Pentecost and the Law - Pt. 1

Wayne Matthews

May 19, 2013

Welcome, brethren, to this day of Pentecost in the year 2013 on the Roman Calendar.

If you'd like to turn to Deuteronomy 16:9 - You shall count seven weeks for yourself, which is 49 days: begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain, with reference to the sickle it's talking about harvesting, from the Sabbath within the Days of Unleavened Bread. That means day 1 of the count was on the Sunday.

Verse 10 - Then you, this is on day 50, shall keep the Feast of Weeks, which is Pentecost, 'count 50', to the Eternal your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. So we are to give an offering on this day, the Day of Pentecost, as a recognition of the physical and spiritual blessings we've received from God. We have 'harvested' over this last twelve months, from Pentecost to Pentecost, we've harvested on a physical level some more than others, but more importantly we actually harvested a lot on a spiritual level.

Verse 11 - You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. Well, physically, of course, there is a location that is selected, but on a spiritual level, of course, God chooses us individually to place His name in us. So where God abides, where God dwells is in His people.

Spiritually we are all one Family, we are of God and God has placed His name in us, members of the Body of Christ. The holy spirit, God's spirit, God's power in us makes us His Family; we are family.

Verse 12 - And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt. Well, we look back and we remember our calling because we know we were slaves to a way of thinking, slave to sin. And you shall be careful to observe these statutes. So we're to remember our calling, we are to remember where we were called from, what we were called out of, and we should be able to look back and remember when God called us and what we've been drawn out of.

We are free from the captivity of our thinking, that carnal mind. So we begin that process of leaving Egypt, because it does take a lifetime, and we continually come out, we exodus Egypt. God's spirit is what sets us free. It's only by God's spirit that we can be freed from our previous thinking, the carnal mind. The truth that God has given us sets us free; it makes us free from this world, from the worlds way of thinking that does not have truth.

Pentecost is about freedom. The laws of God reveal what true freedom is; we are released from a spiritual captivity by God's spirit.

Verse 13 - You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your wine presses. So again, it's about a harvest, and we are looking forward and planning a Feast of Tabernacles ahead of us.

Verse 14 - And you shall rejoice in your Feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. We are to rejoice with members of the Body of Christ, a spiritual Family that God has built on this earth through Jesus Christ and that one day will be a true spiritual Family as spirit beings.

Verse 15 - Seven days you shall keep a sacred Feast to the Eternal your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all your works of your hands so that you surely rejoice, so that you can surely rejoice.

Verse 16 - Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses; so the first one is, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the second one is, the Feast of Weeks/Feast of Ingathering, which is Pentecost, which is this day. So we're to appear before God, members of the Body of Christ, baptized members, and have an offering presented to God. Three - at the Feast of Tabernacles, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.

Verse 17 - Every man/Every baptized person shall give as he is able, according to the blessings of the Eternal your God which He has given you. This is a time when we give an offering to God at the Feast of Weeks, at the Feast of Pentecost, and we are to give it in recognition of what God has done for us. We recognize that everything comes from God. We recognize that all our physical benefits, all our physical blessings, anything physical has been allowed to be used by us by God allowing it, because we have life. But we also recognize that truth, everything with regards to spiritual knowledge, spiritual skills or strengths or gifts have all come from God.

So this is a time to sit back and consider what God has done in our lives. We will give an offering to God on this Day of Pentecost according to... in other words it's based on a relationship we have with God, it is based on what we see spiritually.

Now, there is another area of scripture that we're going to turn to in 2 Corinthians 9; this is going over a point about giving which is in relation to taking up a gift, an offering up to God, but the generosity of a gift to the brethren in a difficult time they were having in Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 9:5 - Therefore I thought it necessary, this is Paul. Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time and prepare your generous gift beforehand; in other words, to go ahead of time and to think about it and prepare this gift they were going to give, which you had previously promised. The brethren there had said that they were going to take up a collection, an offering, to give so that somebody could take it back to the brethren that were in Jerusalem, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. That's talking about giving it from a true spiritual intent of generosity but not as a grudging obligation, "Oh no, I've got to give otherwise it looks like I'm a mean person." Well, it's no different with an offering. We should give generously to God from a spiritual point of view, from a mindset, not grudging and thinking, "Oh no, Pentecost has arrived and God requires an offering," and we're going to give that offering because we begrudgingly give it, because it's an obligation....because it is a command that we do give an offering three times a year, and the Day of Pentecost is a time to give an offering.

So they were taking up this freewill offering and then there was this spiritual principle covered here in verse 6 - But this I say to you, He who sows sparingly, in other words, reflects it in an attitude, will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully, generously, will also reap bountifully. It does require thought and it does require effort to go through this process of thinking about it, but also remembering that all our blessings do come from God. So it reflects an attitude.

Verse 7 - So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, it's inner thinking, it's not about the amount. It's more about the attitude that is behind what we give to God on the Day of Pentecost as an offering, not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver. It's a matter of faith. It is about giving an offering at this time as a matter of faith, because we look to God as our provider on a physical and spiritual level and after thinking about all those things we then give from our heart.

Now, it is a command to give an offering at Pentecost, as it is at the Feast period, and this command is to give an offering, it doesn't say the amount because it has to come from the inner man, from the thoughts, from our attitude. So, whether it's 50 cents and we can give 50 cents, that's what we can give, if it's more than that, well, it's according to God's mercy towards us, that's what we can give.

Some people have mentioned overseas that are not necessary able to come to a fellowship where there is a minister to give an offering to, or tithe, so at this time we would simply say they are to just simply give their offering, put it in an envelope and seal it and write on it what they wish as an offering for Pentecost and just put it aside. It's set aside for God and God will look at that in the sense of looking at your attitude or your intent.

Here we are on a Day of Pentecost; what are you really thinking about today? How are you feeling? What are you feeling? Are you feeling disappointed that what we had hoped for has not been fulfilled, the return of Jesus Christ on Pentecost?  ...or are you excited about the last post, of what God has revealed to us about moving forward? ... or are you confused after reading the post?

Well, many of those thoughts and emotions are normal because there has been a major change within God's Church, and that change, of course, is changing understanding. The last couple of weeks I have been thinking about various things, I have been reflecting on various things as we came up to this Day of Pentecost, and so I just wanted to reveal to you some of my thought process because it may help you in the thought process that you're going through.

I knew that my life would change one way or the other, so my first lot of thoughts were; if Christ did return and free this earth from its captivity, from the rule of Satan, I then would have to face various things. Firstly, if I was still physical and I wasn't changed to spirit if Christ had returned it would be a great joy, I would still be very joyous about it as I would be happy that the world had a new King, a new Government, and that Satan had been removed. I would rejoice that I had the King of kings ruling with 144,000 on this earth, and I have known that the children and the women and many of the mankind with their wars that are going on all over the earth would be stopped, the children would be free from the oppression that is in our society, and women that are oppressed. I was looking forward to that freedom and there was a joy of an expectation, and if I was physical that I would still be very joyous, there would be a great relief for me personally.

Then I thought well if Christ had returned and I was changed to spirit, what a relief from the spiritual battles that I have faced in myself - what a relief that would be. I would be free from this sinful flesh with 143,999 others. So that was another thought process.

Then I had the thought, well, if Christ did not return and free this world from the rule of Satan I would have to deal with many physical things in my life and also spiritual matters that were ahead of me, with my wife, that we had gone through that thought process...but either way we knew that our life would change, and it has. We have decided that we would move forward with Jesus Christ leading the Church. Well, it actually happened, that's exactly what happened. We have decided that we will face the physical trials that we have, we are going to face the spiritual ones that we have - we've faced them for over thirty years on and off in the sense of being awakened and having God's spirit and the times that I was cut off from God, and that we are going to continue with the called out ones and be part of the Body of Christ. We are actually very excited about what God is doing and what He will achieve in and through His Church.

Well, I hope, brethren, that you've read the last post and that you have come to the conclusion that you are excited about what God is doing in His Church and what He is about to do in His Church.

The title of today's sermon is Pentecost and the Law, and this will be Part 1.

I feel that it's necessary to explain the reason for the sermon title. The sermon will have more than one part as it covers how the Day of Pentecost and the law of God are connected. The law known as the 10 Commandments was first given to the nation Israel on the Day of Pentecost. We know about that; after coming out of Egypt and they wandered in the wilderness for a short period of time then God gave them the law at Mount Sinai on the Day of Pentecost. And then, of course, they went from there, they continued to wander in the wilderness until God brought them into the promised land. It was given to a physical nation that could not keep the law in its spiritual intent. Then, on the Day of Pentecost 31 A.D. God poured out His spirit on a select group so that the law could be kept in spirit and in truth, because it requires God's spirit to keep the law in spirit and truth.

God has revealed that He is sending back His Son to rule this earth on a Day of Pentecost, and that's what the 50th Truth was about. From that day forward, on the day of Christ's return, God will pour out His holy spirit so that mankind can live the law in spirit and truth. The Day of Pentecost is the final day of man's self-rule; it's also known as the Day of the Lord. The Millennium is a time that the law of God will be taught to all mankind.

There is a group of people that say that the law is done away, and we're going to look at that as a topic as we go forward in this sermon series.

If you'd like to turn to Isaiah 2. Now, you may say Isaiah 2 is a Millennial scripture, which it is, and why would we be looking at it on the Day of Pentecost? Well, the Day of Pentecost, the Day of the Lord, that final day of the Day of the Lord is actually a time of a transition and it leads to Isaiah 2 and what is covered in this area.

Isaiah 2:1 - The word of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, was concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now, it shall come to pass in the latter days, now, it will come to pass, it will happen at the end of this period of time that we are in and it will happen on a Day of Pentecost, that the mountain of the LORD'S house, the government of God, shall be established on the top of the mountains, it will be established over all man's governments, and shall be exalted above the hills, the smaller governments, and all nations shall flow unto it. Many people - it doesn't say 'all', it says, Many people, not all, shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Eternal, the government of God, to the house/Family of the God of Jacob. He/God will teach us His ways and we shall walk in His paths, for out of Zion, out of God's government, out of God's spiritual Government, Mount Zion, shall go forth the law and the word of the Eternal from Jerusalem. Truth is going to flow out from God's Government, which is going to be based from Jerusalem, from His Church. That's where the truth is, it's from Jerusalem but it's in God's Church. And the law will go out from there, people will be taught the law.

He/God shall judge, on the Day of Pentecost, between the nations; so this whole Day of Pentecost, which we're going to look at in a little more detail, is a day of God judging between the nations, and rebuke many people...and in time they will beat their swords into ploughshares; so what they have learned in the way of weaponry, of war -- because it's talking about an attitude here -- they will beat them, they will change their thinking and go into looking at ways to produce things. Rather than producing war and weapons of war and killing it's about peace. ...and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword, so in other words they won't have an attitude of prejudice, which is what war is about - about prejudice, it's about hate - against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore. The education system will not be about learning how to kill, which is what the army is really about... it's about learning how to kill, how to destroy. Well, that whole thinking will be changed, it'll be taught a way of peace; mankind will be taught a way of peace.

O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Eternal. So, let's walk in the truth. Light shows the way to walk. Truth is the way of God. Truth is the way to walk. And that's what God has given us in the Church, it's a way to walk; it shows us how to walk, which is in the truth.

If you'd like to turn to John 8:12 - Then Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me; now, this following Jesus Christ has to be done in spirit and in truth; shall not walk in darkness, so we won't walk in sin. God is a God of truth and if we're to follow Jesus Christ's example that He set and follow Him in spirit we will not walk in sin, we will not practice sin. ...but have the light of life. We are to follow where Jesus Christ leads His Church, and at this point in time Jesus Christ is still leading His Church. We have been strengthened so much during that last period of the Day of the Lord, that one year period, a prophetic period, where we have been strengthened. We have been made to stand in the truth. I know during that period that we went through massive battles. People spoke to me about those spiritual battles, and they were spiritual battles in the mind. Well, I wasn't immune from that and neither was my wife; we went through massive spiritual battles and by the grace of God, His mercy to me and my wife, we continue on in the truth, in faith. And we're even so blessed to understand what has actually happened to us, because most people don't understand what's happening in the world let alone what's happening to them in the sense of a spiritual world controlling their thinking. We understand the spiritual world and what it's intent has been toward members of the Body of Christ. We understand that five month period of attack.

We will see later in this sermon series that Christ walked in His Father's way; He walked in obedience to the law of God, and yet man says it's done away.

If you'd like to turn to 1 John 1:5 - This is the message which you have heard from Him/from God, and declared to you, that God is light, God is truth, and in Him, in God, there is no darkness at all. There is nothing false in God.

Now, we know Jesus Christ was the Word of God, therefore in Jesus Christ there is no darkness. There is nothing false in Jesus Christ, and yet He kept the law. So how can that be? People say it's all done away and yet here is Christ saying 'Follow Me', and they say, "Well, the law is done away therefore you don't have to follow Christ, obviously."

Verse 6 - If we say that we have fellowship/relationship with Him, with God, and walk in darkness, walk in sin and falsehood like Christmas and Easter and many other things, we lie, in other words, we deceive, we're self-deceived, we deceive ourselves, and do not practice the truth. We have to practice the truth by living it. We have to practice God's word. Now, we live the truth by actually implementing it into our life. We prove things! So, we prove God's word. So when God says a particular thing in a commandment or in His word, what we do is we take it on board and we begin to implement it in our life, the way we live. So we prove God's word by living it. The way we live towards others is proof that we're implementing God's word in our life.

Verse 7 - But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship/relationship with one another; in other words, we'll be in unity of doctrine, we'll be in unity with each other, we'll have a desire toward each other in the Body in particular of no ill will, we'll desire the best outcome on a physical and spiritual level for others. ...and the blood of Christ His Son cleanses us/washes us from all sins. And that, of course, is done through Passover and ongoing repentance.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, in other words, we can't see spiritually, that's what it's really saying; and the truth is not in us. God's thinking, His spirit is not in us if we say we don't have sin. The light is not in us. His spirit reveals what sin is. So it's only by God's power of His spirit in our life that reveals our sin to ourselves, where we can actually acknowledge it and then repent.

Today, most religions of this world say that the seventh day Sabbath, the annual Holy Days, and the laws of God covered in the 10 Commandments are done away therefore they are not required to be kept. Yet, we just saw back in Isaiah 2 that in the future the law will be taught from Mount Zion. Spiritually God's going to teach His people through the 144,000 and Jesus Christ obedience to the law.

Although those in Traditional Christianity teach that the laws of the Old Testament are done away, it should be obvious to everyone and to anyone who has ever read the Bible that they are not done away, because the early Church, the New Testament Church kept the weekly seventh day Sabbath and the annual Holy Days. It was not until 325 A.D. that the Catholic Church changed the Sabbath to Sunday and Passover to Easter. Now, that can be looked up in an encyclopedia and people can see that. But of course there is no desire in man to obey God, they are happy in the way that they live because of the natural carnal mind.

Paul's instruction to the Corinthians clearly shows that the Church observed the annual Sabbaths as well as the seventh day Sabbath. Obedience to God in these matters of keeping the laws of God were just a way of life for the Church as it is today for His Church. We live a way of life and that is obedience to the law. The New Testament time is a witness of how the Church sought to live by the law of God.

If you'd like to turn to Leviticus 23... So we know of the 10 Commandments, and later on in the series we're going to go into a little bit of detail of the law as far as in Exodus 20, but here are other commands that God has given about keeping His appointed times, in Leviticus 23 where all the Holy Days, the Sabbath and Holy Days are listed, that reveal whether or not we have a relationship with God. So anybody that does not keep the seventh day Sabbath and the annual Holy Days does not have a spiritual relationship with God no matter what people say.

Leviticus 23:15 - And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; so they brought it in on a Sabbath. Sunday would be the first day, so seven Sabbaths shall be completed. So you're going to count 49 and then count 50, which refers to a Jubilee, a time of release, to the day after this seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. Now, the new grain offering pictures the resurrection of the firstfruits, it's a new grain. Christ is the first of the firstfruits; here is talking about a new grain offering and it reflects the 144,000 that are going to be resurrected at the beginning of the Day of Pentecost, the Day of the Lord. Christ was the first and He was presented to the Father on one day, on that Sunday morning.

Verse 17 - You shall bring from your dwellings two loaves of two-tenths of an eser. They shall be of fine flour; in other words, the only way to have your flour fine is to be beaten fine. Well, that is symbolic of the trials that we go through. We are beaten fine, we are becoming refined and we're becoming finer in the sense of the spirit of God in us because we're getting rid of the old man through trials. We learn to think like God, we choose to think like God by the power of His holy spirit, and that happens through trials, the way we think. ...they shall be baked with leaven; well, we know that leaven is symbolic of sin. Here it is saying these two loaves are going to be beaten fine and they will have leaven. They've had pride in their life. These people will have had pride in their life that has dwelt in all of the natural carnal mind, but they've had it in their life and they have been fighting against it. Sin has dwelt in them. They, these two loaves that are beaten fine and have leaven, they are the firstfruits of the LORD. These two loaves are the called out ones over the Old and New Testament times.

So there was a small group of people that God did call and worked with, who refined them, they had sin in their life, but He refined them over their life so that they could be part of the 144,000. Then from 31 A.D. on the Day of Pentecost when God poured out His holy spirit there is a group of people that were called out from this world, from this way of life, of mankind, to a new way of life, a new man, and they are to enter to be part of the firstfruits, part of the 144,000. But they too have been refined, they've been beaten small through these trials that we've had to go through and have continued to go through, that we will, and we've all had sin in our life, we've all had the pride of life, it's just who we are, that's what we are. But God is going to remove that over time through trials if we make the right choices.

Verse 18 - And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs, in other words, complete, of the first year, without blemish. Before God we are without blemish, these lambs would be without blemish - are us symbolically because God has covered our sins. So we're without fault before God. ...one young bull and two rams: they shall be as a burnt offering, as a sacrifice, to the Eternal, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Eternal. So now it's covering a fact about an offering. We are to offer ourselves. We are to sacrifice our natural carnal minds desires by fighting our selfishness and pride. We are to put to death, to sacrifice the old man, the old way of thinking, which is one of pride and self-justification.

If you'd like to hold your place there in Leviticus 23 we're going to just look at Ephesians 4 which covers this sacrificing attitude that we have to have. Ephesians 4:22 - Now, this was just covered the other week by Terry but we're going to go into it and look at it just slightly differently. It's talking about a sacrifice that we have undertaken, to sacrifice ourselves for the rest of our life. That you put off concerning - we're cutting into a thought here - That you put off concerning your former conduct, the type of behavior we had, the type of thinking we had, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts. So we grow corrupt more and more in our natural carnal mind because of the deceitful lusts, our desires that we have which are deceitful, because we cover things up all the time. Our natural carnal mind covers things up, we don't want to be seen other than the way we want to present ourselves. We don't want people to really know our true thoughts and feelings and words that come out, we'll lie in deceit to cover it all up because that's what the natural carnal mind is.

Verse 23 - And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; which is done by God being in us, and that you put on the new man, which was created according to God. So this creation that God is undertaking, He is creating His nature, His character in us, so we're going to be created in the image of God on a spiritual level in our thinking. ...in true righteousness, well, the only one that is true in righteousness is God and Jesus Christ, and holiness.

Verse 25 - Therefore, what is to be sacrificed, putting away lying; so we're to sacrifice lying - which is we only lie to protect ourselves because we've got an image that we've built up in our minds over time, the way we want to be perceived by others. That's why we lie to others, it's based on pride. Lies or lying, no matter what it is, or deception, is simply based on pride. The motive behind lying is pride. Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour; so that's the way that you do it, you just stop lying, you stop exaggerating, you stop trying to protect the self and the image and you be truthful with your neighbour, you be truthful with your family, you become real. You become real in the sense of you don't try to cover up and justify what you are. ...for we are members of one another; we're Family, brethren. Members of the Body of Christ, we are Family.

Verse 26 - Be angry, well, to be angry we should be angry at our own selfishness and our own pride, and do not sin, because if we get angry at our self because of what we are, the natural carnal mind, there is no sin in being angry. ...do not let the sun go down on your wrath; so if we are upset about something God says we have time to repent, we should not have anger towards another person or be angry towards them in the sense of ill will, but we should repent of that and acknowledge that we're wrong, that we are wrong and we've got time to do it...and it says, 'Don't go to sleep,' in other words, deal with it really quite quickly, repent before God, because if you don't, nor give place to the devil. So in other words, we will give place to Satan if we hang on to this grudge or this ill will, because it will fester in our minds, it's in our thinking. We are to deal with our thoughts quickly! Now, we don't always because we do have certain thoughts - that's normal, that's natural to have those thoughts. Those thoughts can be a multitude of things; they can be about other people, towards other people, "Why did that person say that? What did they really mean?" or they can be about doubt, they can be about doubting what God is doing in His Church. Well, God says you've got to be very careful, you need to deal with that quickly, go to the mercy seat of God and deal with it, because if you don't you're giving place to the devil in your thinking, in our thinking. So the way to overcome our anger towards anybody, or our ill will towards anybody, is to repent of it quickly, to deal with it quickly and go to the mercy seat of God and ask God to forgive us and to change our thinking, to get rid of that thinking that we have. And if it comes back we know we can just go back to God again and say, "God, I'm dwelling on this; please take it away from me, give me a new way of thinking so that I can think differently."

Verse 28 - Let him who stole steal no longer; so here it is about taking - a way of get - God is saying, "Well, don't do it any longer," but rather, so here is the solution, but rather let him labor, in other words, we are to stop gossiping about others because when we gossip about others we're actually stealing, we're destroying somebody's character, we're taking something. And what we're really doing, of course, is the reason we're doing it is we're lifting ourselves up, we're putting them down in our thoughts to make ourselves better, to think that we're better. But we're not to steal people's character, we're not to steal physically or even spiritually, but rather labor, we should work at it, we should work at trying to control ourselves. Here we're talking on a physical level as well - don't steal from people but rather, the opposite is, go and labor, go and work, working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give him who has need. So we're to think of others.

So when it comes to this about when we can steal, or steal somebody's character, the opposite to it is to give. So in other words, we should build others up, we should give to those who are in need, we should look at people's strengths, because everyone has strengths and weaknesses - that's normal because we're all based on a natural carnal mind. Because, of course there are strengths; the strength is God and Jesus Christ living in us. So we should dwell on other people's strengths, where they have strength through God's spirit. A member of the Body of Christ has a strength, it's God in them. That's their strength.

Verse 29 - Let no corrupt word/worthless word proceed out of your mouth; so we shouldn't be pulling others down, we shouldn't be gossiping, we shouldn't be creating negative environments; for what is good for necessary edification; building up, building up others because everybody has strength and that strength is God in us, that it may impart grace/favourable mercy to the hearers. In other words, others will benefit from it.

Verse 30 - and do not grieve the holy spirit of God; Don't interfere with what God is doing in somebody's life, don't interfere with what God is doing in your life by turning inward and becoming negative and raising yourself up with pride. So, don't grieve God's spirit, by which you are sealed for the day of redemption/for salvation. God's spirit is a seal, that He has made a promise that if we continue in the faith and God continues to live and dwell in us that at some point in time we will arrive at the day of redemption, salvation, where we will be changed.

Verse 31 - Let all bitterness; so this bitterness is thinking someone is not worthy of a calling by lifting ourselves up. That's when we're bitter. We become bitter towards others when we start to look at them and find fault in them rather than looking at ourselves and finding fault. We all have faults. Every single human being, other than Jesus Christ, has faults. We are called not to look at others faults, because they have them just like we have them, but we've been called to look at our own faults. So let all bitterness, this negative thinking towards others, thinking they're not worthy...Why have they been ordained? Why haven't I been ordained? Why 'this'? Why 'that'? That's just stupid thinking, really.

So let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you; brethren, we should not be slandering anybody, whether they're in the Body or out of the Body. Often people mention things about mockers, about how, you know, people say, "God's Church?! ...and you're 'this' and you're 'that'." Well, I don't read any of that garbage. I had looked at it a long time back but I don't even bother. Who cares what anybody thinks about God's Church? One day God's going to call them and they will be required to become members of the Body of Christ and go through what you and I are going through, which is called overcoming the self. And I know it's going to be a scar on their thinking, just like Paul had a scar on his thinking, which was he killed God's people, and he never forgot that, that he persecuted God's Church. Well, mockers are going to have the same issue in their life, they're going to be scarred in the sense that they will remember all the things they wrote or said about God's true Church, about God's prophet, God's apostle. It's incredible that they will write this garbage, but the reality is what else can you expect from a natural carnal mind? Well, it says up there...what is it? It's about hatred, they can only hate because that's what they've chosen, they're going down that path. But should it bother us? Well, it shouldn't. We should put away all evil speaking, and that even refers to mockers. We should not speak evil of mockers; they are what they are, they're doing what they're doing and God uses it for our benefit, really, because we can just not worry about it. Who cares what anybody thinks! ...with all malice, with all evil intent/motive; we should get rid of those things, we shouldn't have any ill will toward anybody, and that includes mockers.

Verse 32 - An be kind to one another; so we should have a forgiving attitude, we should live mercy to each other and to others, tender-hearted, forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave you. So we are to forgive others no matter what they say or do, we're to forgive them because we know what it's based on and we know why it's happening.

Ephesians 5:1 - Therefore, be followers/imitators of God as dear children; and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma. We're to sacrifice our desires, we're to put others' desires before our own, we are to have sacrificing love. We are to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. We should be so thankful for the knowledge that God has allowed us to have with regards to the last post. And I know I've been back over that post more than once and meditated and thought on it and it is a wonderful, wonderful thing that God has done in giving us the knowledge He has given...and in it there is a lot of excitement about what God is going to be doing. So we can thank God, we can offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for what He has given us. We're to express thankfulness to God for everything physical and spiritual.

Back to Leviticus 23 and this Day of Pentecost. Leviticus 23:19 - Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, symbolic of Christ, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering; so we must make sure we are reconciled to God and to one another. We can only be reconciled to God through repentance. We are to be at peace with God, by having God's spirit in us through  repentance, and we are to be at peace with others by holding no ill will towards them.

Verse 20 - The priest shall wave them, the offerings, with the bread of the firstfruits. Now, that pictures the 144,000, as a wave offering before the Eternal, to be accepted by God, with the two lambs. They, which is the offerings, shall be holy to the LORD for the priest, so it's Christ as our High Priest. So these offerings were for Jesus Christ who will return as King of kings and be our High Priest; so these 144,000 are for Jesus Christ. ...and you shall proclaim on the same day, as it is a holy convocation to  you; it's a commanded assembly, you shall do no customary/occupational work on it. So it is a High Day, a Holy Day where we give an offering and we assemble, where we can, before God as a group, and if not, individually before God, and keep this day separate from all the others. It's an appointed time, it's a Feast day, it's a time to rejoice, which we should, understanding what the Day of Pentecost is really about. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

Verse 22 - So this is now talking about a principle about thinking of others, and we have to have an attitude of giving. When you reap the harvest of your land you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field , when you reap: so in other words you were to leave the corner parts when you did the reaping. ...nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the strangers: I am the LORD your God. We are to consider the needs of others at all times. We should consider others who are poor - poor spiritually in the sense of the world; they're poor spiritually, they can't do anything about it. ...and the stranger; well, they are strangers to us, brethren, so we should consider them and what our whole purpose in life is, our motivation is, considering others, considering those in the world.

When the 144,000 are reaped, or harvested from this world by God it is for the benefit of others that are to follow, it's during the next 1,000 years, it's during the Millennium. So 144,000 are reaped from the earth as a harvest - which the Day of Pentecost pictures - for a purpose, to benefit others, to look after the poor, to look after the stranger during that period of the Millennium, because those people will be called into God's Church and they're poor in the sense they don't know anything, they don't know the truth, they are strangers to God's way of life. So God is saying we should be thinking always about the future, we should be looking to the future. And that's the purpose of our life, which is to take on God's nature so that one day we can help others. This is not a selfish calling where we just think of ourselves and that we want to get into the Kingdom of God, it's the opposite to that. We desire to be in God's Family for the purpose of peace, because we see our human nature and we don't want it, but we also want to be in God's Kingdom so that we can help others, we can give others what we know. The truth. We can give them that are poor and that are strangers, the truth, God's way of life. What a wonderful way!

When we reap, it says, we're to leave aspects of the field to others. Well, we are hoping to be reaped at some point in time, that we can give to others.

Some people will say that Jesus Christ nailed the laws of God His Father, to a cross, not understanding that He died on a pole. The law and the way of God's way of life are seen as negative and restrictive. So people will look at the Church now who has the truth, who has God's way, that God has called out of the world to live His way of life - people look at us as strange and they look at us in a negative way and they say God's way is restrictive, you've got to do this, you've got to not work on a Saturday. They look at the negative component of it - that's one of the reasons they hate the law and that's why they've twisted the law of God and say, "Well, it's done away."

The truth is that true freedom, true spiritual freedom comes from obedience to the law of God and His Holy Days.

Let's turn to Acts 1:1. This is talking about the lead up into Pentecost 31 A.D.. Acts 1:1 - The former account, which is the book of Luke, I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which He was taken up; so this was 10 days before the Day of Pentecost; after He through the holy spirit had given commandments... so the commandment was to gather together on the Day of Pentecost, so obviously it wasn't done away. Here is Christ, who is a resurrected spirit being, and here He had been with the disciples and the apostles over a 40 day period, and now He's telling them to gather on the Day of Pentecost. Isn't the fact that He did away with it? So why would He command them to come together on the Day of Pentecost? It doesn't make any sense, and this is easy reading for anybody that has read the Bible. Here Christ is commanding them, to the apostles, to whom He had chosen, to get together on the Day of Pentecost.

Verse 3 - To whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible, which is unmistakable proofs, being seen by them during the forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. So He was talking about the gospel of the Kingdom of God, a new Government. He was talking to them about a new Government, the Government of God that is going to come on this earth on the Day of Pentecost, on the day that God has chosen, a day of freedom for mankind. That's the day we are celebrating today, the day we're worshipping God on, a Day of Pentecost.

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. Now, this brethren, had dual meanings, really. Here it is, it's clear that the Holy Days are not done away, because Christ wouldn't instruct them to gather together on the Feast of Weeks, on the Feast of Ingathering. He also instructs them not to depart Jerusalem. Well, we know Jerusalem is symbolic of the Church, so God is saying here to us, we are not to depart the Church, we are commanded to stay with the Church, to gather together as a group of people and stay together, because this is an important period of time that we are in. We are not to leave God's Church because this is where God feeds His people, this is where the truth is. We cannot receive God's spirit outside of being a member of the Body of Christ. So here is Christ saying this is a promise of the Father, which was going to, of course, be God's spirit. Well, we have a promise too. We have a promise that Jesus Christ will return on the Day of Pentecost, and in that day Jesus Christ will pour out seven last plagues, or God will pour it out through Jesus Christ and we're going to see a change of Government. That's what we wait for. That's what we're rejoicing about today - not only receiving God's law on this day but to see the Day of the Lord fulfilled on that day where we're going to see a change of government. Satan and the demons will be removed at the end of that day, man's government will be abolished.

Verse 5 - For John truly baptized/immersed with water, but you shall be baptized/immersed in/with the holy spirit not many days from now. So that was the promise, and immersion of God's spirit. They were going to be able to think spiritually, they were going to be able to see spiritual matters, and the biggest thing they're going to be able to see is sin in themselves.

Verse 6 - Therefore, when they had come together they asked Him saying, Lord/Master, will you at this time/in this time restore the Kingdom to Israel. They were asking a straightforward question, one that we have. They were saying, "Well, will you return and restore the Government of God, this spiritual Government ruling with 144,000?" That's what they were really asking only they didn't probably understand a lot about the 144,000, but they're asking a question, "When will You come back and restore this Government, the Government of God on this earth? When will You return? When will You restore it?"

We have that same question. We had a hope, brethren, that Jesus Christ would be restored as King of kings, appointed as King of kings to this earth at Pentecost this year - but God has revealed that that is not the case...but there is a Day of the Lord that is to come and on that day the Kingdom will be established.

Verse 7 - And He said to them, It is not for you, the disciples at that time, to know the times/the appointed times or seasons which the Father has put/set in His own authority. So God is the one who is in charge, or in control, of His creation. God knows what is best for all mankind. God knows what is best for His Church. God knows when the perfect time is to establish His Kingdom on this earth, to bring to an end 6,000 years of man's self rule. God knows, we don't! We'd like to think we know what's best but we don't, we wait on God. And that is one of the things that we have all learned of late -- no matter what happens we wait on God. God has perfect timing, He is perfect in all His ways, He knows what is best for us...but you know what we should also think? He knows what is best for all mankind. What is the best thing that can happen for mankind to bring them to repentance, to accept what is coming? Well, it's to return on a Day of Pentecost in the future.

Verse 8 - But you shall receive power when the holy spirit has come/is coming upon you, and you shall be witness, in other words, give evidence by the way you live, Christ in them, to Me in Jerusalem. And that's a 'type' of the Church. We, brethren, should be a witness to the world by the way we live. And I know the vast majority, that is the case, that God will continue to live in His Church, live in His people and we as a group of people will continue on with the Church, the Body of Christ, so that we can be a witness to the world. ...in all Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth; in other words, others will see us, others will talk about us now, often in a negative way, but in the future, in God's timing, people will talk about us in a positive way, they will look at us on a spiritual level, about what God did in and through us during this period of time. We are a living witness that God dwells in His Church; we should be, but we are now to this very fact, only now people can't see it; but we should be able to see it, that we are simply living witnesses now at this time about what God is doing in His Church. We are witnesses by the way we live, because we live the truth.

If you ever wanted to look at later on, I was going to go through part of Romans 8 but I won't due to time. We are also the firstfruits of the spirit. We are some of the first, brethren, to have God's spirit. We've been called out of this world at this time to have God's spirit, so we are firstfruits and those that will live on into the Millennium are a 'type' because they are still the first to receive God's spirit - but later on, of course, God is going to pour out much more. But here it's saying we are the firstfruits, it's talking about the 144,000, but there are others called around 2008 and onwards there, in that period, that they have been given God's spirit, they have been given God's spirit, they are first, ahead of another group that is coming on the Day of Pentecost in the future. They are first in the sense that they are first to have God's spirit before the Millennium, before that Millennial period.

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.

Verse 10 - And while they looked steadfastly towards heaven as He went up, behold, two men/two angels stood by them in white apparel, who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? Asked a question. This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will also come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. As Jesus Christ was taken up in a cloud, here the angels are saying, "Well, He's going to return in a cloud." So He was taken up from the Mount of Olives, He's going to return on the Day of Pentecost to the Mount of Olives - on the Day of the Lord. He's going to return to the Mount of Olives and He will place His feet on the Mount of Olives. He will return in a cloud.

Verse 12 - Then they returned to Jerusalem, so they went back to Jerusalem, from the Mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. So here it is saying, brethren, we should after this experience, after we've been through the Day of the Lord where we have been made to stand, we should return to Jerusalem, we should stay in the Church, the Body of Christ. We should stay. Christ is returning to this earth on the Day of Pentecost.

So, how is Christ coming? Revelation 11:15 - Then the seventh angel sounded; now, this is the 7th Trumpet blast at the start of the Day of Pentecost, and there was loud voices in heaven saying, The Kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever. So God is going to reign on this earth through Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is King of kings.

Now, there is a summary of what is to happen, verse 16 - And the twenty-four elders who sat before God, in other words, they have authority, they've been given authority by God, on their thrones, and 'thrones' is symbolic of authority, fell on their faces and worshipped God saying, We give You, God, thanks, O LORD God Almighty, the one who is and who was and who is to come; because You, God, have taken Your great power and reigned in and through Jesus Christ. So God's authority is going to be established on this earth. He is KING of Kings in the sense of God is KING over all things, but He has given the title of King of kings to Jesus Christ, to rule this earth, and we look to that day, which is what the Day of Pentecost is about.

Verse 18 - And the nations, of this world, were angry and You, God, Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead that they should  be judged and that You should reward your servants, the prophets and the saints, the 144,000, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. Now, that's a summary of all different things, so let's just have a quick look at it.

And the nations were angry, well, the world does not want God's way and I'm sure that once they see the beginning of the Day of the Lord that they're going to be angry thinking that something is happening, because they're not going to really know what's happening, they're going to be angry towards what is happening towards them. And it says, carrying on, ...And, this is the first 'and', and Your wrath has come. So God's judgment is now going to be poured out on mankind on this Day of Pentecost.  A second 'and' here,  and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, this is a time that they should be judged in the sense that if you are not resurrected you are judged at that time, because the dead are judged in the sense that if you're not resurrected, well,  you're judged, the judgment is you're not resurrected to be part of the 144,000.

And, (verse 3), and you shall reward Your servants; so God will reward His servants, the prophets and the saints, the called out ones who make up the 144,000, and those who fear your name, small and great, those who will live on into the Millennium. They are those who fear God's name, small and great. They're going to live on into the Millennium, and five there, and You should destroy those who destroy the earth. God is going to destroy those nations that are warring. And we're going to cover a little bit of that if time permits.

Verse 19 - Now, symbolically it's talking here, Then the Temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of His covenant, the agreement, was seen in His Temple, the 144,000, God dwelling in them forever, and there were lightening and noises, thundering and earthquakes, shakings, and great hail. So what is to follow is great destruction.

Today, this Day of Pentecost, is a day that Jesus Christ will return to be King of kings.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 - Now, this part of scripture is all about the Day of Pentecost. But I do not want you to be ignorant, or without knowledge, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, those who have died in the faith, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. So we don't want to be like the world because when people die people in the world sorrow because they don't know whether they've gone up to heaven or they're possibly down in 'hell' in a hellfire that man has made up; and going to heaven is a manmade concept. So they don't know, so they don't have any hope, they're not sure, they don't have hope of a resurrection, they don't have a hope of the return of Jesus Christ and the 144,000 on the Day of Pentecost. They don't know about it.

Verse 14 - For if  we believe that Jesus died and rose again, which we do, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Christ, those who have died in Christ. So here it's talking about those that have died in Christ will be resurrected.

Verse 15 - For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain, so if we are alive at the time of Jesus Christ, those that have been called out to be part of the 144,000 remain until the coming of the Lord, will not, by no means, precede those who are asleep, those that have died in the faith that make up the 144,000.

Verse 16 - For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout: so there is this shout, the rejoicing, with the voice of an archangel, and with the Trumpet of God; so this 7th Trumpet is going to be blown and the dead in Christ will rise and those that are alive will follow. ...and the dead in Christ will rise first; so here they're going to be raised up to meet Jesus Christ in the air as Jesus Christ returns. This is a time of great rejoicing, and you can understand with this great shouting which is a shout of rejoicing.

Verse 17 - Then we, Paul was thinking at that time that he would still be alive at the return of Jesus Christ; And we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them, with the dead in Christ, total of 144,000, in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall be always with the Lord on the earth, but as spirit beings ruling in the Millennial period under Jesus Christ. How exciting is that? Now, that is all about the Day of Pentecost, the day Jesus Christ returns to this earth, the Day of the Lord.

Revelation 14:1 - So again, this is all about Pentecost. Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 having His Father's name written on their foreheads. They are now in Elohim, they are now part of God's Family.

Verse 2 - And I heard a voice from heaven like the voice of many waters; so it's very loud, roaring waters, and like the voice of a loud thunder, which is a really loud clap of thunder, it's a roar, it's so loud it can pierce your ears almost it's that loud, and I heard the sound of the harpists playing their harps. So here we have music, this loud music as well. ...they sang, as it were, a new song before the throne, so God has placed it into their minds, that's how they know it, they are now spirit beings and God has placed His mind, His thinking in their minds. ...before the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders that are there, and no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed/ separated from the earth. So we are redeemed by the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. So this group, the 144,000, have been separated from the earth; God has called them over a period of time and He's worked with them – remember the two loaves? So there is the Old and New Testament, they've been redeemed, they've been separated from the earth and they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Passover, as the Lamb of God, as their Saviour, through Christ, through Christ's death that we can be saved, the beginning of it. So, they've been separated and they have this new song, these new words which are going to give glory to God that's in their minds and no one else knows it, it's yet to be revealed.

Verse 4 – These are the ones who were not defiled with women for they are virgins, this is talking about on a spiritual level, that they no longer have a relationship with false religions so they are spiritual virgins because God's made them that way. ...these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes; now, this is talking about a spiritual following. We strive today to follow Jesus Christ wherever He goes, wherever He leads the Church, and we know from the last post where He is leading His Church. It's not difficult, really, it's a matter of following Jesus Christ and not letting our self get in the way.

To be at one with God is to follow God. So here it is talking about the 144,000 and they will follow God on a spiritual level, they'll follow Jesus Christ on a spiritual level in spirit and truth. They are the ones that God has called and they are going to be with Christ ruling this earth for the thousand years. They are in total unity with God, they are under government, under the Government of God and Christ.

Verse 4 continues...these were redeemed from among men, from among humans, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. So this takes us back to the meaning of Pentecost: Pentecost is about a harvest, a harvest that God will complete. God is going to harvest 144,000 from mankind and they are His firstfruits, they are the first, outside of Jesus Christ, to enter Elohim, to enter His Family. Now God will dwell in them forever by the power of His holy spirit.

Verse 5 – And in their mouth, in their words, was found no deceit/no falsehood, for they are without fault before the throne of God. God has covered their faults, their sins, by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. So they have no deceit in them because God dwells in them and therefore they cannot think sin.

Verse 6 – Then I saw another angel; so here we have an angel, flying in the midst of heaven; now, a lot of this is symbolic and we don't understand all of it, so here is John relaying what he saw and a lot of it has symbolic meaning, but we can only read what he is saying he saw. Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having an everlasting gospel/the good news to preach to those who dwell on the earth. So this is talking about something in the future, because the gospel will be preached, as we read previously in Isaiah, the gospel, the good news and the law will be preached on the earth to every nation, tribe, tongue/language, and people. So no one is going to be left out of the good news that is about God's Government ruling the earth. So this good news is going to be preached from Jerusalem, from Mount Zion out to all people, and the people have a choice, what they want to do. Do they want to obey the law? Do they want to now understand that that law has never been done away? ...that God is perfect in all that He does and all that He says and that God's way is a way of freedom, a way of peace?

Verse 7 – Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, well, when you fear God guess what, you obey God, you obey the law, you obey the 10 Commandments and the holy days, and give glory to Him, give glory to the Creator. God is the one who created us for a purpose, the purpose of life. The reason we were created was to enter His Family. What a merciful, loving God that He would do that, that He would create something that is hostile to Him with the purpose and intent of changing that thinking so that one day we can enter life everlasting, to be in Elohim.

So we are to 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. So God made everything physical but He also made everything spiritual.

Verse 8 – And another angel followed; so it talks about another angel followed, saying, Babylon has fallen – in other words, man's system of government and confusion is pulled down. Now, this is talking about the Day of Pentecost, the Day of the Lord, that final day of that period. ...Babylon has fallen, has fallen, which means man's system under Satan's influence has fallen, that great city; that's talking about the falsehood that comes out from Rome as a symbolism of Satan's authority, because she has made all nations to drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication. So what is being preached out is unlawful relationships, false religions started by the Catholic church, because it is about a false religion, it is about a falsehood, it's about deceit, it's unlawful relationships. So adultery is an unlawful relationship. Fornication is an unlawful relationship. They cannot have a relationship with God, they've entered another relationship and that relationship is with Satan and Satan's system.

Verse 9 – Then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast, this system, and his image, the system of government, and receives the mark, which is Sunday worship, which is that false religious system, on his forehead, in his thinking, or in his hand, in his actions, (verse 10) he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is the 7 Last Plagues, which is going to be poured out on the Day of Pentecost...which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation; he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, now that is symbolic of a physical death, to be thrown into a lake of fire and brimstone is really symbolic of death, in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Verse 11 – And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; in other words, it will last until it is finished. So, it's only a day period and they will die, but during that period of torment, until it is finished, they're going to suffer, and they shall have no rest day and night, until it is finished, who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives the mark of his name.

Verse 12 – Here is the patience of the saints, the called out ones: here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Christ. Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense if you believe what the religions of the world teach. Here are those who keep the commandments of God, and yet they go along and say they're done away.  So here it's very obvious that they aren't done away, because God says that His people are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ.

So how can they say the commandments are done away? It's really foolishness from a natural carnal mind.

Hold your place there and we'll turn to 1 Corinthians 15:50 – Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. It's talking about a Day of Pentecost here. Behold, I tell you a mystery; it's not known to man, this is something spiritual, we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last Trump. That 7th Trump, the Day of Pentecost. ...for the Trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal, human flesh, must put on immortality, spirit. So when this corruption has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law, because it tells you what sin is, that's the strength of it, that's why you need the law. Because without the law of God, which He gave on the Day of Pentecost to the Israelites, and then He gave the holy spirit to His people on the Day of Pentecost, 31 A.D., so that they could understand the spiritual intent of the law – to understand it, to know what sin is.

Verse 57 – But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we can have victory, brethren, if we stay with the Body of Christ, if we stay with Jesus Christ.

Back to Revelation 14:13 – Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Write, Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord from now on; Yes, says the spirit, that they may rest from their labor; and their works follow them. So this is referring to those who die in the faith after Christ's return. They live in faith during the Millennium, but they die and they will receive their inheritance at the end of the thousand years at a resurrection. So, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on, from this point on. So once Babylon has fallen and the Millennium starts there are many that are going to live in faith and die in faith and they're going to be blessed because they get a rest from their physical labors, and their spiritual ones, because they're going to have to enter the fight we've entered, and their works will follow them, the reward for what God has promised them is going to be given, it's going to follow them and at a resurrection they're going to be given the gift of life as we've just read in 1 Corinthians 15, another resurrection to life, spirit life.

Then I looked, and behold a white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like the Son of man, Jesus Christ, having on His head a golden throne; now, that is symbolic of authority, and in His hand a sharp sickle; now, that sharp sickle is symbolic of the power to reap a harvest, and this, of course, is talking about a spiritual harvest that Jesus Christ is going to harvest.

Verse 15 – And another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to Him, Christ, who sat on the cloud, Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. So Christ is going to reap a harvest and it's called the 144,000. So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped, an ingathering of the firstfruits on the Day of Pentecost. Isn't that a beautiful picture? ...a wonderful picture of Jesus Christ harvesting from the earth 144,000. Then another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, he also has a sharp sickle – so now we have an angel with a sharp sickle – and another angel came out of the altar who had power over fire and cried with a loud voice to him, the angel that had the sharp sickle; so this angel cries out to him saying, thrust in your sickle and gather the clusters, the nations, of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe; so time is up, this vine of the earth, these nations, it is fully ripe, it's at the maximum power that it can go from destroying itself in its evil. So here now the angel is crying out, thrust in your sickle,  it's time to reap this harvest, to harvest the nations and to punish them.

So the angel thrust in his sickle to the earth and gathered the wine of the earth and threw it into a great winepress of the wrath of God; so this is symbolic of the death and destruction that is going to happen by the pouring out of the 7 Last Plagues.

Verse 20 – And the winepress was trampled outside the city and blood came out of the winepress, to the horses bridles for one thousand six hundred furlongs. About 180 miles.

If you'd like to turn to Zechariah 14:1 – Day of Pentecost again: Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming and your spoil will be divided in your midst; so God is going to do this through Jesus Christ, for I will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem. So this is symbolic of man's attitudes toward God's Church as well, but it's also symbolic of man's attitude of war. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled and the women ravished; half of the city shall go into captivity but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as He fights in the day of battle. So this is the last day of man's self-rule. And in that day His feet, symbolic of government, will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the East, and the Mount of Olives, which will be split in two from the east to the west, making a great large valley. Half of the mountain shall move towards the north and half of it to the south; so it's split in two.

Verse 5 – Then you shall flee to My mountain valley, for the mountain shall reach to Azal: Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah; Thus the Lord, my God will come, all the saints with You. They're going to come in Christ. It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish. So the sun and the moon are the lights that it's talking about there, it shall be one day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night: so the return of Jesus Christ, the light is going to be so bright that there is going to be no night, but at evening time it shall happen that it will be light. So there is this 24 hour period of the return of Jesus Christ that there is not going to be day or night, it's a 24-hour period because you can't see the sun and moon because of the brightness of the return of Jesus Christ. At the start of the Day of Pentecost, that sundown at Jerusalem time, at evening, it will be light, for the glory of God will make it so, it will be bright.

Verse 8 – And in that Day it shall be that living waters, it's symbolic of God's spirit; it's physical and spiritual here, shall flow from Jerusalem – half of them towards the eastern sea, which is the Dead Sea, and half of them toward the western sea, which is the Mediterranean Sea, in both summer and winter it shall occur. So God is implying here that on a physical level these things will happen, but also on a spiritual level, that God is going to pour out His spirit from Jerusalem and it will not stop, it will not stop in any part of the season, but it also implies that the seasons will not stop. They won't be as extreme as we have them now but we're going to have seasons by the indication here.

Verse 9 – And the LORD shall be KING over all the earth, in and through Jesus Christ, in that day it shall be the LORD is one and His name is one – one God, Yahweh Elohim will be taught. There will be one Church, one Passover, one way of life, one truth! Oh, we wait for that day! We wait for the Day of Pentecost, for the return of Jesus Christ to implement this very way of life on the earth. All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin's gate to the place of the first gate and the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel to the king's winepress. So Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited. So we're going to see a physical city of Jerusalem going to be raised up and inhabited. We know that there is also... Jerusalem is symbolic of the Church, so the Church is going to be raised up again, from what it is, from all the change that has happened, from all the destruction, there will be a remnant of the Church there but also the rest of the people that are left alive during the Millennium will be drawn into the Church and it will be raised up and inhabited. Isn't that exciting? That everyone that lives through that period, ongoing as we start the Millennium, will be called into the Church. But they have choices... they have choices, and the Church will be raised up and inhabited – one way of life, one Church, one Passover, one truth. Exciting times ahead of us!

Verse 11 – And the people shall dwell in it; it's a place of safety for us, brethren. The Church is a place of safety for us, spiritual safety, and if we go outside of this place of safety we will die, it's a guarantee, because the Church, 'the Church of God – PKG' is a spiritual place of safety at this time, because this is where the truth is, this is where God's law is, this is where God is. And no longer shall there be utter destruction; this Day of the Lord will come to an end, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. So the Church will continue.

Verse 12 – And it shall come to be the plague which the LORD will strike all the peoples that fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall dissolve/decay while they are standing on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouth. In other words, they will virtually just dissolve and melt...and this is about Pentecost, the Day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from the Eternal will be among men. So God will place it in their  minds; everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor and raise his hand against his neighbors hand. Judah will also fight at Jerusalem; well that can be talking symbolically about the Church, the 144,000 will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of the surrounding nations shall be gathered together, gold, silver, and the apparel of great abundance/in great abundance.

Verse 15 – Such also shall be the plague, which is death, on the horse and the mule, on the camel and the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps. So it shall be, this plague; so this plague will affect them, which is death.

So now we're going to go into a Millennial setting: And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall come up from year to year to worship the KING, the LORD of hosts and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. The religions of the world now say that it's done away, so why would we now have to keep the Feast of Tabernacles if it's been done away? Well, of course it's not. God has not done away with His way of life, the way of remembering what He has a plan for us. The Feast days picture a plan of God, a plan of salvation, so why would you get rid of the plan of salvation, it's just illogical.

So here it says, those that came up against Jerusalem, that's talking physically there but also spiritually, those that have come up against God's Church. The mockers and many others that have resisted God's way will have to one day come up to worship the KING, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And if they don't, well, there is a consequence.

And it shall be, whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem; so it's symbolic here, talking about anybody that doesn't obey God, to worship the KING, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. So this is physical but it's also spiritual drought, which causes famine. So there is going to be a physical drought but there is going to be a spiritual drought, because if you don't obey God and keep the Feast of Tabernacles, the Sabbath and Holy Days, and the 10 Commandments, you are in famine, you're cut off, you're in drought.

Verse 18 – If the family of Egypt, symbolic of sin in those that are in rebellion, will not come up and enter in they shall have no rain, in other words, they can't grow spiritually, they shall receive the plague; well, famine leads to death. So the plague is famine but the outcome is death. ...with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Verse 19 – This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and by the word, symbolic of anyone who wants to dwell in sin, and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Sin is the transgression of God's law. Sin is the transgression of not keeping the 10 Commandments and disobeying the Sabbath and Holy Days. Sin is the transgression, the breaking of God's law; you become lawless when you don't keep God's law. To not keep the Feast of Tabernacles is sin, and the wages of sin, what we earn by this that's disobedience is death, physically and spiritually.

Verse 20 – In that day, the Millennium, HOLINESS TO THE LORD shall be engraved on the bells of the horses; the pots in the LORD'S House/Temple, which we are, which we're the Temple in the LORD'S HOUSE, shall be on the bowls before the altar. So they're going to be set aside for holy use and purpose. Just like us today, brethren, we've been set aside for holy use and purpose. We have to submit to God's spirit. We're not to grieve God's spirit which He poured out on the Day of Pentecost 31 A.D. and has continued to do so as long as we continue to humble ourselves and repent.

Verse 21 – Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness to the LORD of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them; so everyone is going to have to work towards sacrificing the self, we're going to have to sacrifice our human nature, and during this Millennial period nothing changes, it's still going to have to be the sacrificing of the self. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite/foreigner/unbeliever in the House of the LORD. There will no longer be an unbeliever in God's Church.

Well, brethren, I'll stop it there and we will continue on in the next part of 'Pentecost and the Law – Part 2', and we'll go into more of the Day of Pentecost in Acts and also more about the very return of Jesus Christ, and also about the law and how God has not done away with the law, and the Holy Days and the commandments are required, and we're going to look at all the areas in Romans where Paul addresses these issues about people that lie saying the law is done away.

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