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PENTECOST – 2000
Day 50
Fred R. Coulter – June 11, 2000
Now for the Feast of Pentecost, the year 2000, there’s a tremendous meaning
for this feast, and there are a lot of things that God wants us to know and
to understand as we go forward and in keeping the holy days. And all
of the holy days really show us and teach us the ways of God. Now it’s
very interesting but in the Septuagint version of the Bible, when you go
through Exodus 31, all the way through there with the exception of the
seventh day Sabbath, it says, “My Sabbaths”, plural. So you see you
can’t have one without the other. If you have the seventh day Sabbath,
which you keep, then you must also keep the annual Sabbaths.
Now this day of the Feast of Pentecost pictures the finality of the harvest
of the firstfruits. And it all begins with Christ on the wave sheaf
offering day, as we saw yesterday. Let’s go back to Exodus 34 and
let’s pick it up here in verse 26 because as we have seen Christ is the
first of the firstfruits. And so for ancient Israel God wanted the
children of Israel to always remember that the first of the firstfruits
belonged to God.
Verse 26 says, “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring
unto the house of the LORD thy God.” Christ was the first of the
firstfruits as we saw in John 20. That He ascended to the Father on
the morrow after the Sabbath. He was the premier sheaf that was
elevated by the priest to be accepted on our behalf. In other words as
the very sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins plus the
resurrected Christ for the justification to put us in right standing with
God, and for Christ to be at the right hand of God the Father, to carry out
His plan and carry it forward.
Now let’s come to 1 Corinthians 15 and let’s see some very important things
concerning the resurrection, and of course everything starts with the
resurrection of Christ. And as we saw yesterday that the firstfruits
is a firstfruit harvest. It is harvest holy day to celebrate the
completing, the accomplishing of the firstfruits of the grain. Now
that’s not all the firstfruits which follow after that. There are the
firstfruits of the fruit of the tree, there are firstfruits of other
products, other vegetables, other things that come along. Those all
belong to God. But this is a special one. And the harvest that
God has with the Feast of Pentecost relates to and begins with Christ Who is
the first of the firstfruits.
Now let’s come to 1 Corinthians 15 and let’s understand something very
important concerning the resurrection of Christ. And especially in
this day. Now we need to understand too, and I’m going to emphasize
again that you must have the right Bible. And the right Bible is the
one that is based upon the right Greek text and Hebrew text. And so
the King James Version has been based upon the proper texts. Now I’ve
been doing a translation, and it is all complete but we still have a little
bit of editing to do to get it done. So today when we get to the book
of Revelation I’m going to use my translation of the book of Revelation.
But I use the same Greek text that was used that the translators of the King
James Version used, which is the Byzantine text, also known as the
authorized text, or the received text, or the text of 1550 by Stephens.
And so that’s the one that I have used. Now let’s read here in the
King James Version of the Bible.
Let’s begin here in verse 12, because this is important. “Now if
Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that
there is no resurrection of the dead?” So immediately Satan is there.
As soon as the seeds have been sown Satan is there bringing his tares and
infiltrating into the Church, bringing false doctrine and saying, “Why
there’s no resurrection. We’re all going to heaven.” No.
Notice Paul’s argument here. “But if there be no resurrection of the
dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen…” Now I
want you to notice the strength of his argument. And I want you to
know how dogmatically he brings it because this is important. “But if
there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if
Christ be not risen, then is
our preaching vain…” In other words they’re preaching a myth.
You’re preaching something that is empty, that is hollow, that has no
meaning. “…And your faith is also [in] vain. Yea, and we
are found false witnesses of God…” Now this is an important statement.
Anytime someone makes a statement that is not in conformity with the word of
God, is a false witness for God. Meaning that he is testifying of
something which is not true, and claiming that God has sanctioned it.
Which then is false witnessing for God. Taking the name of God in
vain, using the name of God in futility and vanity. “…Because we have
testified of God that He raised up Christ: Whom He raised not up, if so be
that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ
raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is
[in] vain; ye are yet in your sins” (vs. 13-17).
In other words there is no forgiveness of sin unless Christ, Who is the
first of the firstfruits, ascended unto the Father to be accepted on the
morrow after the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which then is
the first day beginning the 50 day count. Unless that occurred there
is no forgiveness of sin. And you can also trust and be reassured that
any other scheme of the forgiveness of sin will not bring the forgiveness of
sin because Christ is the way and the truth and the life. And there is
no other way that it can be done than through Jesus Christ.
Now continuing verse 18, “Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ
are perished.” Cause there’s no hope. “If in this life only we
have hope in Christ [without a resurrection], we are of all men most
miserable.” Why? Because you’re believing in something that is
false, if the dead are not raised. But notice how Paul concludes his
argument. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become
the firstfruits [that is the first of the firstfruits] of them that [sleep]
slept. For since by man came
death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in
Adam all die…” Because we all have inherited the law of sin and death
within us, and so as in Adam we die. Just like God told Adam.
“Dust you are and unto dust you shall return.” “…Even so in Christ
shall all be made alive” (vs. 18-22). That is all the resurrections.
The three resurrections in the Bible. The first resurrection, the
second resurrection of those who have not committed the unpardonable sin,
and the other part of the second resurrection, which is the resurrection of
those who have committed the unpardonable sin. All will be made alive
in Christ. Whether for eternal life, or whether for eternal death.
Now notice verse 23, very important. “But every man in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits…” And as we saw yesterday, we are the Church of
the Firstborn. We are the firstfruit of the harvest but Christ is the
first of the firstfruits. “…Afterward they that are Christ’s at His
coming.” And so that’s when the first resurrection is going to be, at
His coming.
Now we’re going to see then “at His coming”, how this pictures the day of
Pentecost as the day of the resurrection. And let’s understand that
that is the only day that it can signify. Well then someone will
surely say, “Well then you’re saying you know when the return of Christ is.”
No we’re saying we know when the resurrection will be. And the reason
is we can go back this way. Let’s look at it from what we already
know. Is Christ our Passover, Who was crucified for us? Answer:
yes. When was He crucified? On the Passover day. Did God
do it on the time and in the day that He prophesied, and in the way and the
manner that He said that He would do it? Yes.
Now it’s exactly the same thing concerning the resurrection of Christ.
When was He raised? Right at the end of the Sabbath after being in the
grave three days and three nights. When did He ascend to the Father?
On the wave sheaf offering day. And then we saw how there are seven
churches. And those seven churches represent the harvest of the church
age. And the harvest of the church age then is part of the main
harvest of God. And that’s from the time that Christ ascended to
heaven until the time of the first resurrection, which we will see.
Then every man in his own order. We know that at the end of the
thousand years there will be the second resurrection of those who have not
committed the unpardonable sin. And then the other half of the second
resurrection, for those who committed the unpardonable sin, that all the
wicked may be thrown in the lake of fire at once.
So the holy days picturing God’s plan, these things happen on the holy
days. So let’s keep that in mind. And let’s understand something
that of the day of Christ’s coming no one really knows because I’ll show you
why. I’ll show you why a little bit later. So let’s continue on
here, and let’s pick up the story now in Acts 1 and let’s see what Luke
wrote concerning the things, the events that took place after Christ was
raised from the dead.
Now let’s begin here in Act 1:3, concerning Christ, “To whom also He shewed
Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of
them of them forty days…” Now isn’t it interesting that Christ was
seen of the apostles from the time of His ascension until the time of His
second ascension into heaven. His first one to be accepted, and then
His second one to remain in heaven. He was seen of the apostles 40
days. But also isn’t it interesting that after Pentecost, and the
covenant that was made with Israel and the wedding supper of Israel with the
70 elders, as I explained yesterday, that Moses was on the mount with God 40
days. So in either case we have 40 days. In Christ’s case it’s
40 days before Pentecost. And in Moses case it’s 40 days from the day
after Pentecost. So it’s 40 days.
“…And speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being
assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not
depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which,
saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water,
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy [Spirit] Ghost not many days hence.”
Which was just 10 days away. “When they therefore were come together,
they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the
kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you to know
the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own [authority]
power” (Act. 1:3-7). Remember this was before any of the New Testament
was written. And this was written before the book of Revelation was
written by John. And the book of Revelation is to reveal. And
all of the New Testament is to reveal the will of God and His word and His
truth.
Verse 8 now, “But ye shall receive power [dunamis-power], after that
the Holy [Spirit] Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth.” And so that is a continuous thing that is going on
today. And God has made it known. And God has sent it out.
And there are Bibles in over 250 languages. The New Testament in over
1,200 languages, and the book of Mark in over 2,000 languages, and all of
that is preaching the gospel. And so it is going out. We all
have our part to do our preaching. We all have our part to do our
witnessing. And brethren, pray that God will open whatever doors are
necessary for us to reach out and to reach new people.
Now with our new web-site we’re able to reach out into all the world,
24-hours a day, seven days a week, and to anyone who has a computer can get
on there and find out information concerning many things. Now if you
haven’t gotten on there yet go ahead and try it. I’ll give you the
.com address right here. It is
www.cbcg.org
. Now we have a lot of information and literature on there. We
have tapes on there. We have sermons on there. And we have some
things especially concerning the beliefs booklet, which none of those who
fellowship with the Christian Biblical Church of God have ever heard because
we haven’t mailed them out. We’ve done them especially for the
web-site. And we’re going to have some other things put on there, and
hopefully this will also, what you’re seeing today will be on the web-site
in the audio form.
Now let’s continue on here, verse 9. “And when He had spoken these
things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of
their sight.” Just disappeared to go sit at the right hand of God the
Father. “And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;” That’s two angels.
Angels look like men. “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand
ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into
heaven” (vs. 9-11) .
Now let’s go ahead and come here to Acts 2 and let’s see how tremendous and
momentous this event was, and how important it is to understand the real
meaning of verse 1. And as I mentioned yesterday, we have the booklet,
which is “The True Meaning of Acts 2:1”, because everyone has misconstrued
this, twisted the scriptures to their own destruction to make it say
something that it really doesn’t say. So let’s read it in the King
James.
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come…” And some people say,
“See, the 50th day was over. They were all assembled with one accord
in one place. So see, that means they were there on the 51st day.”
That doesn’t relate to what the Greek really means. The Greek here has
a special articular infinitive, the present tense. And this should be
translated: and during the fulfilling, or the accomplishing of the 50th day,
not the 51st. If it were the 51st day then it would clearly say the
50th and first day. But it doesn’t say that in the Greek.
“And during the fulfilling of the 50th day they were all with
one accord in one place” (paraphrased). Why? They were assembled
for the holy day, which is a holy convocation. That’s why they were
there.
“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven…” Now you see here is
the re-enactment of what we saw yesterday at Mt. Sinai. Only instead
of at Mt. Sinai it’s at the temple of God because that’s where God placed
His name. So anything that God was going to do, any authorization and
change in the way that things were done would come from God. And in
this case by the power of His Holy Spirit, and right at the temple, so that
it would be fully established that this was by the authority and the power
of God, undeniable.
“…As of a rushing might wind, and it filled all the house where they were
sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire…”
Remember the fire on top of Mt. Sinai. So this is showing the same
fulfillment now only spiritually, of the day of Pentecost, as when the law
was given on the day of Pentecost. “…And it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy [Spirit] Ghost, and began to speak
with other tongues [which means other languages], as the Spirit gave them
utterance” (vs. 2-4). Now let’s understand something very important
here. God is not the author of confusion, so whatever the Holy Spirit
did was something that was sound, it was intelligible, it was
understandable, and it was for a specific purpose. And that’s what
happened on this day of Pentecost.
And here’s the reason. “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews,
devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised
abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every
man heard them speak in his own language” (vs. 5-6). So there was a
double miracle. There was a miracle in the preaching. Because in
the minds of the apostles they were thinking and speaking with their own
language, but in everyone who was listening it came to them in their own
language. Now this is a profound thing to understand. Not only just
for Jews because remember the New Testament says, to the Jew first and then
to the Greek. So we have here to the Jew first, but also to those who
were assembled there in Jerusalem who came from every nation on earth.
And please understand that the stories that went back from those who were up
at Jerusalem during the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and all
the events that took place that we have already covered. How that
Christ was crucified and raised from the dead, and all the stories that were
told by the scribes and Pharisees to tell the lies that the disciples stole
the body away. And so now they knew that something big was going to
happen on Pentecost, because it was a holy day of God. And this was
big. This was great. This was fulfilling the prophecy of God
giving His Spirit to men. And He began with the apostles.
And it says here, verse 7, “ And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying
one to another, Behold are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And
how [since they are uneducated, that is the implication here] hear we every
man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” (vs. 7-8). They were
hearing, they were understanding, and then it lists all of the nations that
they were from. And the last part of verse 10 says Jews and
proselytes. Now proselytes were circumcised Gentiles who would embrace
the religion of Judaism.
Now the last part of verse 11, “…we do hear them speak in our tongues the
wonderful works of God.” So this day was tremendous. “And they
were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth
this? Others mocking said, these men are full of new wine. But Peter,
standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men
of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto
you, and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken, as ye
suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day” (vs. 11-15).
Now that is in the morning. The third hour of the day. When did
God appear on Mt. Sinai? In the morning. When did He give the
law? On the day of Pentecost. When did He give the Holy Spirit,
in other words to give them the heart now to keep God’s laws? Because
remember, when He gave the Ten Commandments He said there in Deuteronomy
5:29, He said, “Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear
Me and keep My commandments always.” Now God is supernaturally giving
the heart, by the circumcision of the heart through the power of the Holy
Spirit so that they would have, that they would have the ability now to keep
the laws of God. Greater than that. God’s Spirit and power would
write them in their hearts and in their minds so they could keep them with a
willing heart, with a willing attitude. And in service to God.
But first there has to be repentance as we will see in just a minute.
Then Peter went on and gave this tremendous and powerful sermon. Now
notice verse 16. “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet
Joel;” Now we’ll see how this ties in with Revelation 7 in just a
little bit. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I
will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams: And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in
those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew
wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire,
and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon
into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come” (vs. 16-20).
Well now He gave this prophecy. It’s recorded here in Acts 2, but this
has not yet occurred. The only thing that has occurred of this is that
the Holy Spirit was given. The rest of it has not occurred. That
is for a future day of Pentecost, as we will see. And so we need to
keep that in mind. We’ll see that when we get to the book of
Revelation.
“And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of
Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you,
as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel
and the foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains
of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it” (vs.
21-24). Now then he finished giving the sermon saying that David was
not resurrected from the grave but it was Jesus, even though He gave the
promise to David.
Now let’s pick it up here in verse 34, “For David is not ascended into the
heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord…” So they
understood those Psalms. Remember the very first time that they saw
Jesus in the evening on the day that He ascended to the Father, back there
in Luke 24, what did He do? He opened their understanding concerning
Him and the law, and the prophets, and the Psalms. So here he’s
quoting the Psalm here. Psalm 110. “…Sit Thou on My right
hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool” (vs. 34-35).
Verse 36, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God
hath made that same Jesus, Whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
That was a powerful sermon, and notice what happened. “Now when they
heard this, they were pricked in their heart…” Now this is what
has to happen to every one of us. This is what has to happen to
everyone who God calls. They are pricked in their heart so they will
understand what Christ went through to die for their sins and become the
sacrifice for all of mankind. And God leads you to repentance to
understand that.
And let’s understand something very important too. Repentance is a
continuous, ongoing thing in our lives. By the operation of the grace
of God, and He is the One Who leads us to it. You know, just like the
parable of the prodigal son, remember what happened to him? He got his
inheritance and went out and spent it, squandered it in a strange land and
was out feeding the hogs good food. He couldn’t even eat it. And
it says there, “…and when he came to himself…” Now this is what you
need to do concerning repentance. You need to come to yourself.
That is understand where you are. Understand your nature, understand
your sins, and repent to God. Now that’s what they did here.
“…They were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of
the apostles, Men and
brethren, what shall we do?” (vs. 37). Because there are things that God
wants us to do.
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent…”, and repentance means to turn from
your sin, turn from the way you’re going. Turn back and come to God.
Just like God said through Ezekiel, “Turn you, turn you, for why will you
die O house of Israel.” So it’s the same way with us. And I hope
there are brethren out there who are turning back to God. Why will you
die O Church of God, you that have gone astray? Turn you, turn you,
come back to God. Let your hearts be pricked.
Part 2
“…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy [Spirit]
Ghost. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all
that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves
from this untoward generation” (vs. 38-40).
Now verse 41 is a very key important verse. “Then they that gladly
received his word were baptized: and the same day…” Which day?
During the fulfilling of the 50th day. “…The same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls.” So that is a tremendous thing
that happened. So imagine the account that every one went back and
told the story of being there at the temple, and this tremendous event took
place. And that one that was called Jesus Christ was raised from the
dead, and how the power of the Holy Spirit came on them. This was a
tremendous event. And so we’ll project forward to the last Pentecost
here in just a minute.
But now I want to go back and pick up something that’s very important.
Let’s go back and let’s pick up concerning in Leviticus 23 the two loaves
that were baked with leaven. And let’s ask ourselves a couple of
questions concerning this and let’s see if we can determine the true
scriptural use of leaven here in Leviticus 23, and what that pictures in
it’s fulfillment. Now remember, all during the Feast of Unleavened
Bread leaven represents sin. Outside the Feast of Unleavened Bread
leaven does not represent sin. Now what we are looking at here is a
good use of leaven, is it not? Let’s read it.
Now in verse 17, and this is to be done on the 50th day.
“Ye shall bring out of your habitations…” Now this is all who
assembled up at the temple area, that they were to bring out of their
habitations. “…Two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of
fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven…” Why would God have them
put leaven in these? Now this has to be a good use of leaven because
it’s waved before God. Now I think we were right in our past
understanding that one loaf equals those were qualified for the first
resurrection under the Old Covenant, and the other loaf represents those who
qualify for the resurrection under the New Covenant. Now then, why
leaven? Now what does it say these are? “…they are the
firstfruits unto the LORD.” Baked.
Now let’s go to Matthew 13 and let’s see something important here, where
there is defining the kingdom of God with the parable of the leaven, which
is a good use of the leaven. Matthew 13:33, “Another parable spake He
unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven…” Now you can’t
say that this is a bad use of leaven. You cannot say that leaven here
is picturing sin because then you would have to say that the kingdom is
likened unto sin. And the kingdom is likened unto righteousness, not
sin, correct? Yes. So it’s likened unto leaven “…which a woman
took [now the woman is the Church], and hid in three measures of meal, till
the whole was leavened.”
Now what happens to bread… Now all dough when you first make it is
unleavened. When it’s baked in unleaven then it’s permanently in that
form. That is permanently until it’s eaten. Now, when you put
the leaven in it it rises. It completely changes the form of the
bread. And when you bake it it is permanently in that changed form.
It can’t be…well, I suppose it could but it’s dough. It can’t be
beaten back as though to make it flat again like you do when it rises and
then you beat it back, let it rise a couple more times so that you really
get everything leavened. So here is a good use of leaven.
Now what does this picture? This pictures the new spirit body, which
we will receive. All of those from the Old Covenant that qualified,
and going all the way back to Abel. And those who under the New
Covenant, beginning with the day of Pentecost as we saw who received the
Holy Spirit at the resurrection, they will be changed. Now let’s see
that in 1 Corinthians 15.
Now this becomes very important, very profound. You are not going to
be raised with the same body that you have in the flesh today. Now
let’s notice how the apostle Paul describes this. Let’s begin here in
verse 34. Now remember he also condemned them already as we saw
earlier, that there were some who did not believe in the resurrection.
“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of
God: I speak this to your shame.” Can you imagine that?
Sitting in the Church of God not having the knowledge of God? Well we
see the same thing being repeated today. How can people sit there in
the Church of God and have not the knowledge of God? Well number one
they have not been taught, and number two some of them may be tares, and
number three, some of them may be Laodiceans or whatever attitude of the
seven churches that be there.
Now continuing on in verse 35. “But some man will say, How are
the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool
[Paul says], that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.”
Now hold your place here and let’s come to John 12 and let’s see how Jesus
explained it concerning Himself, likening it also unto grain. And
remember that Jesus was the first of the firstfruits, right? He was
the premiere sheaf of the harvest of the grain, correct? Yes.
Now let’s begin here in John 12:24. “Verily, verily [or that is Amen,
Amen], I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone…” Now this is a sowing, isn’t it? And we
covered part of that yesterday, didn’t we in Matthew 13? Yes.
“…But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life
shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto
life eternal” (John 12-24-25). So Christ is likening even His own
death as a grain being planted that dies.
So let’s come back here to 1 Corinthians 15. It’s the same thing
here. “…That which thou sowest is not [made alive] quickened, except
it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be,
but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But
God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed His own body.
All flesh is not the same flesh…” So he goes on to explain it
in quite detail here. “…There is one kind of flesh of
men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of
birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There
is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another
glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star
in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is
sown in corruption [as you die]; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in
dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in
power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (vs. 36-44).
Now notice how it’s talking about the harvest continually. It is sown,
it is sown. That’s why the day of Pentecost pictures the resurrection
because that’s a finality of the firstfruits harvest for the grain.
Now let’s pick it up here in verse 45. “And so it is written, The
first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening [or a living] spirit.” That is Christ through the power
of the resurrection. “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that
which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the
second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy,
such are they also that are earthly: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (vs. 45-49). And
when we bear the image of the heavenly we’re going to see here that we will
be changed, just like a lump of dough is changed when leaven is put in it,
and then when it’s baked in it’s final form, it is permanently in a changed
form. So that’s exactly what it will be with us for the
resurrection.
Now let’s continue on, verse 50. “Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption.” It must come from God as a gift. “Behold,
I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed”
(vs. 50-52). Now we will see in a little bit that in Revelation 11 the
last trump is defined as the seventh trump. And that is the
resurrection.
Now notice, “For this corruptible must put [from God] on incorruption, and
this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory
[by the very power of the resurrection]” (vs.53-54). Now notice here.
We will be changed. Permanent change. Now that is what the
leaven of the two loaves picture on the day of Pentecost. And of
course when all the thousands of them came there were thousands and
thousands of those loaves. And they waved them before the Lord and
then that became part of their keeping of the Feast of Pentecost.
Now let’s continue on brethren because this really gets exciting. Now
let’s go back and we’ll just review. We won’t turn there but turn to
the book of Revelation and let’s come to chapter 6 here for just a minute.
But we’ll review chapter 2 and 3. And chapter 2 and 3 we have the
seven churches. And that pictures the seven churches that were then.
That pictures the seven churches down through history. That pictures
perhaps even the seven churches at the end time. If we have seven from
which comes seven, out of which comes seven, which is the pattern of the
book of Revelation then we probably have seven churches in the end-time
which will match up to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. These
seven churches represent the seven weeks harvest. Now let’s see when
the seven week harvest comes to an end and then we are left once again with
the 50th day harvest, which will be God’s harvest.
Now, right after Revelation 2 and 3 we have Revelation 4 and 5 showing the
events that are going on there, and how that Christ is the only One to open
the seals. And then He was given power to open the seals, and that is
after the time that God the Father gave Christ the authority to do so.
Now let’s begin in chapter 6 because here we will see where we have the end
of the Church age.
Let’s begin, “And I looked when the Lamb opened on of the seals…” Now
I’m reading out of my translation here. “…And I heard one of the four
living creatures saying, as a voice of thunder, “Come and see!” And I
looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one who was sitting on it had a
bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to
conquer” (Rev. 6:1-2, A.T.). Now this is a picture of the false
religion going out in conquering and to conquer. We see
that happening right now bringing all coalesced into the coming one world
government.
“And when He opened the second seal I heard the second living creature
saying, “Come and see!” And horse went out that was red: and to
the one sitting on it was given to him to take peace from the earth…” (vs.
3-4, A.T.). This is the time of Revelation 13 after the beast receives
the deadly wound and that is healed and he comes back, and authority is
given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations, and it was given him
authority to make war against the saints. Now we will see that will
happen here in the 5th seal in just a minute.
Verse 5, “And when He opened the third seal I heard the third living
creature saying, “Come and see!” And I looked, and behold, a black
horse and the one sitting on it had a balance in his hand. And I heard
the voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A
measure of wheat for a [coin] denarius, and three measures of barley for a
[coin] denarius: and see that you do not damage the oil and the wine.” And when He opened the fourth
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come
and see!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and the one sitting
on it, and his name was Death, and the grave followed him; and
authority was given to them to kill over the fourth of the earth with the sword and with famine and with death, and by the beasts of the earth” (vs.
5-8, A.T.).
Now then, here’s what we have, verse 9. This is when the Church age
ends. “And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the
souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and because of the
testimony which they held;” Now this was in vision. This is not
saying that they are immortal souls. But this is a way of God
conveying to John, and to us, the events that are going to take place.
“And they were crying out with a loud voice, saying, “How long O Lord, holy
and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who are dwelling on
the earth?” And white robes were given to each one of them; and it was
said to them that they should rest yet for a short time, until it shall be
fulfilled that both their fellow servants and their brethren should
be killed as they also were killed” (vs. 9-11, A.T.).
So we have two categories of Christians at this particular point. We
have those who have gone to a place of safety, as we find in Revelation 12.
But also in Revelation 12 we find that Satan goes after to make war of the
remnant of her seed, which have the testimony of Jesus Christ and keep the
commandments of God. This is the war pictured right here by the 5th seal. Now there will come a time when all of those who are not in a
place of safety will be martyred. And that will end the Church
harvest. That will finish the harvest of the seven churches.
That will finish the seven-week harvest. But there is still one more
day, and one more day of the harvest which God Himself is going to do in a
way different than dealing with us.
Now let’s see how that begins. Verse 12, “And when He opened the sixth
seal, I looked and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became
black as the hair of sackcloth, and the moon became as blood, and the
stars of heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casts its untimely figs, when being shaken by a mighty wind. Then the heaven departed as a
scroll [just rolled up]…, and every mountain and island were moved out of
their places” (vs. 12-14, A.T.). This is a tremendous event.
This is the event which is spoken of there in Haggai 2 where the Lord says,
“And yet one more time I will shake the earth and the heavens and the dry
land, and the sea.” And then Christ will appear. This is it, right
here. Now we’ll see another of this in Matthew 24 in just a minute.
Notice what happens then. “And the kings of the earth, and the great
men and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the powerful men, and
every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the
rocks of the mountains; And they said to the mountains and to the rocks,
“Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; Because
the great day of His wrath has come an who has the power to stand?” (vs.
15-17, A.T.).
Now let’s see in Matthew 24 where this occurs. Jesus talked about
this. Matthew 24:21 (King James), talking about the tribulation
because see, the tribulation begins with the second seal. Then we have
the third seal, the fourth seal, and then the fifth seal is the martyrdom of
the saints. They are blamed by the beast as causing all of these
problems on the earth. “And as soon as we get rid of them then we’re
going to solve all the problems on the earth and we’ll have one government,
we’ll one religion, we’ll have one mind, and all of these nasty Christians
will be exterminated.” So when they come to the point of killing every
Christian they can find, because they’ll be able to find them. Because
even without the mark of the beast, which none of the true Christians will
have, they have the global positioning system, and they can track down any
human being on earth within 100 square feet. So there is no mountain
you can go to, no cave you can go to, no cellar that you can go to, because
when God has determined it is His will that those who are to be martyred
will be martyred, they will be martyred. And at that time God will
give great strength to be able to give a witness, and to prophesy against
the evil powers of Satan and the world.
Matthew 24:21, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since
the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And
except those days should be shortened…” Now the Greek here doesn’t mean,
“cut short”, shortening up less than 3 ½ years. It means, “limited”,
those days are limited. God has in advance set a limit of the
days of the tribulation. “…There should no flesh be saved: but for the
elect’s sake those days shall be [limited] shortened. Then if any man
shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall
say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not” (Matt. 24:21-26, KJV).
Now here, this ties in with the beginning of the sixth seal with the
rolling back of the heavens as a scroll rolled up together. Verse 27,
“For as the lightening cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the
west…” Now this is not talking about a bolt of lightning.
Unfortunately this is not a good translation. This should read, “and
as the light of day.” Because lightning does not just proceed from the
east. I proceeds from the east, from the west, from the north, from
the south. From the clouds down to the ground. From the ground
back up to the clouds. It goes sideways, it goes at every angle.
So this cannot be talking about lightning as a bolt of lightning, but the
light of day, which comes out of the east because that’s where the sun
rises, and shines even unto the west because that’s where the sun sets.
“…So shall the coming of the Son of man be.” This is called the sign
of the Son of man. So what is going to happen? When the heavens
roll back as a scroll there is going to appear this brightness as if it’s
another sun, and of that day, and of that hour knows no man.
Now let’s see it here, verse 29. “Immediately after the tribulation
of those days…” Because we saw the tribulation come up to a certain
point. And when we come to the book of Revelation we are going to see
that it shifts from the tribulation of man against man to the more dastardly
part of it of demons and men against the angels of God with the seven
trumpet plagues. So this becomes important to understand.
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven [as a sun just
being exposed – never there before]: and then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory” (vs. 30). And so because of the
time that is left, as we will see, that sign of the Son of man must be like
a sun coming closer and closer, and closer, and closer, and closer, and
closer to the earth. And then when it comes time for the resurrection
then it will, I believe, lock into orbit right over Jerusalem. And
that’s where the sea of glass will be. How high it will be, I don’t
know. It says it’s going to be in the clouds. How high are the
clouds? Clouds can be as high as 50,000 feet. They can be as low
as 2000 or 3000 feet. So we don’t know but we are going to meet Christ
in the air in the clouds. So Christ is coming with the clouds.
Now notice, when the resurrection occurs this is what is going to happen.
“And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven
to the other” (vs. 31).
Now we got ahead of the story a little bit, but let’s go back to Revelation
7 because we need to look at the 50th day harvest of God.
And this is a special harvest of God. Now let’s pick it up here
beginning in verse 1. Now remember how we ended with Revelation 6.
They saw the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And because great is
the day of His wrath is come, who has the power to stand? Now then God
does something very important. He intervenes to fulfill a prophecy.
He intervenes to show His mercy. He intervenes because He does not
want, with the end of the Church age, that there lack human beings who are
converted and qualify for the kingdom of God.
Now let’s pick it up here in verse 1. “And after these things I saw
four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding back the
four winds of the earth, so that the wind might not blow on the earth, nor
on the sea, nor upon any tree. Then I saw another angel who was
ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a
loud voice to the four angels, those to whom it was given to damage the
earth and the sea, saying, “Do not damage the earth nor the sea, nor the
trees, until we seal the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Rev.
7:1-3, A.T.).
Part 3
Now then, let’s understand something very important and very profound here.
Of the 144,000 in Revelation 7, that cannot be anyone who is in the Church
today. And that’s why the Jehovah Witnesses are completely wrong on
their 144,000 and their interpretation and understanding of it. Why is
it that I say that the 144,000 of Revelation 7 cannot be any of us?
Well let’s answer the question by scripture. Let’s first of all go to
2 Corinthians 1 and let’s see that we are now sealed with the Holy Spirit of
God. Whenever you receive the Holy Spirit you have been sealed.
Now let’s see that and let’s understand that. So we will see that the
144,000 were not sealed with the Holy Spirit until this particular time down
into the tribulation. So we’ll see that very clearly.
Now let’s pick it up here, 2 Corinthians 1:20, (KJV). “For all the
promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” And that’s one thing we
can do brethren. We can claim the promises of God. Not because
we’re anything. Not because we’re something that we have done on
ourselves and we now deserve it. No, we claim the promises of God for
the sake of Christ. For the sake of His word. For the sake of
His truth. For His righteousness. And it’s always yes, because
He won’t deny the promise. He will fulfill it.
Now notice, “Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath
anointed us [that is with the Holy Spirit] is God; Who hath also
sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (vs. 21-22).
Now the earnest of the Spirit is the down payment. See, we are just
like the unleavened bread now. When we are leavened in our spiritual
form then we will have the fullness of the Spirit, and that’s why leaven is
pictured in good cause at that particular time. We only have the
earnest of it now.
Let’s go to Ephesians 1 and let’s see how he explained it to those at
Ephesus, concerning the Holy Spirit. Now notice how this begins here.
Now let’s pick it up in verse 12. “That we should be [that is those
who are in the first resurrection] the praise of His glory who first trusted
in His Christ. In Whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in Whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:12-14). So if you have the
Holy Spirit of God now, you have been sealed. So you cannot be any of
the 144,000 of Revelation 7.
Now let’s go back to Revelation 7 and let’s see who the 144,000 there are.
And this will show how true God’s word is. Now let’s pick it up here
in verse 3. “Saying, “Do not damage the earth nor the sea, nor the
trees, until we seal the servants of our God in their foreheads.” (A.T.)
We’ve already been sealed so these are those who are now called and
converted by God’s supernatural act.
Now notice… Let’s go back and just review the things in Revelation 6 for
just a minute. How that all of those things that the prophet Joel said
concerning the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earthquake,
and the pouring out of the Spirit of God, how even Peter prophesied that
that would be before the great and notable day of the Lord. And so
this is showing it right here. That’s what happened. Now here is
the fulfillment of the Pentecost harvest, or the 50th day harvest
by God. This is a separate harvest. Separate from the Church.
This is God’s divine intervention to fulfill and complete His word and call
those especially that He is determined to call.
Now let’s see who the 144,000 are. “And I heard the number of those
who were sealed: one hundred forty-four thousand, who were sealed out of
every tribe of the children of Israel. From the tribe of Judah…”
Now isn’t it interesting that in the book of Zechariah, God says that the
tents of Judah will be saved first. So here is Judah first.
“…Twelve thousand were sealed; from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand were sealed…”
And of Gad, and of Asher, and of Nepthali. Of the tribe of Manasseh,
Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin. Now Dan is left
out. The reason Dan is left out is because the book of Genesis says of
the prophecy of Dan that he would wait for his salvation. And of
course Dan is the tribe of Israel that is so involved in idol worship and
Catholicism. So God is going to save them later. They’re not
included in this 144,000. So this is a special category that God has
saved for Himself.
Now let’s understand when in time frame does this take place in the
tribulation. We know that the overall tribulation is 3 ½ years.
So this is an event which takes place before the 3 ½ years has expired.
So let’s go back to the book of Hosea, chapter 5, the very last verse there,
and we will see that this gives us a prophetic time frame as to when this
took place. Hosea 5:15 God says concerning Israel, “I will to and return to My place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek My
face: in their affliction they will seek Me early.”
Now the prophecies are true. Israel is going into captivity.
Now there are some people out there who say, “Israel is not going into
captivity today.” That is a lie and that is a false prophet. And
he is teaching things that are not according to the scriptures. Oh,
that it would be, that Israel could be in such a condition before God that
they wouldn’t have to go into tribulation. But you read all of the
prophecies concerning where Israel is when Christ returns and all of them
show that they are in captivity. So here are the children of Israel in
captivity and out of those who are in captivity 144,000 are brought to
repentance and are sealed. Now when during the {tribulation} millenium
does this take place?
Let’s go to Hosea 6:1. Here it is speaking of Israel during this time
of repentance. “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for He hath
torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.
After two days will He revive us…” Now in prophecy how long is a day?
In prophecy a day is a year. So this is after two full years.
That’s when the sign of the Son of man is going to appear in heaven and God
will then begin to raise them up. Now notice, “…He will revive us: in
the third day…” That is, beginning in the third year of the
tribulation, which means there’s a whole year to the third year left and
there is another six months making a total of a year and a half. So
the whole tribulation is 3 ½ years altogether, broken down into the first
two years, coming down through the opening of the seals until the sign of
the Son of man appears in heaven. And then we come down to the time
now of Revelation 7 where that we have what? We have then the 144,000
of Israel sealed just like it says right here in Hosea 6. “…In the
third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight” (Hosea
6:1-2).
Now notice also the prophecy. “Then shall we know, if we
follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and
He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto
the earth” (vs. 3). So this is what we have back in Revelation 7.
God intervening to save them.
Now then, what does it say concerning the preaching of the gospel? It
says to the Jews first, which includes Israel as we’ve seen here. All
Israel. Then who does it go to after that? To the Greek or the
Gentile. Now God is also going to reach down and supernaturally seal,
and supernaturally by the power of God’s Holy Spirit through this angel who
is commissioned to do so. Now let’s understand something. All of
these will receive the Holy Spirit first, then they will be baptized just
like it was with Cornelius’ household. They received the Holy Spirit
first, then they were baptized. Now can God do that? Yes, He
can. God chooses to do that whenever it is His choice to do so, like
He did with Cornelius. But do they still have to be baptized?
Yes they do. So then what will happen then? There will be great
baptismal ceremonies taking place with the 144,000.
Now then, since it goes to the Gentile also, the same thing is going to
occur. But notice this, Revelation 7:9, A.T. “After these things
I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one was able to number…”
So this shows contrary to the preaching of some, that God is not just
restricting those that He is calling from the time of Christ until His
return, to 144,000. Such a thing could never be. Because if even
on the very first day, as we saw of Pentecost, 3000 were converted and
thousands were added. Another place it says, “…and 5000 souls were
added.” Great multitudes in Jerusalem believed. And we saw where
James told Paul when Paul came up to visit James there in Acts 22.
What did James say? He said “Behold the thousands that believe in
Christ and are zealous for the law.” So anybody who says that God is
only calling 144,000 in this age just doesn’t know what he’s talking about
and he’s twisting and turning the scripture to his own destruction.
Now here it says, “…a great multitude, which no one was able to number…”
Where did they come from? “…Out of every nation and tribes, and
peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
clothed in white robes and palms in their hands;” You know just like
we saw yesterday. White robes, they’re called to the wedding.
These are some of the guests who are called at the very last minute out of
the highways and out of the byways, and out of the places that God is doing
it at the last minute. So this undoubtedly, let’s just say this, since
this is prophesied in Acts 2 to happen with all the signs preceding it, and
it happened on the day of Pentecost there in Acts 2, therefore this has to
happen on the next to the last Pentecost before Christ puts His feet on the
earth. Or the Pentecost before the resurrection. So we have
these people here now who in these circumstances will be converted for one
year. These people, the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude
then are reckoned as the laborers who are put into work and hire at the
eleventh hour. So there’s only one hour left. And in this case
that pictures one year left. So is God able to do that? Yes He
is. No doubt about it. So they’re going to receive salvation.
Now notice, let’s just finish here chapter 7. “And they were calling
out with a loud voice, to Him who is sitting on the throne and to the Lamb,
saying, “The salvation of our God!”, because that’s what they’re going to
receive. “Then all the angels stood around the throne and the elders
and the four living creatures, fell upon their faces before the throne and
worshipped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and
thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might to our God into the ages of
eternity! Amen!” (vs. 10-12, A.T.).
“And one of the elders answered and said to me, “Those who are clothed with white robes, who are they,
and from where did they come?” Then I said to him, “Sir, You know.”
and he said to me, “These are those who have come out of great tribulation,
and they have washed their robes, and have made their robes white in the
blood of the Lamb. Because of this they are before the throne of God,
and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One who is sitting on the
throne shall tabernacle among them. They shall not hunger any more,
neither shall they thirst any more, nor shall the sun, no the heat fall upon
them; because the Lamb who is in the {midst}of the throne will
shepherd them, and will lead them to the fountains of living waters,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (vs. 13-17, A.T.).
So this projects forward to the time that we know in Revelation 21 showing
the finality of God’s plan. So what this is doing it’s showing, now
what is God going to do with the 144,000 and great innumerable multitude?
First of all He’s showing that they’re going to be resurrected. Of
course they’re not going to be resurrected until the first resurrection
takes place. But it also shows that they are not going to enter into
the millenium as physical human beings. They’re going to be spirit
beings. So now we have a good setting to go on and understand what
we’re talking about with some of the other scriptures concerning the day of
Pentecost and the resurrection.
Ok, let’s go ahead now. Now I’m just going to summarize chapter 8,
and chapter 9, but each of them are the seven trumpet plagues. The
seventh seal is opened and then the first angel goes out. Now isn’t it
interesting it talks about the first angel going out and blows his trumpet.
Then the second angel, then the third angel, then the fourth angel, then the
fifth angel, then the sixth angel. Now let’s come over here to
Revelation 11 and we will see when the seventh angel sounds, and the seventh
angel is the last trump. That’s what we need to understand. And
the saints are resurrected at the last trump, not trumpets. As I
mentioned yesterday, the Feast of Trumpets is a day of war, memorial of
blowing of trumpets. So here we have a sequence of seven trumpets.
Now if you don’t have the “Outline of Revelation” #1 and #2, and the chart
that goes with it, be sure and write for it. Cause it will show that
the first trumpet is blown shortly after the Pentecost where the 144,000 are
sealed and the great innumerable multitude. And that comes down
through the time sequence to when we come to the seventh trump, which then
has to be on the day of Pentecost, or right there abouts.
Now let’s pick it up here concerning the two witnesses, because then this
leads on up until up to the resurrection. Now, God allowed the two
witnesses to be killed. Revelation 11:8, “And their bodies shall lie upon the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom
and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” Now Sodom tells us the
morals of the peoples. Egypt tells us the religion of the people
because the coming one world religion is going back to the whole thing of
Egyptian religious worship. That’s why it’s defined here.
Now notice, it also says, “…where also our Lord was crucified.” And
that is typified by Jerusalem because Jerusalem, even though it was city
that God chose to place His name there when the temple was built there. It
has never been faithful, with the exception of few of the kings, as we find
recorded in a history recorded in the books of Kings and Chronicles.
Now then, when they die, “Then they of the peoples and tribes and languages
and nations shall see their bodies three and a half days, and they shall not
allow their bodies to be put into tombs. And those who are dwelling on
the earth will rejoice over them, and will make merry, and will send gifts
to one another, because these, the two witnesses tormented them who dwell
upon the earth.” The last two enemies now to be killed. So the
world thinks. “Then after three and a half days, the spirit of
life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet…” Now
can you imagine how everyone is going to view that and take that. And
it says, “… and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them” (vs.
9-11, A.T.).
Then here is an example, a perfect example in the scripture concerning the
first shall be last and the last shall be first. The two witnesses
were the very last two who were martyred for Christ’s sake. And they
are the very first two who are resurrected. Notice after they stood on
their feet, verse 12, “And they heard a great voice out of heaven, saying,
‘Come up here!’ And they ascended up into heaven in a cloud; and their
enemies watched them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake,
and the tenth of the city fell, and in the earthquake there were killed
seven thousand men. And the rest became afraid, and gave glory to the
God of heaven.” The second woe is past:…” And the second woe was
introduced with the sixth trumpet. “…Behold the third woe comes
immediately” (vs. 12-14, A.T.).
Now verse 15, “Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; and there
were great voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord’s and His Christ’s, and He shall reign into the
ages of eternity.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit before God on
their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying, We give You
thanks, O Lord God almighty, Who is, and Who was, and Who is coming,
that You have taken to Yourself Your great power and have reigned.”
Then the nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time for the
dead to be judged, and to give the reward to your servants the prophets, and
to the saints, and those who fear Your name, the small and the great; and to
destroy those who destroy the earth” (vs. 15-18, A.T.). Now then, that
is the resurrection, is it not? The resurrection occurs at the seventh
trump. The last trump, just as Paul said.
Now let’s go back here to 1 Thessalonians 4 and let’s see where then, as we
saw in Matthew 24, the angels will pick us up as we are resurrected and will
bring us up to the sea of glass, because there is going to be the meeting
with the saints. And then we will see what has to happen here. 1
Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we
say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not [precede] prevent them which
are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God: and the dead
in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive…” Now who are
those who are alive? One, those who are of the Church in the place of
safety. Two, the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and the great innumerable
multitude. So after all the dead in Christ have been raised, “Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air…” And the Greek could have the
meaning of this: for the meeting with the Lord in the air. “…And so
shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thes. 4:14-17, KJV).
Now then, let’s come to Revelation 14 and let’s see when that will take
place. Notice, I want you to understand. There are a lot of
things that have to take place after the resurrection before we come back to
the earth. Now it is true that the Feast of Trumpets pictures the day
when Christ and the saints put their feet on the earth on the Mount of
Olives. But the coming of Christ began with the sign of the Son of man
in heaven, and He kept coming closer and closer, and closer, and closer to
the earth.
Now let’s come there to Revelation 14 and let’s see the harvest of the
firstfruits. Let’s see what it says there. Then when we’re done
with this we’ll go back and we’ll examine the 144,000 again of Revelation 7
and the 144,000 of Revelation 14. But first let’s get us all
resurrected first. Let’s have that all taken care of.
Let’s begin here in verse12. “Here is the patience of the
saints, here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of
Jesus.” And that means having Jesus very own faith. “And I heard
a voice out of heaven, saying to me, “Write! Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord from this time forward. Yes, says the Spirit, so that
they may rest from their labors; and their works follow them.” And
looked, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud One like the
Son of man sitting, Who had on His head a golden crown; and in His hand a
sharp sickle.” Now what do you cut grain with? A sickle. “Then
another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him
sitting on the cloud, “Thrust your sickle and reap; because the time is come
for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe” (Rev. 14:12-15,
A.T.). Which Jesus said the harvest is the end of the age.
The age ended with the seventh trump. And this then is the
resurrection of the seventh trump. So as the age is ending the sickle
is put to the grain and all then are resurrected.
Now verse 16, “And the One who was sitting upon the cloud thrust His sickle
upon the earth and reaped the earth.” There is the first resurrection.
That occurs on Pentecost. Then it jumps forward to another harvest.
And this is the harvest of the destruction of the wicked through the seven
last plagues. So let’s see this now.
“And another angel came out from the altar, having authority over fire, and
he called with a loud cry to the one having the sharp sickle, saying,
“Thrust you sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the earth; because her
grapes [are] fully ripe.” These are the true grapes of wrath.
“Then the angel…” Now notice, the one who did the first harvesting was
like unto the Son of man, that’s Christ. Here now we have an angel
with a sickle. “Then the angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and
gathered the vine of the earth, and cast its fruit into the
great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden
outside the city, and blood spewed out from the winepress as high as the
horses bridle, to the distance of a thousand six hundred furlongs” (vs.
18-20, A.T.). This is the judgment and the valley of judgment.
Part 4
Now let’s come right on to Revelation 15 here, verse 1. “Then I was
another sign in heaven—great and awesome—seven angels having the seven last
plagues, because in them the wrath of God is filled up. And I saw a
sea of glass mingled with fire…” Now remember yesterday how we saw the
sea of glass was there when Christ came down on the mountain. And then
He had Moses and the seventy elders and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu come up.
And they all saw Him because it was pavement under His feet. So here
we have, if we’re going to meet Christ in the air, what are we going to do?
How are we going to be suspended? Well, there is a sea of glass which
we can walk on. That’s where the angels take us. “…A sea of
glass mingled with fire…” That is because of it’s brilliance there.
“…And those who had gotten the victory over the beast…” Question?
When did the beast first appear? Well in the person of Satan the devil
in the Garden of Eden. Have all of those who enter in to the first
resurrection, have they had to get victory over the beast? Yes.
Then He continues here, “…over his image…” Has there not been a female
goddess worship in the image to the beast from going clear back when?
Yes, at least we know that it came after the flood. So we know that
they just reconstructed what they had after the flood from what they did
before the flood. So there’s the image of the beast. “…And over
his mark…” Now at the end time we’re going to have the mark of the
beast. It’s called the Digital Angel, which is inserted in the fore
hand or in the forehead either one. “…And over the number of
his name, standing upon the sea of glass, having the harps of God” (vs. 2,
A.T.)
Now notice this includes the Old Testament, those who have been resurrected
and qualified from the time of Abel on down to the time of Christ. And
notice what they do, verse 3. “And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God…” So this is those of the Old Testament. The loaf of
the Old Testament. “…And the song of the Lamb…”, which then is the New
Testament. “…Saying, “Great and awesome are Your works, O Lord
God Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the saints.
Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You only are holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before You;
for Your judgments are revealed.” Now there’s a prophecy of what’s
going to happen on down into the millenium.
Now before we get into the seven last plagues let’s go back and let’s look
at the 144,000 of Revelation 7, then we’ll come back and look a the 144,000
of Revelation 14. Now in Revelation 7 we find this, verse 4.
“And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred forty-four
thousand, who were sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel;”
So these are from the children of Israel only. Twelve thousand from
each tribe. Why are they sealed at this particular time? Number
one because they are in captivity because they were unfaithful to God even
in the letter of the law. We’ll see that’s very important. Now
we also find the great innumerable multitude. Now there are no other
distinguishing characteristics of these other than the fact that they are
sealed at the beginning of the third year during the tribulation of 3 ½
years. And they then qualify for the first resurrection. These
are the laborers of the 11th hour, as we find in the Gospel of
Luke 11.
Now let’s come here to Revelation 14:1 and let’s look at the 144,000 of
Revelation 14, and we are going to see that these 144,000 are a different
group. And we are going to see the distinguishing and qualifying
things for this 144,000. Now let’s begin, verse 1. “And I
looked, and behold the Lamb standing upon Mount Sion…” Now we
read that yesterday, didn’t we, in Hebrews 12? That we have come unto
Mt. Zion, the Church of the Firstborn. “…And with Him one hundred and forty four thousand, having His Father’s name written upon their
foreheads. Then I heard a voice from out of heaven, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of great thunder: and I heard the sound of harpers, harping with their harps. And they sing as it were a
new song before the throne, and before the living creatures and the elders.
And no one was able to learn the song except the hundred and forty
four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth” (Rev. 14:1-3, A.T.).
Now this is a separate song from the song of Moses, and the song of the
Lamb. This is a third song that only this 144,000 could sing. No
one else could sing it. All the rest were able to sing, the one
concerning Moses for the Old Covenant, the one concerning the Lamb for the
New Covenant, and now we have a third category here of the 144,000 with
their song.
Now notice carefully. “These are the ones who were not defiled with
women…” Now what does it mean to be defiled with women? You go
right back to Revelation 17, that we have mystery Babylon the Great, the
mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, and she is called the great
whore. So this means that once they were converted they did not defile
themselves with any of the religions or the religious practices of this
world. Now we’re going to see that’s very important when we go back
and look at the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. “…They are
virgins…” And of course Christ would only marry a virgin, correct?
“…These are the ones who follow the Lamb wheresoever He may go. These
were purchased from among men as firstfruits…” Now that’s the correct translation. Not “these were
purchased from among men, the firstfruits”, because in the Greek there is no
definite article. You can even drop off the “as”. “These were
purchased from among men - - firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” (vs. 4,
A.T.). This then, we have Christ Who was the first of the firstfruits,
and then we have these who are apparently the first group of the
firstfruits. All the rest being the firstfruits in general. Now
notice verse 5. “And there was no guile found in their mouths;
for they are blameless before the throne of God.”
Now let’s go back and let’s analyze all of this and let’s see what
separates these even further from the 144,000 in Revelation 7. All
right, let’s list them out.
#1. They have the name of the Father written in their foreheads.
That doesn’t say that about the 144,000 in Revelation 7. All of these
are distinguished from the 144,000 in Revelation 7. Plus the first
thing that we need to understand is as we go along here because it says that
they were not of the children of Israel, but they were redeemed from the
earth.
#2. No one was able to learn the song except the 144,000.
#3. They were redeemed from the earth.
Showing that these 144,000 were redeemed from the earth probably over a
period of time.
#4. These are they which are not defiled with women.
That is they remained virgins, or they remained totally faithful to God in
everything that they did in their conversion and were never defiled by
women.
#5. They are virgins.
Now remember that the warning that the apostle Paul gave to the Corinthians
in 2 Corinthians 11, where he said, “For I am jealous over you with a godly
jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you
as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2, KJV). But they became
non-virgins because they committed spiritual fornication. Now maybe
they were able to repent of it, just like any woman who looses her virginity
through sin, she can repent of it but she’s no longer a virgin. So
likewise, if it is those who have received the Holy Spirit, if they give up
their virginity by being enticed by Satan the devil and getting involved in
other religious practices, or other religious doctrines within the Church
then they lose their virginity.
#6. These follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
Meaning, that they’re always following Him regardless of where they’re
spiritual life takes them.
#7. These were redeemed from among men.
Redeemed from the earth, redeemed from among men.
#8. Firstfruits unto God, and to the Lamb.
#9. In their mouth was no guile.
#10. For they are without fault before the throne of God.
Now let’s go back and just quickly review the seven churches, and we will
see that out of the seven churches only two of the seven remained virgins.
Let’s read it. Ephesus, remember we already covered that. They
lost their first love and Christ told them, “Except you repent, I’m going to
remove your candlestick.” Loosing your first love, that is loosing
your virginity.
Now then we come to the one at Pergamos where we saw. And they ate
things sacrificed to idols and committed fornication. And had the
doctrine of Balaam, and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing God
says He hates and He would fight against them with the sword of His mouth.
So those at Pergamos, even though they repented because they were told to
repent, even those at Pergamos who repented they lost their virginity.
They can be put back in right standing with God but once you lose your
virginity you have lost it. That doesn’t mean you can’t recoup it.
You can, to be in the first resurrection. But the question is will you
still be part of the bride of Christ? Because the question is when
describing the 144,000 here in Revelation 14, are they not the ones who are
the bride of Christ because they remain virgins?
Ok, let’s continue on with the church at Thyatyra. They had the woman
Jezebel, they committed fornication, they ate things sacrificed to idols,
and they also had those who knew the deep things of Satan. In other
words those who infiltrated into that church were bringing in the doctrines
of Satan worship under the guise that you’re worshiping Christ.
Obviously they lost their virginity.
Then you have Sardis. Now what do you have in Sardis? Sardis
was dead. They had a name that they lived but they are dead.
With having dead practices they surely were not virgins before God.
Because they somehow defiled themselves, and remember what Christ said to
them. “Repent.”
Same way with the Laodiceans. The Laodiceans became lukewarm, had
need of nothing, and God was spewing them out of His mouth. And God
told them to repent. So we have Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatyra, Sardis,
and Laodicea. Five of the seven churches were commanded to repent of
their sins. So they lost their virginity.
Now the two churches left were Smyrna. No command to repent.
Now the Smyrnaites were the ones who were then martyred, and they were
faithful unto death, which they were. And they held their virginity
unto death. We have the Philadelphians who resisted everything
concerning the synagogue of Satan, and they patiently kept the word of God.
They were the ones who were faithful, the most faithful of all. The
true Philadelphians, and there is no call to repentance there. And to
the church at Philadelphia Christ said, “To him that overcomes will I write
upon him the name of My Father, and the name of the city, New Jerusalem, and
I will write upon him My new name.” So to the Philadelphians, if you
have the name of the Father, and if you have the name of Jerusalem, and you
have the name of Christ upon you, you belong to part of the bride of
Christ.
Now just like we learned yesterday, not all of those in the first
resurrection are going to be part of the bride of Christ. So does this
tell us here in Revelation 14, because of all of these conditions that this
144,000 represents those who have been called down through time, who have
been faithful unto God, who were virgins, never deviated from it. Once
they were baptized and received the Holy Spirit they never got involved in
any of the religions of this world, or any of the doctrines of this world.
And brethren now I hope you understand why it is so important that we remain
faithful.
Now those who have not remained faithful, we pray that they will repent and
not lose their reward. So this is really important for us to
understand. Let’s go back to 1 Corinthians 3 and let’s see. They
can repent, but they have been building wooden shacks and straw huts and
their works are burned up because they were not virgins. The only ones
who are virgins in this case, in 1 Corinthians 3 as we will see, are those
who build on the virginity, keep it, and build the gold, silver, precious
stone, and not the wood, hay, and stubble.
Now let’s read it here in 1 Corinthians 3:11. “For other foundation
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any
man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare
it [and the day of the resurrection is going to be the final day of
declaration], because it shall be revealed by fire [now these are the fiery
trials that we go through in our life of overcoming]; and the fire shall try
every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he
hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work
shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so
as by fire” (1 Cor. 3:11-15). Now is this describing the difference
between the 144,000 of Revelation 14 who become part of the bride of Christ
because they remain faithful, as differentiated from those who started out
but ended up sinning, ended up repenting and coming back much like the
prodigal son, and they lost their virginity. So they lost some of the
inheritance that they would have had otherwise. So this is really a
tremendous thing for us to understand brethren.
Now let’s come back to Revelation 15 again. Now I don’t have time to
go through the seven last plagues except that the seven last plagues
represent the harvest of the wicked, as depicted in the last part of
Revelation 14. And all of these plagues will be poured out in the
presence of the saints. And these are righteous judgments. And
these are true judgments. And for any who say that the God of the Old
Testament was an angry and a harsh God, but the one of the New Testament is
loving and kind and sweet, please understand that this is the wrath of the
Lamb which is being poured out on all those sinners.
Now let’s end up where we ended up last time. Let’s come to
Revelation 19:1 again. Before we begin let’s also understand this too.
God knows for the resurrection, based upon the works and the faithfulness of
the individuals that He is going to select those who will be in the 144,000
of Revelation 14. And if those are the ones who consist of the bride
of Christ, God the Father is the One Who chooses them. So we don’t
have to worry about it. We don’t have to look around and accuse
people, or suspect them, because it says, “Blessed are those who are called
to the wedding supper of the Lamb.” Those who are called to the supper
will participate in the first resurrection in power, and in glory just like
the rest. But only the bride of Christ will be with Christ in where He
is.
Now let’s pick it up in verse 1. “And after these things I heard the loud
voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,…”, because that’s all of those
who were resurrected standing on the sea of glass. And it’s in the
first heaven where the clouds are. “…Saying, “Hallelujah! The
salvation and the glory and the honor and the power to the Lord our God: For
true and righteous are His judgments; for He has judged the great whore, who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and He
did avenge the blood of His servants at her hand.” Then they said a
second time, “Hallelujah!” And her smoke ascends up into the ages of
eternity. And the twenty four elders and the four living creatures
fell down and worshipped God, Who sits on the throne, saying, “Amen,
Hallelujah!” (Rev. 19:1-5, A.T.).
“And a voice came out of the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all His
servants, and all who fear Him, both small and great.” And I heard a
voice as of a great multitude, even as the sound of many waters, and
as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty has reigned. Let us be glad and shout with joy; and
let us give glory to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His
wife has made herself ready.” And it was granted to her that she
should be clothed in fine linen - - pure and bright; for the fine linen is
the righteousness of the saints. And he said to me, “Write!”
Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb”
And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (vs. 6-9, A.T.).
So we have a tremendous blessing brethren, whether we have been called to
be part of the bride of Christ, which I hope whoever you are that that is
true. We can’t judge for ourselves how it’s going to be. God is
going to make that judgment. But also realize this. There is a
great and a fantastic and eternal blessing to be called to the first
resurrection and to be one of the guests at the wedding of the Lamb and His
bride. So that is the full meaning of the day of Pentecost.
Brethren, I hope it’s been a wonderful day for you.
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