Pentecost 2013—Live in Hollister

Fred R. Coulter—May 19, 2013

 - PDF | [Up]

This day of Pentecost will turn out to be the most important day for us. God does things in a very unusual way. There are two things that God delights in, that He can strengthen with His Spirit:

• the least—that which is the least

We have the parable of the lost sheep, 99 remaining, go out and get the least.

• those who are weak

I think if we took poll right here today, we'd find enough weakness in our lives, in our physical beings, our behavior—especially in the past—and our attempting to overcome and change right now. There would be plenty enough weaknesses to go around.

In spite of all of that, the least are helped with God's Spirit, and the weak are strengthened with God's Spirit and His Word. Remember, He says to the Philadelphians, 'You have a little strength, but you have faithfully kept My Word, even though the synagogue of Satan is out there, threatening you, 'I'm going to make them come and worship Me, but bow down before your feet so that they will learn that I love you.'

You think about that with all the government problems going on, and understand that what we're seeing here in America is played out in varying degrees in other countries in the world. We don't know if the conviction of 'baby-killer Gosnell' represents enough repentance that God will recognize it. He'll certainly recognize it from the point of view that he was stopped!

If there are difficulties in the government, and there appears to be a turnaround coming, that's only because there needs to be more time for the preaching of the Gospel.

Remember, many things in the Old Testament are like a seed. It grows to full maturity to the understanding of the New Testament, likewise with Pentecost. Who would have thought that starting out the 50-day count would apply to Jesus Christ? You wouldn't know by reading Lev. 23. You have to have the New Testament to interpret it? And whatever interprets it is the key to unlock it. So, Lev. 23 is like a lock; like a seed. You look at a seed, as I've said before, and you plant it in the ground and you water it and it grows.

• How does it grow? Water, oxygen, chemicals!
• How does it grow? We don't know!

We do know that if you plant it, water it, it will grow, and it will reproduce itself. This is what God is doing in His plan. You see that through everything.

Leviticus 23:15: "You shall count to you beginning with the next day after the Sabbath, beginning with the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete." Seven complete weeks ending in a Sabbath—that's what that means.

When you count continuously there's no interruption—correct? Yes! So, there's a direct connection from the resurrection and the ascension of Christ. Resurrected on the Sabbath, ascended to the Father on the first day of the week, and it's a continuous count to the 50th day. That completes the harvest in Israel. With us, we are likened to a harvest.

Verse 16: "Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days. And you shall offer a new grain offering… [the two loaves in v 17] ….to the LORD." Then we are to bring an offering in addition to that as we find in Deut. 16.

Here's something that's really important to understand: The more you study and read the Bible, the more you're going to learn every day that you study and read it! You'll begin making different connections with the Word of God to put it all together in what God wants.

Deuteronomy 16:16: "Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God…" Does that also include women? Yes! Women who are able to come! But because of age, sickness, childbirth and first year with children, women may not be able to attend. He doesn't make it mandatory for them, but He's not excluding them.

"…in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the LORD empty." This is different and separate from the animal sacrifices that are given. For the Feast of Weeks—Pentecost—the offering that He's talking about here is different from the two wave loaves. The two wave loaves were ceremonial.

As we covered yesterday, that is a good use of leaven. This follows right along with what God has. The covenant with Israel—actually going back to the covenant with Abraham it covers both covenants. Those who receive eternal life under the Old Testament—and there were a few that did; and those who receive eternal life under the New Covenant, which will be the many.

Verse 17: "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you." What we need to do is count the blessings as we come to bring an offering. We look at the things that we have done; look at the things we need to do; we also realize that God does things in what you would say reciprocity! God says, 'I will do this if you do that.'

He says concerning tithes and offerings, 'If you're faithful in it, I will bless you. I know that in times of inflation and economic problems that we have today, it becomes increasingly more difficult to make everything come together and meet.

So, what do we have? We have that we need to be faithful to God in all circumstances, at all times, and in everything that we know! The Apostle Paul compared it to planting. If you sow sparingly, you're going to reap sparingly. If you sow bountifully, you're going to reap bountifully.

As we saw at the conference, God does not want the brethren to be merchandised as the possessions of the overlords of ministers. That's what's so important. Whatever is done is done because God has given you His Spirit, because you love Him, want to keep His commandments and you want to follow Him. If you do, God will bless you. Those are all the things we need to consider in bringing and offering.

(pause for the offering)

Acts 2:6: "And when word of this went out, the multitude came together and were confounded, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were all amazed, and marveled, saying to one another, 'Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that we hear each one in our own language in which we were born?'" (vs 6-8). Then it was all the countries.

They were amazed and some said that they were drunk; then Peter gave a really powerful sermon. You can read through that whole sermon and moving speech. Remember, there were probably a lot of those Jews there who were calling out for Jesus to be crucified. Peter spoke to them concerning Jesus and how that David's tomb is still with us; not David. This is a descendant of David, the Christ. Then Peter spoke about what David said about Him.

Verse 29: "Men and brethren, let me speak to you freely concerning the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him in an oath that from the fruit of his loins, as concerning the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit upon his throne" (vs 29-30). You can go back to Isa. 9 and other prophecies as well.

Verse 31: "He foresaw this and spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in the grave, nor did His flesh see corruption." The King James says that His soul was not left in 'hell.' According to the doctrine of the Protestants, if you sin, you go to 'hell.' Why then did Jesus go to 'hell' if He was perfect? It should be translated grave.

Verse 32: "This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses." Remember, we are only 54 days removed from the burial of Jesus. Don't you think all the religious officials were looking for the body? Wondering where it was? 'Did you have a group of men go over there and steal it? Rabbi So and So, did you? The high priest, did you?' Well, the guards said they took the body away, but where? They have never produced the body, because He was raised from the dead.

Verse 33: "Therefore, having been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this that you are now seeing and hearing. For David has not ascended into the heavens, but he himself said, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand"'" (vs 33-34). You will see over and over again that the apostles quoted this Psa. 110. Originally, both of the Lords were YHVH, but the preservers of the text made a notation in the margin of the text that it should be Adonai. One of the things they tried to get rid of were the prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament.

If you read some of Bollinger's appendices you will see that there are 134 places in the Old Testament that this was done to, to take away from the fact that the One Who became Jesus Christ was the Lord God of the Old Testament.

Here is something that was not available to the children of Israel until this time. Why do people repent to God? There are a lot of people, when they're caught doing evil, say, 'Oh no, don't shoot, don't shoot!' But do they really repent? Repentance is a stopping and a turning around from going your way to going God's way. This kind of repentance was not available under the Covenant with Israel, with the exception of some of the kings and the prophets.

So that we understand what happened here—even with the response and the repentance—was the work of God, with His Spirit. After listing all the sins of mankind (Rom. 1):

Romans 2:1: "Therefore, you are without excuse, O man… [that is in a particular declination of the Greek called the vocative—it means any human being, anywhere] …everyone who judges another; for in that in which you judge the other, you are condemning your own self; for you who judge another are doing the same things." That's why there has to be repentance.

Verse 2: "But we know that the judgment of God is according to Truth upon those who commit such things. Now, do you think yourself, O man, whoever is judging those who commit such things, and you are practicing them yourself, that you shall escape the judgment of God?" (vs 2-3). That's exactly what we're looking at in Acts 2, because Peter said that all the house of Israel has killed Christ.

Verse 4: "Or do you despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the graciousness of God leads you to repentance?" Everything that happens in our life—our calling, our repentance—God has a hand in it. Our part is how do we respond to God?

After telling them 'you have crucified Christ 'and that He is the Lord and Christ, Acts 2:37: "Now after hearing this, they were cut to the heart…" Notice the difference from where we started: 'Oh, that there were such a heart in them that they would keep My commandments.' Now here's a change of heart. The heart is the seat of the emotions, mind and everything that God has granted.

"…and they said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise…'" (vs 37-39). Interpreting the Old Testament; this is why the New Testament is greater than the Old Testament.

"'…is to you and to your children, and to all those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call'" (v 39). When you repent you answer the call of God to repentance and then when you repent you then need to be baptized.

• the message goes out
• people hear the message
• the Holy Spirit of God goes with it
• the Spirit of God convicts them
• God leads them to repentance

It's God working directly in the lives of everyone that come to God.

"…'Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call'" (vs 38-39).

You can plug in many are called, few are chosen. How many were at the temple on Pentecost? There could have been up to 30-40 thousand there! How many repented? 3,000! 'Many are called, few are chosen.'

After seeing that Jesus was the Beginning and the Ending, let's see James 1:18: "According to His own will… [the Father] …He begat us by the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all His created beings." We know that conversion is creation!

It's not a 'religion' that you join, and now that you join you're in good stead with the folks and with those in charge. No! This is from God the Father. This is from Jesus Christ. So, we're "…kind of firstfruits of all His created beings." We're also called the Church of the Firstborn. Jesus Christ is the firstborn among many brethren.

1-Corinthians 15—the resurrection chapter. It makes it very clear:

• there can be no spiritual resurrection unless Christ was first resurrected
• there can be no forgiveness of sin without the acceptance of His sacrifice
• there can be no eternal life unless He is raised from the dead

This is what Paul was saying. In the Church of Corinth—in the Church of God—there were those who were saying that there was no resurrection. What were they preaching, even back then? Immortality of the soul!

1-Corinthians 15:13: "For if there is no resurrection from the dead, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain. And we are also found to be false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised Christ…" (vs 13-15). Paul ought to know because of his experience and calling and teaching in visions and personally from Christ.

"…Whom He did not raise, if indeed the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ have then perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most miserable" (vs 15-19). This shows that he understood somewhat about God's plan concerning the Last Great Day to a degree.

Verse 20: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He has become the first-fruit of those who have fallen asleep." That's the Wave Sheaf Offering. Notice that Paul connects that with the resurrection of the dead for the saints. We're going to see some important things concerning Pentecost and other things in the book of Revelation.

The question always comes up, v 35: "Someone will say, 'How are the dead raised?….'" We now know that you can have just a pinprick of matter that has all your DNA and RNA about you and that can reproduce you. They didn't know it back then.

It's an interesting question if you want to think about this: Every work of a human being in the womb is the work of God. He says, 'They're My children.' The Spirit of God has made us, and the pinprick of inheritance that comes from the Father into the pinprick of life from the mother joins together and you become a new being. You have to grow, develop and all of this to be born. Those genes and chromosomes are so small; how do they figure into the resurrection from the dead? God knows! But somehow they're going to figure in it. That's going to be quite a thing, indeed!

"'…And with what body do they come?'…. [We will see that our bodies are transformed from flesh to spirit.] (Paul says—how is this for ministerial courtesy?): …Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies…. [it's likened unto a harvest] …And what you sow is not the body that shall be; rather, it is bare grain—it may be of wheat, or one of the other grains; and God gives it a body according to His will…" (vs 36-38). God is involved in this whole setup, all the way through!

"…and to each of the seeds its own body" (v 38). There are how many different plants and animals and things out there? It has to show and prove the power of God as Creator! I love these things when they show The Biology of Belief. Here was a quantum biologist and they examine single cells. He used to think that single cells are virtually nothing. Now they know with quantum biology that they can take a piece of stone and look at all of the atoms that are in that piece of stone. Now they know that the single cell itself is a replica of the universe. Quite a thing! What's it going to be like to have a spiritual body?

Verse 39: "Likewise, not all flesh is the same flesh. Rather, there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fish, and another of birds. And there are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is different, and the glory of the earthly is different. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption…" (vs 39-42). We all have the 'law of sin and death'; we wear out, get old and we die. The only One Who has overcome that has been Jesus Christ. No one else has!

"…it is raised in incorruption…" (v 42)—even though we may appear as we are now; what is it going to be like in the resurrection? Let's compare that to the first birth. That's what Jesus was talking about in John 3—that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit, composed of spirit. We can have dwelling in us the Spirit, but we're not composed of spirit.

Verse 42: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body; accordingly, it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became an ever-living Spirit.' However, the spiritual was not first, but the natural—then the spiritual" (vs 42-46).

This one Scripture itself eliminates the Mormon religion, because they say that we were all once spirits up in heaven with God, and through procreation God sent a spirit into that person who was just conceived, and that spirit came from heaven and was a person in heaven. It's a little weird—isn't it? It's not like re-incarnation. The physical is first, then the spiritual! Here's what we need to look to, we have the:

• overall goal of attaining to the Kingdom of God

under that we have

• the goal of growing and overcoming individually

along with that we have

• the preaching of the Gospel
• the teaching of the brethren
• our lives that we live everyday

Verse 48: "As is the one made of dust, so also are all those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly one, so also are all those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one" (vs 48-49). That's a promise!

What you actually are, as you're walking around on this earth, you are a guarantee:

• because you have a body
• because you have the Spirit of God
• because God has been dealing in your life
• because God is going to resurrect you or change you instantly at the return of Christ

The very fact that you have a body… You get up and look in the mirror and say, 'Oooo, that's me; that's bad news.' That's a guarantee that you are going to have a spiritual body if you're faithful—guarantee! Plus you've got the witness of God, which is the heavens and the earth.

So, as long as we remain faithful, we will be in the Kingdom of God. We don't need to doubt that at all in any way. Sometimes because of weakness we wish that it would hurry up. Sometimes because of weakness we wish we'd get over it because we're not ready yet to go.

Verse 50: "Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God… [doesn't happen] …nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all fall asleep… [he's talking about when they thought Christ would return in their lifetime] …but we shall all be changed, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… [the seventh trumpet (Rev.)] …for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (vs 50-52). God has to do it. All of this is the work of God.

Sidebar story: We have an air-conditioner in the attic of our house. It malfunctioned and got a lot of ice and it melted and came down on the wallboard of the ceiling, so it's now sagging and we have to have it replaced.

Ron has his own air-conditioning company and has a man to take care of that, because it was faulty installation on their part. He said, 'I'm going to have Steve Grow come to take care of it.' We knew Steve Grow way back when, because Jonathan and Stephen were friends growing up. You don't know how fast time really passes.

The other day he came to look at so he could see what he needed to do on it. He walked in the door and here he was gray in his beard, gray in his hair. About that time Jonathan comes and they both have short hair, both have goatees, and Jonathan has a little gray coming out here and there, and one day he's going to be like me.

Here's Steve and they shake hands, look at each other. I don't know what was on their minds, but I looked at Steve and said, 'Gray hair! How old are you now?' Forty-six! 'Oh my! I'm getting old!' We all age! It all comes upon us! Therefore, when the resurrection occurs, God is going to change all of that.

Verse 53: "For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality. Now, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'" (vs 53-55).

(go to the next track)

We know that the resurrection will not take place until the return of Christ. There are many events that are going to take place leading up to it. We've already covered Rev. 2 & 3: seven churches; seven weeks to the harvest. Then there is the 50th day. I think from the book of Revelation we can see that in the next to the last Pentecost God is going to do something spectacular, greater than what He did at Pentecost  in giving us the Holy Spirit.

Let's just do a quick overview of chapters and then we'll come back:

• Rev. 1—Jesus shows Himself resurrected; gives the instructions to John to 'write.'
• Rev. 2 & 3—personal letters from Christ to each one of the Churches.

Since the seven churches represent the seven weeks of harvest, then just before the 50th day, right close to the close of the 7th week, we have:

• Rev. 4 & 5—the vision of throne of God, and that nothing is going to happen until the Father says, 'Now is the time.'

Just like Jesus told the disciples when they said, 'Are You going to restore the kingdom to Israel at this time'; and He said, 'It's not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has put in His own hands.' However, with the understanding of the Holy Days, we have a certain understanding of the times and seasons. But exactly when we do not know. We go through cycles where it looks like it's just around the corner, and then things change.

Sidebar: I'm reading a new book called The New Digital Age by Eric Schmidt. Sermon was given at the conference.

When it says that every eye is going to see Him; that means every eye is going to see Him. All the events in the book of Revelation after the seven churches become worldwide events. It talks about the whole world: all the earth, tongues, languages and nations. That's why when John first wrote down the vision and they made copies and sent them to the churches, some of the churches really didn't like it, because they couldn't understand it. To them their whole world was very restricted. So, when He talks about things here, it's hard for them to grasp.

Daniel was told that at the time of the end, the wise shall understand, but the wicked shall not understand. Everything we have comes from God—the understanding of the Word of God; the revelation—all of that is given to us. Not because we're anything, but because there was a time when God intends to reveal. It can only be revealed through the right dividing or putting together of the Word of God—rightly dividing! Let's see if we can do that as we go along, and let's review these chapters.

• Rev. 6—when Christ begins to open the seals. When that takes place we will know, but it's not yet for a while.
• Rev. 7—about two years, beginning into the third year of the three and half year tribulation. That's the 144,000 and great innumerable multitude.
• Rev. 8-9—begins the trumpet plagues; those follow in sequence right along.
• Rev. 10—we don't know what the seven thunders are; no one knows because John was told not to 'write.'

Notice how all of these flow together.

• Rev. 11—first part is a little back up just before the last three and half years the two witness come on the scene.

For the Daniel/Revelation series we were always told that 42 months and 1260 days equaled. One day I asked: If they are equal why are they defined differently? Perhaps they're applied at different time periods, though they may be quite similar! Here we have the two witnesses; 1260 days. At the end of that they are killed, then they are raised and called up to heaven. When that happens:

Verse 14: "The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming immediately. Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet…" (vs 14-15). Since there are seven angels, this has to be the last trumpet. Seven trumpets, the seventh one sounds, this is the last one.

You can get filled in with more details with the book: The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah. Sop the series that we have on Daniel and Revelation, as well as the book God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days all have parts that add to this. We're just giving an overview here.

Now let's talk about Pentecost. Jesus said that He would 'raise us up at the last day.' When you count the Holy Days from Trumpets, Pentecost is the last day. Also, the 50th day is the last day of the 50-day count. So, there we have a dual fulfillment as it were.

Notice what happens, v 15: "Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of eternity.'" Connect this with Rev. 4 & 5, because everything that happens is connected.

Verse 16: "And the twenty-four elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, 'We give You thanks, O Lord God almighty, Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; for You have taken to Yourself Your great power, and have reigned'" (vs 16-17). Is Christ on the earth yet? No!

Verse 18 is key. The nations were happy and glad, Christ is returning! I actually had a group say, 'You'd better join us because we're going to preach the Word of God and we're going to get everything ready for Christ, and we're going to make it in good shape for the kingdom to come. I wrote them back and said, 'That's not the way it's going to happen.'

Verse 18: "'For the nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to give reward to Your servants the prophets… [all those in the Old Testament] …and to the saints… [all those in the New Testament] …and to all those who fear Your name, the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth.'"

We're going to examine a couple of things that is important for us to understand. When the seals are opened we will notice something very important. The first four are opened very rapidly. The fifth seal is the martyrdom of the saints. The sixth seal is God's direct intervention into the affairs on the earth; and He's going to make it be known. Everything of the seals are men against men. Then God intervenes. We can get a timeframe in just a bit, but let's notice the sixth seal:

The sixth seal is God's powerful intervention, and here's how He's going to introduce Himself to the world, Revelation 6:12: "And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as the hair of sackcloth, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the heaven departed like a scroll that is being rolled up…" (vs 12-14)—BAM! That's going to be phenomenal. What happens when that occurs?

"…and every mountain and island was moved out of its place" (v 14). No place of safety you can go and hide. Let's see how Christ describes it. When that happens there is going to appear something in the sky, in the heavens, never before seen.

Matthew 24:26: "Therefore, if they say to you, 'Come and see! He is in the wilderness'; do not go forth. 'Come and see! He is in the secret chambers'; do not believe it." Sorry 'JWs'! Christ is not in a secret room in a building in New York. Here's how it's going to appear:

Verse 27: "For as the light of day… [What is the light of day? The sun!] …which comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be." Pretty spectacular—right? Sixth seal—heavens rolled back!

Verse 30 describes it a little more: "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

• What is the sign of the Son of man in heaven? It's going to look like a second sun, as the "light of day" (v 27).
• When is that doing to happen? When the sixth seal is opened and the heavens are rolled back like a scroll!
• What else is going to happen?
• What is our timeframe?

Hosea 5 & 6—let's see what this tells us. We know when the Tribulation begins, Israel is going to go into captivity. How that's going to work out with all the 12 tribes we don't know. But it is certainly something that's going to take place.

Here is what God is going to do to Israel, Hosea 5:13—God says: "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to the Assyrian and sent to King Contentious. Yet he could not heal you nor cure you of your wound, for I will be to Ephraim as a lion… [type of the tribulation] …and as a strong lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away. I will take away, and none shall rescue him. I will go; I will return to My place until they confess their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me earnestly" (vs 13-15).

Hosea 6 tells us something very important; here's Israel's response. The reason that we're going through this is so that we can understand about the 144,000 (Rev. 7).

Hosea 6:1: "Come and let us return to the LORD, for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days…" (vs 1-2).

• How long is a day in prophecy? A year!

So then, after two days is two years.

• How long is the Tribulation at the end? Times time and half a time—3-1/2 years!
• If you take away two years, how much is left? A year and a half!

Verse 2: "After two days… [at the beginning of the third year] …He will revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight."

Let's apply this. Remember the church harvest, the seven weeks. Now we have another harvest that is special; God's special harvest. If we can equate the end of two years, the beginning of the third year is when the heavens roll back as a scroll.

Revelation 6:15: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the powerful men, and every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains." It's going to be a tremendous amount of devastation.

Verse 16: "And they said to the mountains and to the rocks 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb... [for a little bit they understand what's going on—but no repentance!] …because the great day of His wrath has come, and who has the power to stand?''"

All of a sudden everything changes. I'm proposing—and I think this is true—that Rev. 7 occurs on the next to the last Pentecost before Christ returns. In other words, from this point forward to the next Pentecost—one year to the resurrection—all of these in Rev. 7 represent those who work and are hired at the 11th hour in the parable of those working in the vineyard.

Let's see what happens, because before we get to Rev. 8, after all this devastation, they're going to need a period of time to get ready:

• get rid of the rubble
• clear out the roads
• do repair

How much time to do you have from Pentecost to Trumpets? 3-1/2 months! Here's what God does starting with Pentecost:

Revelation 7:1: "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that the wind might not blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God…" (vs 1-2). This is God's direct intervention for the 144,00 and great innumerable multitude.

"…and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to damage the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not damage the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel" (vs 2-4). This tells us who they are! They are from the 12 tribes of Israel. That connects with Hosea 5 & 6. They repent!

Notice another prophecy fulfilled, v 5: "From the tribe of Judah…" What does it say in Zechariah 12 concerning Judah? He will save the tents of Judah first! So there you have it!

Then "…from the tribe of Reuben…" (v 5) who is the first born to Israel. Then it goes down and lists all of them.

Verse 9: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one was able to number, out of every nation and tribe and people and language…" It shows where they will be at the resurrection. But in this vision, to show that they are going to be saved—the ones at the last minute—therefore, it is put in this context, showing them as if they were already before the throne of God.

"…was standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and holding palms in their hands; and they were calling out with a loud voice to Him Who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, saying, 'The salvation of our God has come.' Then all the angels stood around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, 'Amen. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power and strength be to our God into the ages of eternity. Amen'" (vs 9-12).

Notice what we're seeing:

• activity from the throne of God
• God's action on the earth
• people's reaction to that
• God's reaction to it

• for those who repent—salvation!
• for those who don't—war and wrath!

It all comes from God, right from His throne.

Verse 13: "And one of the elders answered and said to me, 'These who are clothed with white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?' Then I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' And he said to me, 'They are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; and they have washed their robes, and have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb'" (vs 13-14). Then it shows they're going to be before the throne of God, serve Him day and night, etc.

After that has happened; they're not up to the throne of God, yet, because no one gets there until the seventh trumpet has been blown. That shows where they're going to be, and it will be nice!

Again, we notice a change in everything. It is no longer men against men; it is angels of God against men and the demons and Satan the devil. So, the seven angels prepared to sound their seven trumpets.

• Rev. 8-11—we have another pattern of God. By the time you get to chapter 11 people are going to say, 'How did all of this occur.
• Rev. 12—gives us the whole plan of God down to the return of Christ.
• Rev. 13—shows Satan's last kingdom on the earth with the beast and the false prophet.

That being said, that being done, now we come back to the flow of events. As we read Rev. 14, we're going to find something very interesting. Revelation 14:1: "And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb standing on Mount Sion… [Where do we find Mt. Sion listed? Heb. 12!] …and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand…"

Pay very close attention to how we read this, because we're going to compare the 144,000 of Rev. 7 and the 144,000 of Rev. 14.

"…having His Father's name written on their foreheads. Then I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of great thunder; and I heard the sound of lyre players playing their lyres. And they were singing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one was able to learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women… [Babylon the Great and her daughters] …for they are virgins; they are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were purchased from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb; and no guile wasfound in their mouths; for they are blameless before the throne of God" (vs 1-5).

What we're going to discover is that the 144,000 of Rev. 14 are not the same as the 144,00 of Rev. 7. Here's what we find in Rev. 7:

144,000—Revelation 7:

• They're of the children of Israel—from the 12 tribes
• There's a great innumerable multitude
• They came out of great tribulation
• They have washed their robe—repentance and receiving the Holy Spirit

At that time there are no ministers around to baptize them; that's why God sent the angel with the seal to seal them with the Holy Spirit of God.

• They are before the throne of God
• They serve Him day and night
• God the Father will dwell among them
• The Lamb feeds them
• The Lamb leads them to living waters
• God shall wipe away all tears

144,000—Revelation 14:

• They're standing on Mt. Sion
• Their Father's name is written in their foreheads
• They sang a new song, which no one else knows
• They are not defiled with women

Very important knowledge to understand! They did not get involved with other religions, even false Christianity. What does it say of Babylon the Great?

Revelation 17:1: "And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials came and spoke with me, saying to me, 'Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits upon many waters… [v 15 shows that that's people, nations, languages, etc.] …with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication'" (vs 1-2). Then it showed the woman.

Verse 4: "And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and pearls and precious stones; and she had a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and the filthiness of her fornication; and across her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (vs 4-5).

So, the other religions all come from Babylon and they are called harlots. When it says "…they are not defiled with women…" they are virgins. What does that mean? That has got to mean that from the time they received the Holy Spirit until the time of the resurrection they did not get involved in anything of any other religion and were faithful!

• They are virgins
• They follow the Lamb wherever He goes
• They were purchased from among men—not the tribes of Israel

Does this include all of those from the time when the Church began and they lived their lives faithfully and died in the faith? I don't know!

• They are firstfruits unto God and the Lamb
• No guile was found in their mouth
• They are without fault before God

Now then, when you come back to Rev. 2 & 3 what do we find? Let's look at it. Maybe we can have somewhat of an identification as to who they are. Now let's the answer the question that they were without fault. Of the seven churches we find the Church at Smyrna with no correction (Rev. 2).

• Were they faithful to martyrdom? Yes, they were!
• Did they turn back from Christ? No, they did not!

They were faithful unto death and will receive the crown of life.

Revelation 3:10—the Philadelphians: "Because you have kept the word of My patience, I also will keep you from the time of temptation which is about to come upon the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth." Go through and read it:

• v 8: [you] "…have kept My Word and have not denied My name"
• v 9—confronted with the synagogue of Satan, didn't give into them.

This is particular for the Philadelphians, though it can apply to all the churches. Notice the 144,000 of Rev. 14 have the name of the Father. It doesn't say that of Rev. 7. What is the difference on that? We'll see if can throw in a couple of ideas to help us with that.

Verse 12: "The one who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall not go out any more; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from My God; and I will write upon him My new name." Rev. 14 says that they have the name of the Father.

Speculation: I know some people may get upset at what I'm going to cover now. We don't know who the 144,000 of Rev. 14 are.

• They were not defiled with women
• They were virgins

There is double assurance that they were faithful.

I remember when I married Andy Davis, the son of Ed and Belinda, and his wife Jennifer. They had a wonderful wedding. I performed the service. Afterward they had a reception and a lot of relatives there. They had a band to play the music and dancing and everything. I'm sitting there enjoying this and all of a sudden the thought came to me: there's only one bride; there is only one bridegroom. All the rest of us are guests.

• Are we sharing in this? Yes, we're sharing in the event, that's true!
• Could it be that those in Rev. 14 will actually be the bride rather than the whole church?

The marriage is going to take place on the Sea of Glass. Revelation 19:7: "'Let us be glad and shout with joy; and let us give glory to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.' And it was granted to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he said to me, 'Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'…. (vs 7-9). If you are called to the supper, you are a guest (Matt. 22). You're not part of the bride.

• v 7—the marriage of the Lamb has come
• v 9—Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb

So, could it be that the 144,000 of Rev. 14 constitute the bride; all the rest of us are the guests? All receive eternal life. Very possible! We don't know!

Some people get all upset, so remember this is speculation. Don't take that as absolute dogma. What you need to do is get in the first resurrection, then you'll find out!

When the heavens are rolled back as a scroll, there appears this new 'sun' in heaven and it's there for a period of a little over a year, just before the next to the last Pentecost. Then after the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude of Rev. 7 are sealed and protected, then the battle begins again with the Feast of Trumpets and we will go through that at the Feast of Trumpets.

Then we come down to the Pentecost of the resurrection. How does Christ get from 'the sign of the Son of man' as a sign in the heavens down to the Sea of Glass over Jerusalem? Remember, it said 'every eye is going to see Him.' No one is going to miss this. I think what's going to happen, just before the resurrection that 'sun' [Son] is going to start streaking toward the earth as if it is a meteorite to strike the earth.

When it gets to the area in the clouds just over Jerusalem—BOOM!—it spreads out into a great Sea of Glass. There's got to be a lot of room on the Sea of Glass. We're the firstfruits, and we're the firstfruits harvest.

Revelation 14:14: "And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and one like the Son of man sitting on the cloud… [it's going to be on a cloud; every eye shall see Him] …having a golden crown on His head; and in His hand was a sharp sickle." What do you do with a sickle? You harvest!

So, the resurrection is going to occur in one day, and that has to be Pentecost because that is the celebration of the harvest of the wheat and barley. It's finished, and you bring the two wave loaves to the temple. That represents all of those who are going to be resurrected and presented to God the Father. That's going to take place on the Sea of Glass.

Verse 15: "And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him Who was sitting on the cloud, 'Thrust in your sickle and reap, because the time has come for You to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.' And He Who was sitting on the cloud thrust forth His sickle upon the earth, and the earth was reaped" (vs 15-16).

Then it give the second harvest: of the wicked. Those are the ones who are going to be pressed down like a winepress.

Revelation 15:1: "Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and awesome: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is filled up. And I saw a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the Sea of Glass, having the lyres of God" (vs 1-2).

• How far back does the beast go?
• Who is the beast really?
• Satan the devil!

That includes everybody. Victory over the beast it says first. His image is idolatry down through time. His mark is at the end-time—the mark of the beast—for buying or selling, and the number of his name.

• How did they get there? Jesus said that when the trumpet sounds, the angels of God are going to gather them from around the earth and they are going to meet Christ in the air (1-Thess. 4).
• How are you going to meet Him in the air? On the Sea of Glass!

Then we'll have quite a few things take place when we get on the Sea of Glass. It's going to be something!

• that's why Pentecost pictures the first resurrection
• that's why He gave the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, which continues from Christ to the resurrection
• the seven Churches, plus the 50th day
• we have the 144,00 (Rev. 14)
• raised at the last trumpet
• meeting Christ in the air
• Sea of Glass
• marriage of the Lamb
• plan of God unfolding into the future

All of that! So, while we're on the Sea of Glass:

• we will receive our new names
• we're going to see God the Father
• we're going to see Jesus Christ
• we're going to meet all the faithful
• we're all going to be given our rewards

Every time you see some celebration of a sports victory and they win some kind of title, they have a great celebration. Just think what kind of celebration we're going to have on the Sea of Glass! Once everything is taken care of, after the seven last plagues have been poured out, we come back to the earth with Christ.

That gives us the full meaning of the Feast of Pentecost!

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:15-16
• Deuteronomy 16:16-17

• Acts 2:6-8, 29-34
• Romans 2:1-4
• Acts 2:37-39
• James 1:18
• 1 Corinthians 15:13-20, 35-46, 48-55
• Revelation 11:14-18
• Revelation 6:12-14
• Matthew 24:26-27, 30
• Hosea 5:13-15
• Hosea 6:1-2
• Revelation 6:15-16
• Revelation 7:1-5, 9-14
• Revelation 14:1-5
• Revelation 17:1-2, 4-5
• Revelation 3:10, 8-9, 12
• Revelation 19:7-9
• Revelation 14:14-16
• Revelation 15:1-2

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Leviticus 23:17

• Isaiah 9
• Psalm 110
• Romans 1
• John 3
• Revelation 1-5; 8-10
• Zechariah 12
• Revelation 11-13
• Hebrews 12
• Revelation 17:15
• Matthew 22
• 1 Thessalonians 4

Also referenced:

Books:

• The New Digital Age by Eric Schmidt
• The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah by Fred R. Coulter
• God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days by Fred R. Coulter

Sermon: The New Digital Age

Sermon Series: Daniel/Revelation

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 6-10-13

Copyright 2013—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.