Did you know that unless Christ’s disciples were keeping the Day of Pentecost they would not have received God’s Holy Spirit?
Without God’s Spirit no one could ever inherit eternal life! Without God’s Spirit you can’t even worship God as you should! John said, “God is spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:24)! No one can worship God in spirit if they don’t have the Spirit of God!
God’s Holy Spirit came to the disciples for the first time on the Day of Pentecost, it changed their lives. It can change yours! You need to thoroughly understand the importance of the Day of Pentecost, the day on which Jesus Christ founded the New Testament Church. Pentecost pictures the little-understood 3rd vital step in God’s Master Plan!
God’s seven annual festivals outline His Master Plan. Because the world rejects these Holy Days, it has lost the knowledge of the purpose for human life. These holy periods of time are not “Jewish.
The Passover is to remind us that Jesus Christ paid a tremendous price for our sins. He offered something more valuable than anything we could offer, the sacrifice of His perfect human life!
Because we broke God’s law and earned the wages of sin, which is death (Rom. 6:23), Jesus had to die in our stead. We need the cleansing blood of Christ to pay for our sins. The Passover was given to us as an annual memorial so we would never forget it.
Next, God reminds us to quit sinning! The Days of Unleavened Bread picture putting the leaven of sin (I Cor. 5:7-8) out of our lives, and beginning to live in complete submission and obedience to God’s always. When we begin to obey God and totally surrender to Him, we take the second step in God’s plan. But that is not enough! We need the Holy Spirit of God if we are to ever inherit eternal life.
This 3rd step in God’s plan is pictured for us by the Day of Pentecost, or Feast of Firstfruits.
In John 14:16 Christ promised His disciples spiritual help, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” Here Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit to come and dwell inside of them.
The Holy Spirit had been with the disciples in the person of Jesus Christ. But now He was to ascend into Heaven. He promised to send the Holy Spirit to be within them as it had been in Him! The word, “COMFORTER” is translated from the Greek word, “parakletos” which means, “one who goes alongside to help.”
Jesus Christ told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem (Luke 24:49) “tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem.” The word, “tarry” does not refer to an ecstatic emotional, pseudo-religious meeting held in Jerusalem as some deluded people believe, but merely means “wait.”
Just when did Christ’s disciples receive the Holy Spirit, what day was it? (Acts 2:1-4.) It was the Day of Pentecost, the conception of the Church. But who were these people that gathered from all over the Roman Empire, “devout men, out of every nation under heaven” (v. 5)?
Why were Christ’s disciples gathered together with “devout” men from all over the Roman Empire? Had everyone gathered together at a specific time and in a specific place for the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1)? The Day of Pentecost was observed long before the Holy Spirit came in A.D. 31 as recorded in the Book of Acts!
Pentecost was called the “Feast of Firstfruits” in the Old Testament and was observed by “devout” people (including Christ’s disciples) for many generation (Lev. 23:15-21).
Christ’s disciples waited in Jerusalem as Jesus had commanded until the Feast of Firstfruits or Pentecost when they were all together in one place on one of God’s annual Holy Days. It was then that Christ sent the Holy Spirit and began the New Testament Church!
If Jesus’ disciples had not obeyed Him, if they were not keeping this Feast day (Pentecost) they would not have received God’s Holy Spirit! God gives His Spirit only to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32)!
God knows man is best reminded by what he repeats year after year! God established His Holy Days – memorials of the plan of God in conjunction with the two annual harvests. God used the physical harvest seasons as a pattern of the two spiritual harvests. Pentecost pictures the very small early harvest.
After Jesus was put to death, buried and resurrected, He ascended to His Father’s throne to have His sacrifice accepted as the firstfruits of the spiritual harvest, and no one was allowed to touch Him (John 20:17)
Because Jesus was a holy sacrifice, and was the first human being to be resurrected, He fulfilled the symbolism of the Wave-Sheaf Offering. The morning after He was resurrected, He had to go before God the Father to be accepted, just as the High Priest in the Old Testament had to wave the sheaf of barley to be accepted by God before the spring harvest could begin. When Mary met Christ in the garden, she couldn’t touch Him because His sacrifice had not yet been accepted in Heaven.
Once the Wave Sheaf was offered, the spring harvest began. The spring harvest ended with the annual Sabbath of the Feast of Firstfruits, when all the people gathered to give thanks for the produce God had given them. Another name for the Feast of Firstfruits was the Feast of Weeks (Deut. 16:9-12).Among the Greek-speaking peoples it was called Pentecost.
The word “church” has been translated from the Greek word, “ecclesia” which means the “called out ones.” Pentecost or Firstfruits pictures to us the first part of the spiritual harvest, the calling out of God’s True Church, a few people and a small first harvest. God is not dealing with the vast majority of the world today, but He has made these wonderful truths plain to the few that He is calling.
Jesus Christ, the Wave Sheaf, was resurrected, and became the first of the firstfruits of God’s Master Plan (Col. 1:18). After a period of time symbolized by the 50th day period ending in Pentecost, those who are Christ’s and have the Holy Spirit are to be resurrected as the completed first harvest in God’s plan.
Notice what Christ wants us to learn about the spiritual harvests. It is found in Matt. 13:24-30 and 37-43. Notice what happens when Jesus sows the seed of truth among the people of the earth “The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way” (vs. 24-25). These two verses are explained in verse 37-38 “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man. The tares are the children of the wicked one.
How did Jesus Christ know the wheat, the good grain, from the tares, or worthless weeds “But when the grain was sprung us, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also” (v. 26)? Although some people try to hide their wicked works, the fruit of their disobedience is easily recognizable to God. Notice what happens to the final end of those who do not produce the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit in their lives, “gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn” (v. 30). Also read verses 41-43.
When will this harvest take place? Notice verses 30-39 and the phrase “end of the world,” this phrase should be translated “end of the age” indicating the final days of man’s rule over the earth and the time of the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. This is the time of the harvest of firstfruits. The 50 day period between the Wave-Sheaf offering and Pentecost symbolizes what has been going on since Jesus Christ sent His Holy Spirit in 31 A.D. During this time God has been calling out an “elect” or chosen people as “firstfruits” of His Master Plan. These Firstfruits will be reaped at the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ in the few short years from now!
When Christ returns to this earth He will send forth His angels and gather those who are elect, chosen, the good grain, into His Kingdom (I Thess. 4:16-17;Matt. 24:31).
The pronoun “he” sometimes used to refer to God’s Spirit in the KJV should properly be translated “it.” The KJV translators, blinded by the false doctrines of Babylon, inserted this flagrant error into our Bible. The Holy Spirit is not part of a pagan trinity! The Holy Spirit is the power of God. It is the very seed of eternal life which the Father implants in every son of His.
The Passover pictures our repentance from sin, and acknowledges that we need Jesus Christ’s sacrifice to pay for our sins. Next, you must make up your mind to quit sinning. You show your willingness to obey by being baptized and begin to submit to God’s perfect laws. This step is pictured by the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Thirdly, you must receive supernatural help from God! God will give true Christians His powerful Holy Spirit to help them overcome. God first sent His Spirit on the Day of Pentecost!
Jesus Christ overcame, Paul, the apostle, overcame, and you can overcome your own selfishness, your carnal human mind, if you yield yourself to God and receive the help of His Spirit. When you do, you will become one of the few true Christians, one of the firstfruits of God’s Master Plan of salvation.
Is it possible to be one of Christ’s – can you belong to Jesus Christ if you don’t have God’s Holy Spirit? Notice, “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his” (Rom 8:9)?
Notice that everything in creation is waiting for the time when the firstfruits of God’s spiritual harvest will be reaped, “we know that the whole creation groaned and travaileth in pain together until now” (v. 22). Not only that, but the firstfruits themselves eagerly yearn for the time when they will be able to complete their part in God’s plan and become members of God’s own family (v. 23).
The word “adoption” in the 8th chapter of Romans is a woeful mistranslation! Those who translated the KJV of the Bible couldn’t understand that God intends human beings to become members of God’s own family, very sons of God! They mistranslated the Greek word “sonship” as “adoption” because the vital truths you are now learning was hidden from them!
These elect Christians, the firstfruits of God, are those who have God’s Spirit and understand His Master Plan, these people, “the very elect” cannot be deceived or mislead by Satan the Devil and his false ministers who preach on Sunday.
The firstfruits in God’s plan are sealed, preserved by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13).The Holy Spirit which we receive is called “the earnest of our inheritance” (v. 14). In business terms the “earnest” refers to a very small down payment of money that is given to show good faith in a business deal. It is the guarantee that the full payment will be made later. God has given the “earnest” of His Spirit to those called to be firstfruits. It is God’s guarantee to Christians they will receive the fullness of His Spirit, and Sonship in His Family when Christ returns to this earth.
The death of Jesus Christ, the shedding of His blood in our stead, provided not only remission of sins but also a promise of eternal inheritance to those God is calling (Heb. 9:15-17). Jesus Christ, our Passover sacrifice and High Priest is now the mediator of a New Covenant (v. 15). The Greek word diatheke, translated “testament” means covenant or agreement, as well as a testament or a will.
God is yet to make His New Covenant with carnal Israel and Judah, but a spiritually converted Israel and Judah. God is calling people out of this evil world. Whether Gentile or Israelite by birth, they become “the Israel of God” – they are His True Church! They are spiritual Israelites. Why? Because they are led by His Spirit!
Notice what the conditions are of the new covenant or agreement. God will make a covenant with all those who become spiritual Israelites, “I will put My laws into their mind and write them in their hearts” (Heb. 8:10). Just how will He put His laws in your mind? Phil 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus Christ had God’s Holy Spirit in His mind, He was the first ever to have been begotten and actually born of God, the firstfruits of the resurrection (James 1:18 and Col. 1:18). Jesus Christ obeyed completely, even suffering death for us (Phil 2:8).
God expects our complete obedience. To obey God completely we need His Holy Spirit in our minds. It will give us the very same mind Jesus Christ had. We will see things from Christ’s point of view; we will understand and know to obey God’s law. Only God’ Holy Spirit can give us the supernatural power we need to begin to keep God’s law in its spiritual intent.
Without God’s Spirit you will not be able to really understand God’s truth (John 16:13). Without God’s Spirit in your mind you can’t worship God as you should (John 4:24). The Holy Spirit of God will give you the supernatural help to live the same life today that Jesus lived as a fleshly human being over 1900 years ago.
Today Jesus Christ has sent His Holy Spirit to the members of His True Church. Through that Spirit, Christ is living in the flesh and blood members of His Church. They are living the very same kind of life Jesus lived, a life of obedience, overcoming and enduring to the end of this age!
The Day of Pentecost or Firstfruits is a sign, it identifies those who have God’s Holy Spirit, those who are God’s elect who will be resurrected when Jesus Christ returns to this earth! The Day of Pentecost identifies God’s only True Church! Only God’s true Church keeps the Day of Pentecost at the right time in the right way, with the understanding of God’s plan. That is because only God’s True Church received His Holy Spirit and was founded by Jesus Christ on the Day of Pentecost in 31 A.D.
Those who are called, have their names written in heaven, those who are being made perfect are the Firstfruits. They are members of the True Church of God! God has made this wonderful knowledge available to you, but you must act on it!
|
