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Pentecost, The Spiritual Bridge
Today is Pentecost. Many churches recognize Pentecost but very few
observe it as a Holy Day. Fewer still understand the true meaning of
Pentecost.
So, let's talk about Pentecost .... where it came from, why, and what
it means to us today.
First, let’s discuss the history of Pentecost
The subject of Pentecost, or Shavu'ot in Hebrew, actually begins with
the weekly Sabbath before the waving of the omer or wave sheaf offering of
barley on the first day of the week after Passover. Fifty days after that
is Shavu'ot. Shavu'ot means weeks. As we shall see, Shavu'ot is the
anniversary of the giving of the Torah or the law or the Pentateuch. These
fifty days provide a bridge between the Holydays of Abib (or Nisan) and
Shavu'ot, and are sometimes called the "counting of Omer."
Lev 23:15-16, 21 And you shall count for yourselves from the day
after the Sabbath [the weekly Sabbath - H7676], from the day that you
brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be
completed. {16} `Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath;
then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD....... {21} On
that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no servile or
strenuous work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to
come, wherever you live.
There is sometimes confusion between the wave sheaf offering, or first
of first fruits, referred to in Leviticus 23:10, and the new grain
offering referred to in verse 16. Verse 10 refers to the first of the
early harvest of barley. Verse 16 refers to the thanks offering of wheat.
(Exo 34:22 NKJV) "And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the
firstfruits of wheat harvest, . . . . . . .
Exodus 19:1-3 strongly implies and Judaism believes that the law
including the ten commandments were given on Shavu'ot at Sinai. Let's read
those verses:
Exo 19:1-3 (NKJV) In the third month [Sivan - the same month
in which Pentecost falls] after the children of Israel had gone out of
the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came <to> the Wilderness of
Sinai. {2} For they had departed from Rephidim, had come <to> the
Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped
there before the mountain. {3} And Moses went up to God, and the LORD
called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the
house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
Exodus 23:16 refers to Shavu'ot as the Feast of Harvest:
Exo 23:16 (KJV) And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy
labors, which thou hast sown in the field: .....
These first fruits were the harvest of the barley and wheat which were
sown just after last fall’s Feast of Tabernacles. Between Shavu'ot and the
fall harvest of the current year, the rest of the grain, the fruit harvest
and all other crops will be harvested. The sacrifices for the Feast of
Weeks are described in Numbers 28:
Num 28:26-31 (NKJV) Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you
bring a new grain offering to the LORD at your <Feast of> Weeks, you
shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work. {27} You
shall present a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the LORD: two young
bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, {28} with their
grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths <of an ephah>
for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, {29} and one-tenth for each
of the seven lambs; {30} <also> one kid of the goats, to make atonement
for you. {31} Be sure they are without blemish. You shall present <them>
with their drink offerings, besides the regular burnt offering with its
grain offering.
But it is the two wave loaves which make this sacrifice different:
Lev 23:17-20 (NKJV) You shall bring from your dwellings two wave
<loaves> of two-tenths <of an ephah>. They shall be of fine flour; they
shall be baked with leaven. <They are> the firstfruits to the LORD. {18}
And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year,
without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be <as> a
burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink
offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD. {19}
Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two
male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. {20}
The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits <as> a wave
offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the
LORD for the priest.
In the New Testament, the Feast of Weeks is called Pentecost or
fiftieth. The word "day" is implied.
We read in Acts that the New Testament church was keeping Pentecost:
Acts 1:1-9 (NKJV) The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all
that Jesus began both to do and teach, {2} until the day in which He was
taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the
apostles whom He had chosen, {3} to whom He also presented Himself alive
after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during
forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
{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; {5} "for John truly
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not
many days from now." {6} Therefore, when they had come together,
they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom
to Israel?" {7} And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or
seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. [A lesson for
those who set dates.] {8} "But you shall receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the
earth." {9} Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He
was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Acts 1:15 (NKJV) And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the
disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and
twenty), .....
Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in
one place.
[The original Greek reads ‘they were all together together' or they
were all together with one accord (with one mind).There was complete
agreement about when Pentecost was kept]
{2} Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from
heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. {3} They saw
what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on
each of them. {4} All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
This is the Power that Christ promised to send to the elect in John
16:7. Let’s read it.
John 16:7 (NKJV) "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not
come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him [i.e. It] to you.
In God's Master Plan, Pentecost pictures the giving of God's Holy
Spirit. So, let's get the picture: The Law was given at Mt. Sinai. The
Power to keep the law was given at the first New Testament
Pentecost after Christ's crucifixion.
What does the term "speaking in tongues mean?" Jerusalem contained
people from all over the known world. The predominate languages were
Hebrew, Aramaic, Roman and Greek and many people knew one or more of these
languages plus their native language. It appears to be in these languages
that they were speaking.
2nd. Let’s look at the significance of being "The First Born".
Christ is the first-fruit now, duplicating the wave sheaf offering. But
where do the Saints come in? And what is the significance of being
firstborn? Let's look at some scriptures to find out:
In Gen 4:3-6, remember that Cain and Abel had brought offerings to God.
Cain offered fruit from the ground while Abel offered animals. When God
accepted Abel's sacrifice but rejected Cain's, Cain was offended.
In Gen 4:7 God is talking to Cain after rejecting Cain's offering. He
says:
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted [have the
excellency]? But if you do not do what is right, sin [chataah - H2403]
lies at the door; and subject to you is his [Abel's] desire, and you
shall rule over him. [Because Cain was the first born.]
The word "sin" is translated from the Hebrew word "chataah" which often
means sin offering rather than sin. See Ex 29:14 for an example. So the
sentence would read "But if you do not do what is right, a sin offering
would be expected, . . . and you would continue to rule over Abel."
In verse 7, God admonishes Cain. The gist of this rebuke to Cain was
this: "Why are you angry, as if unjustly treated? If you do well (i.e. you
have been innocent and sinless), your thank offering would have been
accepted. But because you have not done well (i.e. you are a sinner), a
sin offering is necessary. If you would have brought that, you would have
been met with acceptance and retained the honors of your birthright.
This implies that previous instructions had been given as to the mode of
worship Abel offered through faith. Note what Paul said about it:
Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than
Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God
testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he
still speaks.
The high distinction conferred by priority of birth is described in Gen
27:29, which we will read in a moment; but it was Cain's conviction, that
this honor had been withdrawn from him, by the rejection of his
sacrifice, and conferred on his younger brother - hence the secret flame
of jealousy was kindled. The flame grew into hatred, then exploded into
revenge. Do we ever experience the same emotions? If so, we need to repent
of them.
Gen 27:29 reflects a part of the blessing Jacob received from his
father Isaac and describes the importance of being the firstborn. Let's
turn to it:
Gen 27:29 Let people serve you, and nations bow down to you: be
lord over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to you:
cursed be every one that curses you, and blessed be he that blesses you.
You might also want to read Gen 25:23, where God went out of his way to
point out that in this case the older son shall serve the younger because
that was to be the exception to the rule.
But let’s turn to Exo 4:22 to see another reference to the firstborn.
Then say to Pharaoh, `This is what the LORD [i.e. Adonai] says:
Israel is my firstborn son,
Why is Israel referred to as God's firstborn son? Because the
Israelites became the first to receive God's written law.
However, David knew that it would be Christ, in Hebrew, ha Mashiach,
the King of Kings, who would be the Father’s firstborn.
Psa 89:27 I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most
exalted of the kings of the earth.
Again, speaking of Christ:
Col 1:15-16 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
over all creation. {16} For by him all things were created: things in
heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or
rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
Again speaking of Christ and indirectly of the saints:
Heb 1:6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the
world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."
But the saints are more specifically identified in Chapter 12:
Heb 12:23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are
written in heaven [in the book of life]. You have come to God, the
judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
And finally:
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the
firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To
him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
3rd. Now, let's elaborate on the New Testament Pentecost:
Again, Pentecost pictures the giving of God's Holy Spirit. Pentecost is
the anniversary of the New Testament church. Anniversaries provide a good
opportunity to review the past year. Have we grown this past year? Have we
grown since receiving the Holy Spirit? We in the Church of God have been
given a small ‘talent’ and it's up to us to see what we will do with it.
2 Cor 5:5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has
given us the earnest [or down-payment] of the Spirit [a small
part of what is to come in the future].
We have been given a small down-payment of God's Holy Spirit.
Now, let’s consider the Parable of the Talents:
Mat 25:14-30 "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who
called his servants and entrusted his property to them. {15} To one he
gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one
talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. {16}
The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money
to work and gained five more. {17} So also, the one with the two talents
gained two more. {18} But the man who had received the one talent went
off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. {19} "After a
long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts
with them. {20} The man who had received the five talents brought the
other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See,
I have gained five more.’ {21} "His master replied, ‘Well done, good and
faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put
you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!’
{22} "The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you
entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ {23} "His
master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been
faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.
Come and share your master's happiness!’ {24} "Then the man who had
received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a
hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you
have not scattered seed. [Taking what you have not earned. Like many
today who blame others including God (fate) for their fruitlessness.]
{25} So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.
See, here is what belongs to you.’ {26} "His master replied, ‘You
wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown
and gather where I have not scattered seed? {27} Well then, you should
have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I
would have received it back with interest. {28} Take the talent from him
and give it to the one who has the ten talents. {29} For everyone who
has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever
does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. {30} And
throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
How are we investing or building on the down-payment of the Holy Spirit
which we were first given at baptism? How much has it increased? The only
way to receive more of God's Holy Spirit is to wisely use what we have. If
we just hide it from others and don't use it, what we have will be given
to someone else and we will be caste aside.
The first part of this chapter also describes the use and strengthening
of the Holy Spirit.
Let's turn to verse 1:
"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took
their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. {2} Five of them were
foolish and five were wise. {3} The foolish ones took their lamps but
did not take any oil with them. {4} The wise, however, took oil in jars
along with their lamps. {5} The bridegroom was a long time in coming,
and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. {6} "At midnight the cry
rang out: ‘Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ {7} "Then all
the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. {8} The foolish ones said
to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ {9}
‘No ,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you.
Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ {10}
"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom
arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding
banquet. And the door was shut. {11} "Later the others also came. ‘Sir!
Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ {12} "But he replied, ‘I tell
you the truth, I don't know you.’ {13} "Therefore keep watch, because
you do not know the day or the hour."
These scriptures also describe the process of a young Jewish couple's
courtship and marriage. The parallel is fascinating and fits exactly with
the scriptures we have just read. Let me describe it to you, and as I
describe it, I’ll compare it with these last scriptures:
The couple is chosen by the parents, not each other, though the
couple's choices are certainly taken into consideration. [Similarly, God
chooses His elect]. In the bride’s presence, the prospective groom asks
permission of the bride's father to marry his daughter. During the
discussion of terms of the contract, the father and the groom agree on a
dowry. The dowry is given to the bride's mother to support her should she
become widowed. The groom then asks the bride to marry him by passing a
glass of wine to her.
This is just another example of how wine is served at special
occasions. Consider:
Gen 14:18 where Melchizedek, priest of Most High God, served wine
[H3196] and
John 2:1-11 where Christ made wine from water for the wedding [G3631 or
H3196]
The bride demonstrates her acceptance of his marriage contract proposal
by drinking from the glass. If she refuses to drink of the wine, she is
refusing his offer of marriage. Is there an analogy here with the drinking
of wine at Passover? As we drink of the wine aren’t we accepting Christ’s
sacrifice for us and demonstrating our willingness to be His bride?
After the bride accepts the groom (she almost always does, but it is
her choice), the groom leaves to begin constructing a room for them at
his father's house. The bride's family will prepare for the wedding. This
typically takes a year or so. During this engagement period the bride
wears a veil whenever she is in public to announce to other men that she
is taken. [As a comparison, God’s elect want no part with other
religions.] The engagement period is considered almost as binding as
marriage itself and requires a written statement of divorce to break; the
only grounds being adultery. There is also an analogy here if one should
then join a church which does not keep God’s laws and Christ’s examples,
and which does not have faith in Christ’s sacrifice - see Rev 14:12.
After the room is ready and approved by the groom's father (in Christ’s
case, God the Father), the groom and a group of his friends will come
after his bride in the middle of the night, hence the need for oil in the
lamps. When he takes her from her home, she removes her veil and places it
on his shoulder with the words, "the government shall be on his shoulder."
The bride and groom then enter the room which the groom built for them,
and may remain there for several days. The best man will stand outside the
room to provide food and drink and whatever they may require. The wedding
feast, at which the bride and groom sit under a canopy, dressed like a
king and queen, can last for a week. Part of the festivities includes the
giving of the bed coverings to the bride’s father, so that he can prove
that the bride had been a virgin.
So, in these scriptures, we have a perfect picture of those in the
church who have prepared for the return of Christ, the husband of the
church, by keeping their lamps (their obedience to the commandments) lit
and full of oil (God's Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit gives us the power to
obey God's commandments just as the oil keeps the lamps lit. The light
from those lamps compares with our example to the world of the proper way
to live. As we can see, Christ's return compares perfectly with the
traditional wedding ceremony.
Prov 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and
the corrections of instruction are the way to life,
Notice that the bride is to be a virgin...not spotted with the world's
religions. Notice that the bridegroom waited...How many times have you
wondered why Christ has not come already? At times, He seems to be waiting
-- Is He waiting for His Saints to get ready? Yes, but He is also
preparing a place for His Saints, just as the bridegroom prepares a room
for his bride. And our Father has planned the timing of Christ's coming,
probably from the beginning of time. We just have to wait.
4th. A few minutes ago I asked how much we had grown.
Let's talk about growing and bearing fruit:
Col 1:9-13 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have
not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the
knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
{10} And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the
Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good
work, growing in the knowledge of God, {11} being strengthened
with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have
great endurance and patience with joyfulness; {12} giving thanks to the
Father, who has made us suitable to share in the inheritance of the
saints in the kingdom of light. {13} For he has rescued us from the
dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
What are some fruits of the Holy Spirit we should be demonstrating?
Let's look at some scriptures discussing five of these fruits:
First fruit: God's people must do good to all people:
Gal 6:1-10 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are
spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may
be tempted. {2} Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will
fulfill the law of Christ. [It doesn't say to just shun them or
disfellowship them, does it?] {3} If anyone thinks he is something when
he is nothing, he deceives himself. {4} Each one should test his own
actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to
somebody else, {5} for each one should carry his own load. {6} Anyone
who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his
instructor. {7} Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps
what he sows. {8} The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from
that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the
Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. {9} Let us not
become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a
harvest if we do not give up. {10} Therefore, as we have opportunity,
let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the
family of believers.
Second fruit: God's Spirit in us enables us to discern God's thoughts
and ways:
1 Cor 2:11-16 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except
the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts
of God except the Spirit of God. {12} We have not received the spirit of
the world but the Spirit which is from God, that we may understand what
God has freely given us. {13} This is what we speak, not in words taught
us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing
spiritual truths in spiritual words. {14} The man without the Spirit
does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they
are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned. {15} The spiritual man makes
judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's
judgment: {16} "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may
instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Third fruit: God's Spirit guides us in Christian living:
Rom 8:7-9 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not
submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by
the sinful nature cannot please God. {9} You, however, are controlled
NOT by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives
in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not
belong to Christ.
Fourth fruit: Those with God's Spirit can see that there is a better
priesthood and covenant under Christ:
Heb 8:4-6 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest (he was not a
Levite), for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the
law. {5} They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is
in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the
tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern
shown you on the mountain." {6} But the ministry Jesus has received is
as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is
superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises [not laws,
but forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life]. [A mediator
is a go-between - between us and God the Father.]
Fifth fruit: God's elect (the royal priesthood) will inherit the former
positions of the chief rabbis and priests:
Mat 21:33-44 "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who
planted a vineyard [an area set aside for the producing of fruit]. He
put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.
Let me pause here to read from the Old Testament verse to which Christ
refers. Please hold your place in Mat 21 and turn to Isa 5:
(Isa 5:1-7 NASB) Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my
beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a
fertile hill. {2} And He dug it all around, removed its stones, And
planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of
it, And hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good
grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. {3} "And now, O inhabitants
of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. {4}
"What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless
ones? {5} "So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its
wall and it will become trampled ground. {6} "And I will lay it waste;
It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I
will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it." {7} For the vineyard
of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah His
delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For
righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
I have been told that there are something like 400 references to the
book of Isaiah in the New Testament. Continuing with our reading of Mat
21:33:
Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers [ordinary spiritual
guides of the people] and went away on a journey [for a long time]. {34}
When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants [prophets and
other messengers] to the tenants to collect his fruit. {35} "The tenants
seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
{36} Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and
the tenants treated them the same way. {37} Last of all, he sent his son
[i.e. Christ] to them. `They will respect my son,` he said. {38} "But
when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the
heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.’ {39} So they took
him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. {40} "Therefore ,
when the owner of the vineyard comes [judgment time], what will he do to
those tenants?" {41} "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,"
they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will
give him his share of the crop at harvest time." {42} Jesus said to
them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "‘The stone the builders
rejected has become the capstone [This refers to Acts 4:11 from Psa
118:22, and 1 Pet 2:4-6 from Rom 9:33]; the Lord has done this, and it
is marvelous in our eyes’. {43} "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom
of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will
produce its fruit [God's elect]. {44} He who falls on this stone
will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." [A
condemnation of the chief priests and Pharisees.]
But living the good life can not be done without sacrifice, effort and
sometimes pain. We must remain obedient and faithful to Christ's way of
life. The Kingdom will be the inheritance of those who produce spiritual
fruit, not those who just happen to be in the right church or are
righteous in their own eyes.
John 15:1-10 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. {2}
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch
that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
{3} You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. {4}
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by
itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless
you remain in me. {5} "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man
remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me
you can do nothing. {6} If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a
branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up,
thrown into the fire and burned. {7} If you remain in me and my
words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
{8} This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples. {9} "As the Father has loved me, so have
I loved you. Now remain in my love. {10} If you obey my commands,
you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands
and remain in his love.
Before I close, I want to read two more scriptures to you to tie this
all together:
Heb 12:18-24 (NKJV) For you have not come to the mountain that may be
touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and
tempest, {19} and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that
those who heard <it> begged that the word should not be spoken to them
anymore. {20} (For they could not endure what was commanded: "And if so
much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an
arrow." {21} And so terrifying was the sight <that> Moses said, "I am
exceedingly afraid and trembling.") {22} But you have come to Mount Zion
and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an
innumerable company of angels, {23} to the general assembly and
church of the firstborn <who are> registered in heaven, to God the
Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, {24} to Jesus the
Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks
better things than <that of> Abel.
2 Cor 3:3 (NKJV) clearly <you are> an epistle of Christ, ministered
by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on
tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, <that is>, of the heart.
If Jewish tradition connected the "Feast of firstfruits" with the
"Mount that might be touched", and the "voice of words which they that
heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more," we
have in this respect also "come unto Mount Zion," and to the better things
described as the New Covenant. To us the Day of Pentecost is, indeed, the
"feast of firstfruits", and that of the giving of the better law, "written
not in tables of stone, but on the fleshy tables of the heart," "with the
Spirit of the living God." For, as worshipers were in the Temple, probably
just as they were offering the wave-lambs and the wave-bread, the
multitude heard that "sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing wind,"
which drew them to the house where the apostles were gathered, there to
hear "every man in his own language;" the wonderful works of God; And on
that Pentecost day, from the harvest of firstfruits, not less than three
thousand souls added to the Church were presented as a wave-offering to
the Lord. The cloven tongues of fire and the apostolic gifts of that day
of firstfruits have, indeed, long since disappeared. But the mighty
rushing sound of the Presence and Power of God's Holy Spirit has gone
forth into all the world to the Church of God.
Brethren, all this was accomplished for our benefit. Use this Power of
God's Holy Spirit that your lamp will shine brightly for God and all the
world to see. A lamp is seen. It is not heard. We, like a lamp, can be
a witness to others by what they see us do, not by what others hear us
say.
(Mat 5:14-16 NKJV) "You are the light of the world. A city that is
set on a hill cannot be hidden. {15} "Nor do they light a lamp and put
it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are
in the house. {16} "Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Sermon given by
Wayne Bedwell
Pentecost, May
31, 2009
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