No. 47 - OUR PENTECOST IS THE WORLD’S HOPE By: John J. Blanchard Sunday, May 30, 2004 PENTECOST Pentecost came very quickly. Fifty days sounds like a long time. It sounds like it is so much time to pass and so much time to count. The title of today’s sermon on Pentecost is “Our Pentecost is the World’s Hope”. GOD IS ON TIME As we have seen in the last fifty days, God is a counter. He counts with the idea of getting things done on time. He wants to get things done on time. To arrive at today we did count fifty days. Pentecost means “count fifty”. That, of course, has its roots back in the Old Testament. We are going to turn to Leviticus 23 and find that back in the Old Testament Pentecost was called the Feast of Firstfruits. Turn to Leviticus chapter 23, and we will start reading in 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. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord.’” Drop down to verse 20: “‘The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits…’” This is speaking of this other sacrifice going with the wave offering at this time. “‘…as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.’” Pentecost is a forever statute. It will be done well into the Millennium and beyond, so it is a very significant occasion. We are told to count fifty. We can learn from the Bible what it has to say about the day we count from. We see that there is a firstfruit offered earlier, and we are counting from that firstfruit toward more firstfruits. Let us back up now in Leviticus 23:9. Read to verse 14. These are two wave offerings. The first one represents Jesus Christ and His resurrection as a wave offering through the sky, so to speak. He was the firstfruit of the firstfruits. He was resurrected on the Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread approximately 2,000 years ago. That is why we start counting from that day after the Sabbath, when the firstfruit was raised, to Pentecost, the Feast of Firstfruits meaning God’s Church, God’s people. We count 49 days, that is seven sets of Sabbaths. The fiftieth day represents the Church’s holy day: Pentecost, the Feast of the Firstfruits. We see that the first wave sheaf was Jesus Christ and the second one is the Church being represented. TWO WORDS FOR FIRSTFRUIT If we were to read firstfruits in verse 10 of Leviticus 23 we would find the meaning for that word is different than the firstfruits in verse 17. Firstfruit in verse 10 means first in time, order or rank. Of course, Christ is the first in time because He was the first resurrected. He was the first one to be born again. He is the first in rank because He is the High Priest. He is the King of His kingdom. The ultimate top authority is Jesus Christ. He is the highest in the order or the rank of the Melchizedek priesthood, which is ranked according to an order. That is why the word firstfruit is different there from what it is in verse 17. In verse 17 we find firstfruits means first of the crop, the early fruit of a woman or a tree. Now we comprehend, of course, the woman is the Church. The tree is the tree of life, Jesus Christ representing that tree. We who have the opportunity to be firstfruits represented at Pentecost have the opportunity to be part of the early crop harvested of the earth represented by this woman, the Church, and by the concept of a tree. We have been attached to the tree. We have grown and are bearing fruit. This is what we want to continue to do, and that is what is pictured today on the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of Firstfruits. PENTECOST 31 A.D. Now we can go all the way back into the New Testament to Acts chapter 2 and see what happened on the first Pentecost after Jesus Christ was resurrected. We are going to start reading in Acts 2:1. “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” So everybody who believed Jesus Christ was holding tight and had gathered together on that day of Pentecost. “…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 other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” This is what happened on that first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you were to count fifty days, (the forty-nine days representing seven Sabbath weeks and arrive at the fiftieth day) this is what happened. It was an awesome and mighty miracle that 120 people partook of. We can see that by turning back in Acts to chapter 1. I would like to read Acts chapter 1 to get a feel for it. We will read most of the chapter to get a feel for the events surrounding this first Pentecost after Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Starting in Acts 1, verse 1: “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, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” After Christ’s resurrection He spent forty days with the believers continuing to teach them about the kingdom of God. They had an assurance that He had raised from the dead, and He was teaching them. 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.’” He said you gather together and stay in Jerusalem. I want you to stay here. Do not separate and do not depart because something amazing is going to happen from the Father. He said you were baptized with water by John but shortly you are going to be baptized by something more awesome! Verse 6 of Acts 1: “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’” They thought He was the Messiah before and He was going to bring His rulership and kingdom, and He did not yet. Maybe that is what is going to happen! THE TIMES AND SEASONS Christ said to them in verse 7: “‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.’” Here we are at the end of the age. We are starting to understand the times and the seasons, because we are in the season where these amazing things are now going to culminate in a fantastic conversion of the world and go into a Millennium of peace! But He said you do not know when that is going to happen. The kingdom was not going to be established in that time. But He said in verse 8 here is what I want you to know. Verse 8: “‘But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” We see here that when we receive that power we become witnesses for God. We are witnesses to all the world of what happened! We need the Holy Spirit, the truth of God and that power in order to accomplish that for God. He said I am not telling you the time or the season right now when the kingdom will be installed. Here is the job that you need to do: be witnesses for Me now until the end shall come. Acts 1, verse 9: “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel…” They watched Christ go up, and then they were looking straight up in the air and being amazed by what they were seeing. When they looked around, there were two men standing there. Those two men were angels. ANGELS DESCRIBED AS MEN I want to digress just for a minute, because we have pointed out in other sermons and Bible studies that the son of perdition is a man who is an angel, Satan. There are many references to angels being called men, and that is because they are a form of sons of God. Go back to Job, and we can prove that very easily. In Job chapter 1 the angels (sons of God) came before God’s throne and Satan was among them. He was called a son of God. That is a very easy thing to prove, but it helps later on when reading Revelation when you see certain things happening to some of the men who are rulers. God is speaking of angels. FIRE REPRESENTED THE HOLY SPIRIT Getting back to the point here, they were staring up into heaven. These two men told them what are you looking up there for? They said He will come back the same way you saw Him leave. Acts 1, verse 12: “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” There were 120 people here: the apostles, Mary, Jesus Christ’s brothers and other believers gathered together doing what Christ had said. He said do not depart. Do not separate from each other and do not leave Jerusalem because in a little while something is going to happen. You are going to receive power from God to be My witnesses. He said I want you together. Then Acts 2 follows when they were together on Pentecost and that power came to them. They received fire, and there was a rushing mighty wind showing the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. Then they had power to do things for God. If Christ was walking with them for forty days, and He said do not leave because in a few days you are going to receive power, we know there was a ten-day period from the time He ascended to when they received the power of the Holy Spirit. There were ten days meaning fifty days had passed from His resurrection. He went up and got His authority, came back to the earth and walked with the brethren for forty days. He taught them about the kingdom of God. He then went back up and they did not see Him again. Ten days later they received the Holy Spirit. That is fifty days. That is very significant. God does things on time and He makes us count for very important reasons. PENTECOST ERA CONTINUES If this was just an historical event, it would not have nearly as much meaning for us today. But Pentecost continues! Pentecost represents a time period that is not finished yet because God is not finished gathering firstfruits. As that Pentecost era continues (and we see it is almost 2,000 years long at this point) we can understand that there is still counting involved. We start counting from when that wave sheaf offering would take place during the Days of Unleavened Bread. We count fifty and here we land on today. Why would God do that? Because He is not done with His work of the firstfruits. Let us first prove that Christ is the firstfruit of many firstfruits, and then we are going to talk about that counting. Go to I Corinthians chapter 15, if you would. This is often called the resurrection chapter. I Corinthians 15, verse 20: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” At this point all we have resurrected from the dead and given eternal life is Jesus Christ. He is the first born again. He is the firstfruit. But He is to be the firstfruit of many brethren. Let us turn to James chapter 1. James 1, verse 17: “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. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” We, the Church, are part of a group called the firstfruits, Jesus Christ being the first of the firstfruits and then us being called firstfruits. Turn, if you would, back to Romans chapter 8:29. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Christ is the first born among many brethren. The rest of the brethren are called firstfruits. They are pictured by this day that we are observing here: the Day of Pentecost, the Feast of Firstfruits. THE 144,000 These firstfruits form what God calls his 144,000, His government, the rulers of His kingdom to come. We can see that very simply by turning to Revelation chapter 14. Revelation 14 makes this absolutely clear that the 144,000 are the firstfruits. I want to start reading in verse 1. Read Revelation 14:1-5. We see some amazing things here. This 144,000 God considers very, very special, but one of the things that He loves about them is that in their mouth was found no deceit, no lies. One of the reasons why we have striven so hard to remove lies from our speaking is we do not want to misspeak for God in any way, shape or form. We want to tell the truth. That desire to want the truth and to tell the truth is one of the things that Christ said. I want this in my 144,000. If you go back to Acts chapter 1 He says I am going to give you the power to be My witnesses. Witnesses must tell the truth. There is nothing worse in a court situation than when you call a witness to the stand and they lie. It is the same for God’s Church. When we are appointed to witness for Him, we have to tell the truth. It has to be absolutely one hundred percent the truth. This is one of the things that is an identity of who the 144,000 are. You are not going to see any lies in the writings of the apostles or in their predecessors. We want to check into that because the 144,000 did not just start at that first day of Pentecost. If you were to read in Revelation chapter 7, that 144,000, it says, is 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel that goes all the way back to the institution of the twelve tribes. We can prove that quite easily by turning to Psalm 89. That is a wonderful study if anybody wants to go into it in more depth, but we are just going to check one scripture just to verify that. We are going to go to Psalm 89. What we are going to notice here is that King David is spoken of here as a firstborn, a firstfruit. We want to catch that as we are reading. Psalm 89, starting in verse 19. “Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, and said: ‘I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found My servant David; with My holy oil I have anointed him…’” That man received the Holy Spirit. Verse 21: “With whom My hand shall be established; also My arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him…” We can think of the physical enemies that he had, but his real enemy was Satan. Continuing in verse 22: “…nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him. But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name his horn shall be exalted.” There is a wonderful promise here we can see. We know some sins that David had. God says Satan will not outwit him. I will be with him and We will outwit Satan. Why that is important is because we need to realize we have arrived at Pentecost, and we have all tried to do the best we can, but we still have some sins. God looks at our heart. Do we really care, and are we trying to overcome? That is what He wants to see. He will be with us so that Satan does not ultimately outwit us. Of course, we have work to do. We have to overcome, but we have a lot of help in this battle. Continuing in Psalm 89, verse 25: “‘Also I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand over the rivers.’” Now we understand what the sea is. Eventually David is going to rule so that the contents of the sea (people who were converted throughout the world through all time) will be under this king called David. He is under Jesus Christ, the ultimate King and High Priest. Verse 26: “‘He shall cry to Me, “You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.” Also I will make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.’” Of the redeemed of the earth (the 144,000) the highest king is going to be David. He will be a firstborn. Verse 28: “‘My mercy I will keep for him forever, and My covenant shall stand firm with him. His seed also I will make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.’” King David is certainly a firstfruit. He is a firstborn even though he has not yet received the promise. He is assured of that position. He is one of the 144,000 redeemed of the earth. The only way we can be a firstfruit is to have become redeemed of the earth. OUR PENTECOST IS THE WORLD’S HOPE Now let us go back to Romans chapter 8 once again. We said at the outset that our Pentecost is the world’s hope, and it indeed is. This is why it is so important for us to take our calling seriously and do the job to the very best of our ability. Read Romans 8:18-23. Those of us who are part of and trying so hard to be part of the firstfruits are groaning. We are going through our own trials and tribulations, but the entire earth is waiting for us to be revealed. They are waiting for the Church and all of the firstfruits including King David and the prophets and the apostles. They are waiting for the Church to be revealed so that they can be released into the liberty of the sons of God. They will be getting released from captivity into the kingdom (the government) of God. There will be no more tyrants. There will be no more Satan plaguing them. There will be just peace and joy of the Millennium. It is a wonderful promise to both us and to the world. The world is counting on this to get done without realizing it! They are counting on us to do our part. The entire creation is waiting for the completion of Pentecost! That is why it is so important to get this job done as soon as possible. I want to go back and look at a scripture that backs that up. OTHER FIRSTFRUITS WAITING FOR US Please turn to Hebrews chapter 11. We are going to see that the mighty King David and the prophets of old are, indeed, waiting. They are waiting for something to happen in God’s Church. We are going to start reading in Hebrews 11:30. “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jepthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets…” David is listed here with a number of notable people from the Old Testament. Verse 33: “…who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.” Verse 37: “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” We see the significance of Pentecost and the job that we have to do. King David and all of these notable people we just read about in the Old Testament cannot receive the promise that is due them. We already read that David is due the position he has been awarded, but he cannot have it until the firstfruits are ready! Apart from us they cannot receive their promise! We have a very, very important job to do. ONWARD TO PENTECOST This year we have been feeling and preparing for this day with such emotion. I know that all of us have been driven to prepare for Passover. We have intensely self-examined. We judged ourselves so hopefully we will not have to be judged by Christ harshly. We have forgiven others and learned how to do it better than ever before, for we know that the amount we forgive is how it will be measured back to us. We renewed our covenant with God with more knowledge than we ever had before, understanding that our covenant with God is a serious matter. Our calling is a serious calling. During the Days of Unleavened Bread we felt compelled to put the leaven out like never before. We felt compelled to put sin out and the leaven of malice and wickedness, and to replace it with God’s truth and love and the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Let’s review where we started before Passover in I Corinthians chapter 5. Turn back to I Corinthians chapter 5 which we read during the Passover. I Corinthians 5, verse 6: “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” This we tried to do. We tried to keep the Passover and Unleavened Bread with more intensity than we have ever done it before. We tried very hard to put out the leaven of malice and wickedness and replace it with sincerity and truth. God is going to bless us here on Pentecost if we continue counting fifty days in that attitude. That is why we talked about “onward to Pentecost.” You recall we said, “onward to Pentecost.” We have worked hard preparing for Passover. We worked hard putting the leaven out during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Now let’s keep it up and keep this intensity going. Let’s count fifty days trying to build a crop and trying to build better character for God. When we would arrive here on this day we would have an offering from our life, which would be an offering of character and growth for God. With that attitude we began to count and tried to bear fruit for God. CONTINUE IN THE ATTITUDE OF PENTECOST Have we counted fifty and given an offering to God today, both physical and spiritual, and now take it easy? We could say we do not have to do that again until next year. Are we going to slack off because we accomplished what we set out to do? No! We need to continue in this vein and continue to bear fruit, for there are three seasons when we come before God and bring Him an offering. We have to do that again this coming fall, and we have to provide an offering of character growth. We cannot be complacent and stop here. We want to continue. If we understand fully the meaning of Pentecost and the fact that it is not over and it continues, we realize that the Pentecost season has just been pictured here today. But we are still alive in the Pentecost mode, you might say, until Pentecost stops. We want to bear fruit as long and as much as possible so that we can present God a better and better offering of character right until He says it is over. Pentecost is over, and we are moving on now to the fall holy days. SEVEN WEEKS, SEVEN CHURCH ERAS Will we count? Yes, from the first day of the week after the Sabbath, during the days of Unleavened Bread. But we must count every day of our life as a chance to continue growing. Why? If we examined that seven week period from the wave sheaf to the offering on Pentecost, we see that seven Sabbath periods are counted. Seven weeks of seven, or seven times seven equals forty nine. Then the fiftieth day is Pentecost. Those seven weeks each picture a period of work and rest. You work for six days to bear fruit. The seventh is your rest. There are seven Church eras, each one having to do the work of Pentecost, the firstfruits. Our entire life, whatever era we are in, is the week that we are working. Six days we shall work. Then whether we die or go straight into the Millennium, if we should live that long, we obtain the rest. A Millennial rest is pictured by the Sabbath. We have six days to work. Each of the seven Church eras has a week, so to speak, in order to work in before God tells you to hand the baton off to the next era. That is why Mr. Herbert Armstrong had that very interesting film of handing the baton to the next Church era. We have received the baton from the Philadelphian era. Now we must work while it is our chance to work. Pentecost is not over until God says it is over. We have to continue striving because we are the last group! We are the group holding things up! All the other six Church eras are done. They have done their work. God knows who the firstfruits are and they are set aside. They are waiting now, King David among them. They cannot receive their promise until this Pentecost season is over. Nobody is getting their promise until this season is over and done right. That is why if you were to look in Exodus 34 (and as we read in Deuteronomy 16 where it talked about the offering) we come before God three times. Pentecost is seen as one of them. Pentecost is also called the Feast of Weeks because you count off weeks. We are not just counting off forty-nine days. As we read earlier in Leviticus 23, we are counting off seven Sabbaths. We are counting seven weeks equaling forty-nine days. So this is a very important concept that each Church era has had their time, done their work and God knows their works. God says in Revelation I know your works. I know if you kept your first love. I know if you slacked off. I know if you worked hard for Me. I know if you did not develop character. He knows the people in each Church era and what they have accomplished. We are no different. He is watching us, and He knows if we are accomplishing growth in our character. He knows if we are overcoming sin. He knows if we are getting rid of the spots and blemishes, and He knows if we are not. He is watching. When the Father sees that the bride is ready and enough spots and blemishes are removed on enough people to complete that 144,000, then Pentecost is over! It is very close now. We cannot say exactly, but we can say we are in the time and the season. Christ told the apostles in Acts chapter 1, “It is not for you to know times or seasons.” It is for you to receive the Holy Spirit and go and be My witnesses. Get this job done! To us at the end, He says it is the time and the season! There are many things that we now see happening that are strong evidence that we are in the time and the season, and Pentecost is going to end. I cannot give you a day, but I am saying we cannot waste any more time. We need to strive as we have never striven before. I think this is what we are all feeling this year. There is a pressure to produce and make God happy with the efforts that we are doing here. He will, by those efforts, accomplish something to bring Pentecost to a fulfillment and a conclusion. Then we can go on to the innumerable multitude. THE INNUMERABLE MULTITUDE Speaking of the innumerable multitude, we are about to hand the baton off to them! When Pentecost is done, God is moving on to a summertime when He is going to have people bear fruit and grow preparing for a huge fall harvest. Pentecost is the spring harvest. The Feast of Tabernacles is the fall harvest. We are going to hand the baton off to the innumerable multitude who then enter their tribulation where they have to bear fruit and they have to get rid of the errors that are in their minds. They must overcome Satan and receive their white garments. It is a wonderful thing to comprehend that as God counts time, He is moving forward! We want to keep up with Him and accomplish the work that we need to in the proper time. We do not want to be firstfruits caught in the summertime of the innumerable multitude. We do not want to be trying to get something out of order. We need to be with God and keep up with Him. Six eras have completed their work and here we are at the end time era: the Laodicean era. We are trying to get this done under horrible circumstances and God knows that. He knows this is tough, but He promises to be there with us. He wants to help us so that we not only will help the people waiting and sleeping so that they can get their promise, but also so we can help advance the cause by getting ready to give that world out there that is groaning a chance to attain their garments. That is what we need to provide for. Let us look at that group a little bit. Turn to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation 7 starts with the 144,000 and then in verse 9 it moves straight into the innumerable multitude. Here is what we are told about them in Revelation chapter 7, starting in verse 9. We will read to verse 17. This is the promise for the innumerable multitude. They cannot receive it until Pentecost is done. So they are waiting for this to get done. People who have died in the past are waiting for this to get done. It is now our turn to get it done. It is an awesome responsibility and one that we need to take seriously. Let’s turn to Revelation chapter 14. There are a few more scriptures regarding this innumerable multitude. We read verses 1-5 about the 144,000 and then once again it talks about the innumerable multitude. We will start in Revelation 14:6. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people…” It is the same group being spoken of. “…saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’” There is the water that is going to be given to them. God will wipe away every tear when they accomplish their work in the great tribulation and when they receive this gospel. Where did they get this gospel? It is in the baton we are handing them! The gospel of the kingdom is to be preached to all the earth. They need to hear what we know, but their season is not there until Pentecost is done. We have to do what we need to do in order to advance the cause. God counts things and does things in a logical order step by step by step. He is a very, very intelligent being who has a well thought out plan. Sometimes we do things by the seat of the pants. God never does that. That is why we carefully count and carefully examine the scriptures to find out what we are supposed to be doing at any given time. Daniel wanted to know what the prophecies he wrote were. God said no, you just write them. They are for people later. The apostles in Acts 1 asked when are You bringing Your kingdom back? That time and season is not for you to know. You get the power now. Everything happens in a correct order. Here we are learning all kinds of amazing things. Why? This is the time and season to learn because we have to teach billions of people! God, of course, is going to be behind it all. He gets this done some amazing way. This amazing work that God is doing He is doing through human beings. God has enormous courage to work with weak people like the apostles, like the prophets, like us. He works through flesh and blood and tries to accomplish something spiritual. He has tremendous courage, but it takes a lot of wisdom, strength and effort. Sometimes even God gets tired. I am going to show you a couple of scriptures about that in just a moment. First, let’s turn to Isaiah chapter 37. Jesus Christ is working in this body that is the Church, His bride. He is trying to accomplish something, and He knows we have run into a real snag here at the end. He has had to delay His coming because Pentecost was not getting finished when He really could have finished at the earliest convenience, you might say, to God. It has not been convenient. We have gone on beyond what we needed to because the Church was not ready. The Church went down. The Church is suffering, but God knew this would happen. A REVIVAL OF THE CHURCH In Isaiah 37, starting in verse 30 we were given a sign. “This shall be a sign to you: You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, and the second year what springs from the same; also in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” A sign to us is that we will once again bear fruit. The Church is not bearing fruit right now. The Church will put roots downward and draw sustenance, that is, water up into the branches. The vineyard will bear fruit. We are told in Matthew 24 the fig tree will begin to put out new shoots and new little leaves. When it comes back to life, the fig tree represents God’s Church. We are going to get revived in some miraculous way by God and fed after a couple of lean years where we are trying to grow. Then God says the remnant shall grow. If you would, turn to Hosea. The same promise is made in Hosea chapter 6. Starting in verse 1: “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.” The Church has to return to God. You cannot have a need to return if you never left. The Church has left God, and God knows this. He has allowed us to be torn apart. But He says after two days when we finally have departed, He will revive us. This, in essence, is a revival of the true Church of God. We may be down and nearly totally out, but do not count on us being dead! Not forever! We can go to Revelation 11 where God talks about the two witnesses. Those who are alive at the end time who are part of the 144,000 do die for a period of three and a half days. They are not put in graves because it is not a physical death. It is spiritual death. It is a dying of the truth. There is no witness shedding God’s light. There is no witness using the power given on that Pentecost. Daniel 12 tells us when the power of the holy people is completely shattered and scattered, you know the end is at hand! We are nearly there, brethren. The evidence is there. God tells us the next thing that is going to happen is a revival. A lot of Protestant churches have a good old fashioned revival. There is going to be a revival, and the Church is going to get back up. Ten virgins are sleeping, but they are going to wake up! Then God is going to do something awesome. He promises this, and we look forward to this with earnest expectation that more people would learn the truth of God and how we will be merciful to the Church that has collapsed. BEYOND THE FIRSTFRUITS As I told you earlier, Christ is working through this body of flesh and blood human beings. He has been working now for 6,000 years, but since that first Pentecost after His resurrection, He has been dwelling in people for 2,000 years. He watched us get completely overcome as it says in Revelation 13. He is tired. Christ is tired because He is dwelling in physical people. We are tired. When we are tired, Christ is tired. If we are not doing the work, we are running out of energy. We will turn to an amazing conversation between God the Father and Jesus Christ. Turn to Isaiah chapter 49. The episode that we are involved with is discussed between God the Father and Jesus Christ. Isaiah 49, starting in verse 1: “‘Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name, and He has made My mouth like a sharp sword…’” Who has a sharp sword in His mouth? It is Jesus Christ we find in Revelation. So this is Christ being spoken of here. Continuing in verse 2: “And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword…” The Father made Christ like a sharp sword. “…in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me. And He said to Me…” (the Father said to Jesus Christ) “‘You are My servant, O Israel…’” He calls Him Israel. “‘…in whom I will be glorified.’” This is spiritual Israel, the 144,000. Verse 4: “Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God.’ And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength)…” So God says, yes, I know You are tired. You have been working through spiritual Israel, the 144,000 (12,000 from each tribe). You got to the end after all of this work. You are tired. The bride has laid down on the job. She is exhausted. She has been overcome. But God the Father makes a promise to Jesus Christ in verse 6. Isaiah 49, verse 6: “‘…indeed He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob…”’” He says it is too small just to resurrect the firstfruits, so we are going to do something way beyond that! “‘…and to restore the preserved ones of Israel…’” We are the ones who need restoration. “‘…I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’” He says Your body is going to get up. We are going to restore it, and then they are going to go to the Gentiles, the entire earth, and offer them salvation! That is speaking of the innumerable multitude to come. Verse 7: “Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: ‘Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You.’ Thus says the Lord: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages; that You may say to the prisoners, “go forth,” to those who are in darkness, “show yourselves.” They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them.’” Where did we just read that? We read that in Revelation 14. This is the innumerable multitude. When they receive their chance and God goes to them, we will be a spring of water to them. We will wipe away every tear from their eyes. God will wipe it away. They will have had their chance. God is talking to a very tired bride here, the bride of Christ, which is the body of Christ that is exhausted. Christ is dwelling in us. We are worn out. We are worn down. We are getting exhausted, and we are getting tired. We were warned this would happen, but we just never thought it would be this way. But in Revelation 3, which we have read many times, under the Philadelphian era the perseverance of the saints is to hang on. We need to hold on tight to our crown. Do not let go! We did not realize how hard it was going to be to hang on, and that is why we are so few. God says when Your body is exhausted, Christ, I am going to step in. Daddy is stepping in here. Just like children run to daddy to take care of them. Christ is turning the body over to Dad and Dad is going to take care of this. This is the miracle we are going to see. He says I promise. It is too little just to preserve your 144,000. We are going from Pentecost on to the Millennium. We are going on to the Feast of Tabernacles. There will be no end to the increase of your government. That is the calling we have been called into. It is awesome and it relies on us battling Satan to build character to offer to God as firstfruits without spot and blemish. We are involved with a tremendous plan of God. We are doing something amazing when we examine ourselves and we are able to overcome Satan and sin. When we do this and put leaven out of our lives, we are doing the biggest thing to help the world receive the promise they are waiting for, as well as those who have gone before us. Let us conclude with our last scripture in Romans chapter 8. We have been there twice already, but we are going to read a little different section of Romans 8 this time. We are going to start reading in verse 22 which will back track a little bit on some of the scriptures we read, but it will tie things together nicely. Romans 8, verse 22: “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Jesus Christ is groaning within us the things we cannot understand. He is suffering pain that we cannot appreciate right now, but it is going to get fixed. The Father just told us it will. Continue reading Romans 8:27. “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Verse 31: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” We may be Laodicea and we may be persecuted and in distress. We were naked, wretched and miserable and did not know this for a while, but we know it now. God is giving us the strength and the power to fight back. He never did forsake us. He left us for a while for our own good. Then we learned how weak we really were. Now He is coming back to help us. Verse 36: “As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God is going to win. He is going to win bigger than we ever dreamt. He is not going to allow this earth to be destroyed. He wants an innumerable multitude. He is calling a few of us and asking us to hand them the baton to give them a chance in their time to bear fruit, receive God’s Holy Spirit, and go into that beautiful Millennium that lies just ahead. This is what we are called to do. This is a job that God has laid before us. We understand it now as we never have before. It is up to us individually to remove the spots and blemishes in our lives and go forward, offering God a better character every opportunity we can. The next opportunity is the fall holy days. We have all summer now to count the days and bear fruit for God so we can offer Him another offering even superior to the one we are giving Him today. With this He will be well pleased, and we will eventually be told “well done, good and faithful servants” if we take this seriously. OUR EXPERIENCE FOR THE WORLD What of all of these horrible experiences we have gone through? What of all these trials, tribulations and tests that we as a Church have endured for the last number of years? Our experience is for the world’s sake, for if God can do it through us, (weak flesh and blood human beings) we will be able to be a more effective witness when we tell the people in the world you can do it too! You can do this too because God will not forsake you. He is offering you something that He is telling you He will be a success at. All you have to do is let Him. Accept the name of the Lord, accept the conditions of the covenant and go on to receive that Holy Spirit. Then you will be part of the innumerable multitude. We can point to ourselves. We came from broken families. We came from backgrounds full of sin and trouble, and we had to overcome. Now they can too. We can look forward to the time when we can share our experiences with them. It is no different than what happened to the Old Testament Israelites! Haven’t we learned from their experiences? None of the failures that they went through were in vain. We can look at ancient Israel and see why their temple was torn down and why God was displeased with them. We can see why they had to be chastised and corrected. We can apply it to our own lives today, because we are part of a temple that has been torn down. We have been scattered. We have been persecuted. We deserved it. We do not look at them anymore and say those Jews rejected Christ! We have done no better, and we had the Holy Spirit! Nobody is going to stand up and be proud and say what a wonderful thing I have accomplished. But we are all going to stand up and say Jesus Christ did this through me. He can do it through you too. You can be part of that innumerable multitude. Here is the baton because Pentecost is over, and now it is your time to shine in the sun. We look forward to that. God is not a failure. He is going to succeed in a remarkable way. We are on a knife edge of seeing wonderful things throughout this beautiful earth!