was going on. He had not yet ascended. Remember what he said on the mount? He said, he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit, and to recognize that it had to be accepted.

So often we talk about what occurred at the Jordan when Jesus said, when the dove came down, and that voice was heard, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. I would have to think, I'm not the fly that was in the wall or even the fly in the air, but I would think that as Jesus ascended to his father, he said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

It left that tomb vacant. Peter looked in, there was nothing there.

John looked in, there was nothing there.

It's interesting. There's a story I'd like to share with you for a moment.

It's a conversation between a Muslim and a Christian, and that can always be an interesting story, can't it, and discussion. A Muslim said to the Christian, we Muslims have one thing you Christians don't have. A Christian said, what's that?

Muslim said, when we go to Medina, we find a coffin, and we know whose body is in it.

But when you go to Jerusalem, you find nothing but an empty tomb.

Thank you, replied the Christian. What you say is absolutely true, and that's the eternal difference.

The reason we find an empty tomb is because we serve a risen Christ.

And there is power in understanding the emptiness of that tomb in Jerusalem.

It is the power that enables us to have the joy that Mr. Hall was just discussing with us for a few minutes. Ephesians 4, join me if you would for a moment, Ephesians 4.

Let's take a look at a few verses to strengthen us and to encourage us on this day.

In Ephesians 4, and let's pick up the thought if we could, in verse 7, But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive.

And he gave gifts to men. Now this he ascended, what does it mean, but that he also first ascended into the lower parts of the earth. He was in the grave. He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill, notice, God's desire to fill all things.

Hebrews 8, verse 1. Hebrews 8, verse 1.

Hebrews is written to, in that sense, elevate the rule of Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 8, verse 1, now this is the main point. I love how he says that, you know, because sometimes this is written in a lawyerly fashion, you can go on and on. He says, okay, folks, this is it. Get it. Now, this is the main point of the things we are saying. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, not the one made down below, but the real McCoy in heaven, which the Lord erected and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer.

So it talks about Christ being ascended and being in heaven. What, again, makes this so different, and why do I want to, for a few minutes, if I can say lovingly, pound this into our minds?

It is simply, where do you and I leave Christ in the snapshots in our heart? Is he just simply a good man walking through the grassy hills of the Galilee, down to the river by the sea? Is that how we picture Christ? Is he that man that was beaten, that man of sorrows, that was taken from one palace to another on that night of Passover, kind of like a hot potato that nobody wanted to deal with until they dealt with it?

And then the audience outside the wall said, Crucify him, and therefore we appreciate the death. We focus on that death. But simply having a dead Savior, even a dead manly Savior, basically does not get us any further, as it were, than a lamb or a turtle dove, if it remained dead.

If it remained dead.

The wave-sheaf that was offered long ago gave hope that not only was something special and consecrated, not only was something sacrificed and cut off, but now elevated, ascending to God, and now at the right hand of God. Now, in all of this, then, there's more of a launching pad, because the wave-sheaf then leads into something else I'd like to share with you for a moment. Join me, if you would, in Leviticus 23 again. Let's go back to Leviticus.

And let's pick up the thought in verse 15. Because the wave-sheaf started with this offering of this shock of barley that was beaten down and then offered up to God. Now, one thing, too, you want to recognize that pattern. If you think about it for a moment, let's get the full story here. You with me? This is exciting. And that is that it was cut from the ground, then offered up, it was elevated, maybe went up, and it was symbolic of that which is going up to heaven. But remember, then it came back down, right? What goes up must come down. And to recognize that even in that sense that what was elevated and goes up to heaven and is now at the right hand of the Father is also coming back down to this earth. So there are all sorts of incredible typologies that we can consider that God was just beginning to share in microcosm with ancient Israel. They were doing things that you and I today have the blessing of having the full reality. Remember what Peter says? Oh, you know, the prophets of old would just love to know what you today know.

And that we, as the Israel of God today, the body of Christ, can have the full meaning of what they were doing mechanically. We can internalize spiritually. The postcards that are in our mind and in our hearts are so much more luminous of that life, that death, that resurrection. But we just don't stay at the resurrection. We look at the ascension, and then we look at the descending Christ at the Second Coming. But now, let's go back to Luke 23 verse 15.

There was another assignment that they had off of that day. And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath on that Sunday, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be completed. And count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. And then it goes on to discuss the composition of that, which is really a message for another festival. But what occurs here is very interesting. Fifty days hints from that same Sunday when the wave sheaf was offered up, there was another assignment. Fifty days hints during the next. There would be the next festival. And that festival would occur during the next harvest, not the fall harvest, which was the great harvest, but that late spring harvest. And that also has tremendous symbolism. Join me if you would in Romans 8 verse 29. In Romans 8 and verse 29. Because Jesus was, first of all, at the barley harvest during the festival season of Passover, and Unleavened Bread was offered up.

But that picture's a greater story that's occurring for whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that he, speaking of Jesus, might be the firstborn of many brethren.

This is telling us then that Jesus would not be the only one that would be resurrected and ascend. He would only be the first of many yet to come, answering Job's question, if a man dies, will he live again? Now, what is interesting then is counting 50. And I know some of you are going to be observing Pentecost for the very first time. Pentecost literally just means in Greek, count 50. Penta, five, cost, counting, 50. And that's why the Pentecost is also called the Feast of Weeks, because you were to count seven weeks. And so all of this begins to tie together. Let's go a little bit further now. You know, this ceremony is no longer conducted today, because Jesus Christ came. He is the sacrifice. And not only that, but He is our high priest in heaven. You got to remember, He's bivocational. He is not only, and that's the one lesson that we want to learn during the days of 11 Brad, is Jesus has got two jobs. He is our Savior forever, forever our Savior. He is forever at the right hand as the Lamb of God. Is that not correct?

If you go to the book of Revelation, it is mentioned, probably a title more than any other title in the book of Revelation. It's mentioned 27 to 28 times, the Lamb of God. He is forever that Lamb of God, but He is also our high priest. And it says that in the book of Hebrews, that when He did a sin, He sat down. And He lives forever, so there's no longer any need for another high priest and or more offerings. In other words, Jesus is sufficient. So if He's sufficient, then what do we do? Where does that fall on us? It's interesting that Paul uses these words concerning the... you might want to jot this down if you're taking notes and you're new to the Word.

There are the elect, there are the saints, and there is the body of Christ. So far so good. Three words. The elect, the saints, and the body of Christ. In Galatians 6 and verse 16, it also calls us the Israel of God. The Israel of God. So there's this connection because the Old Testament and the New Testament is really in one book between Duke covers. So what does the Israel of God do today? No, we couldn't be there. You know, we can't be back there in the in the sands of Sinai or later on in the Temple in Jerusalem. Watching the Omor go up and down, up and... wouldn't that have been neat? See all that happening, you know, beating down the grain and you know, and then the priest does there, you know, all their emotions and then seeing that. No, there's something that we have to do. We have an exercise as the Israel of God and it's found over in John 20. Join me if you were there for a moment. John 20. Following the story of Peter and John and married Magdalene and then remembering when Thomas came in. Thomas had not been there when Jesus had first come back.

And so this story arises. We know the story where it says that Thomas put your hands, you know, go ahead, push, put it in there, prod, do it. Here I am. I'm all yours. Touch, feel, get into the exercise.

And Thomas did. He reached his fingers in there, put his hands in there. And Thomas answered verse 28 and said to him, My Lord and my God. Notice verse 29. Here is the assignment for the Israel of God today. Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen.

Whether it be in ancient Israel with the Omer going up and down or in that upper room in Jerusalem, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. You see, without the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ, we could pack up our bags. There would be no reason to be keeping the days to the love of bread. There would be no reason of keeping the new life.

There would be no reason to be a new man or a new woman. There would be no reason to strive to be that new lump that Paul talks about in the book of Corinthians. There would be no reason. It would be one more sacrifice down in the ground, blood and all. And that is the core belief of Christianity that he is risen. And because he is risen, that we can rise. And because God answered him and raised him from the dead, that we can be raised from the dead and we can have life. Join me if you would in Colossians 2. In the book of Colossians 2, let's notice how this applies during the days of Unleavened Bread. In verse 12, Colossians 2, we are buried with him in baptism, in which you were raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. Notice what it says. We are raised with him. Now, there's a typology here. Oh no, we're not resurrected in glory at this moment, but there is a type and a figuring of raising and resurrection.

And you being dead in your trespasses, in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made notice alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.

It is essential in the Christian heart to recognize that we are tied tightly, wound inextricably, to the death of Jesus Christ and to that risen life of Jesus Christ. Are you with me?

They cannot be divided. They are seamless. There is a wonderment and there is a beauty in that.

And in that, then, Galatians 2 and verse 20 make sense. Join me there for a moment. Galatians 2 and verse 20, talking about the power that Mr. Hall was speaking about earlier.

Galatians 2 and verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ.

And that can take us up to, yes, baptism, and that can also have great meaning as we come up to the New Testament Passover. And we are bound, as it were, in death and sacrifice of ourselves to God the Father and Jesus Christ as we renew the covenant.

But now notice, the embodiment of what the days of Unleavened Bread mean and are a springboard to every other day in the year. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. How could he have lived in us if that symbolism of the wave sheaf had not become a reality in Jesus of Nazareth, now the Son of God in glory at the right hand of God? If he had only lived the perfect life, if he'd only died that humble death, that would not be enough. He would be dead and buried.

He was resurrected and he was ascended, the only one that has ever been in flesh that has ascended to heaven. And he lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

That's the greatest hope that we can have. The greatest hope that we can have. Allow me to conclude with two verses to encourage you as we continue to fulfill the festival of Unleavened Brad and then move forward into the year. Join me if you would in Romans 15.13. In Romans 15, I want to share hope with you from none other than God Almighty. Romans 15.13.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace. Isn't that what Mr. All just spoke about? And peace in believing. Believing what?

That Jesus Christ was resurrected and ascended and that we have an advocate who didn't just go to classroom somewhere and get some brain knowledge.

But as the book of Hebrews says, is the very spirit of experience that is touched by our humanity that is now at the right hand of God, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Allow me to read this out of the New Living Translation here, if I may for a moment.

So I pray that God who gives you hope will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him.

And may you overflow with hope throughout the power of the Holy Spirit.

And that's why Christianity by its very nature. Are you with me?

Christianity by its very nature is optimistic. Optimistic. It leans forward. It doesn't wallow in death. Death must be understood, both of the Christ and our own death. But this God of hope is answering the question of Job, if a man dies, will he live again?

And a Christian always has that hope, always has that picture in their mind.

Sees that door opened up, sees that stone rolled away, and people say, where did he go?

What happened? And we have a smile on our face because we know the answer.

We know he was resurrected. We know that he was ascended. And if he has been, so shall we.

And it reminds us that while we wait for that our own resurrection one day, and with some of the challenges that are besetting us right now in Beaumont and Orange County and parts in between, that there is no stone too heavy, that God will not roll away in his time and in his way, and never be late. Join me if you would, as we conclude. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15 verse 57, which is at the very end of what we commonly call the resurrection chapter. 1 Corinthians 15.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

A victory which is so much greater than Waterloo.

A victory that only began at Golgotha, but was completed with the empty tomb. A victory that as the darkness and the clouds were over Jerusalem for three days and three nights, that cloud lifted. That stone rolled away.

The stone rolled away only to allow others to be a witness.

Jesus was not rescued by man. Jesus was resurrected, while the stone was still in place, and the clothes were still extant, and he was resurrected. I am the resurrection, and I am the life. And so we see these things, and we ponder, and we become excited about it.

And God tells us through the words of the Apostle Paul, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Job, Mary Magdalene, you and me, wave sheath, resurrection, ascension, the greatest story ever told. Let's have faith to believe it, to live it, and look forward to joining the first of the firstfruits.