The Great Mystery of the Feast of Pentecost!

(Feast of Pentecost)

Fred R. Coulter—June 5, 2022

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the Feast of Pentecost! How many more do we have until this day is fulfilled? We don't know, but some of us undoubtedly will be alive.

We are going to see that that this is like all the Feasts of God, every single Feast of God, every Holy Day of God is special! Every Sabbath—though it's regular every seven days—is special! God especially puts His presence in all of these days.

Those of us who have been called and have the Spirit of God, this has special meaning for us. This tells us what God is doing. The world doesn't know; they don't have a clue! But here it is right in plain sight. However, it takes understanding, and understanding comes with obedience and faith! It takes faith to be obedient!

If you hear something and it means nothing to you, are you going to do anything? No! But IF you hear what God has said, and you count the words of God as being important, THEN we believe and we do!

We will see that the Feasts of God are listed twice before Lev. 23. Isn't it interesting that one of the chapters is Exo. 23? Here's what God told Moses to tell the people:

Exodus 23:14: [#1]"You shall keep a Feast unto Me three times in the year."

These were the major Feasts. You had Trumpets and Atonement; those are tremendous Feasts by themselves by the way. However, God wanted the people who were scattered, as many as were possible to come to Jerusalem. The way that worked out, wherever there was a synagogue—scattered wherever it was—the people would also meet on that day, but they would have at least one representative from that synagogue go to Jerusalem and he would represent all the males from that synagogue. Of course, he would bring the offering to the temple from the synagogue.

Verse 15: "You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread…." We already kept that!

Verse 16: "Also, the Feast of the Harvest of the Firstfruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field…. [we're going to see that sowing is very important and also has spiritual meaning and depth] …And the Feast of Ingathering, in the end of the year…"—Tabernacles!

We will see that after the rebellion and making the golden calf that God re-gave the same commandments.

Exodus 34:18: [#2]"You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread…."

I want you to read the verses before and after and you will see that what we're reading here are not lesser things. Some of the 'lesser things' are as important as some of the major things.

After giving the command to keep Unleavened Bread, when was the command given concerning the sanctifying of the firstborn? During the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

Verse 19: "All that opens the womb is Mine…"

Why? God is Creator, and He's creating through pro-creation and reproduction; but it's what He has done! The firstborn is special. The firstborn represents Christ!

• Do you think He's Firstborn?
• Do you think that's special?
• Was the birth of Jesus Christ special?
• Was the begettal of Jesus Christ special?

YES!

"…all firstlings of male livestock, of oxen or sheep. But the firstling of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem…. [five sheckles at the temple] …And none shall appear before Me empty" (vs 19-20).

Notice what He says next, because what I want to show you is that God has all of these commandments all lined up in a different way, kind of mixed up as it were from our normal reading of it. I want you to understand that this shows how important they are!

• Was the firstborn important to God? Yes!
• Was Jesus not the firstborn? Yes!
• What is the Church called? The Church of the Firstborn!
• Is that not important and special? You better believe it!

Verse 21: "You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. [#3]And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. Three times in the year shall all your males… [or representatives] …appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel" (vs 21-23)—three times in a year!

We will see the same thing in Deut. 16; we will see this reiterated again. If God says something once, is it important? Of course! But if He repeats it, it multiplies its importance! So, here is #4 and we'll see where #5 is listed in Lev. 23.

We know how to count, because I've already covered that.

Deuteronomy 16:9: "You shall count seven weeks to yourselves. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time you first began to put the sickle to the grain. [#4]And you shall keep the Feast of Weeks…" (vs 9-10).

So, it's the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks and also the Feast of Pentecost, which means count 50, because  you're to count 50 days!

"…to the LORD your God according to the sufficiency of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give according as the LORD your God has blessed you. And you shall rejoice…" (vs 10-11).

That's what God wants us to do. Rejoice in all that this Feast means. Think about how great it's going to be going through this today, and then you look out at the world and see what's happening in the world! It's quite a different thing, isn't it?

• Are they blessed? No!
• Do they know God? No!

They claim to, but they don't!

"…before the LORD your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite inside your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, those among you, in the place which the LORD your God has chosen to place His name there" (vs 10-11).

Then it goes to the next Feast, a big one, the Feast of Tabernacles.'

[#5]Let's look at something in Lev. 23, because this is quite an interesting part. You will see that when you read Lev. 23 that everything pertaining to Pentecost has the most instruction than the other Feasts. Let's pick it up with the finalizing of the count and then see what else we are to do; see what else that this Feast means!

Leviticus 23:15: "And 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. Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days. And you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD" (vs 15-16).

Remember that during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, leaven is a type of sin, because it puffs up vanity and so forth when mixed with disobedience.

It's only during that period of Passover and Unleavened Bread that leaven is a type of sin. When we come to Pentecost, leaven represents something else and we will see that.

Verse 17: "You shall bring out of your homes two wave loaves of two tenth parts. They shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits to the LORD."

Before we go any further, let's pause and take up an offering for the Feast of Pentecost. Brethren, know that all the funds that you send to the Christian Biblical Church of God we are dedicated to using them strictly:

• for serving the brethren
• for paying for what needs to be
• to preach the Gospel
• to print the Gospel
• to get it out to as many people as we can

We thank you for the offering that you give, and know that you give from the heart and willingly. We thank you for it and commend you that you have been so generous.

(pause for the offering)

In Matt. 13 we're going to find a clue as to what the leaven represents in these two wave loaves.

Matthew 13:33: "Another parable He spoke to them: 'The Kingdom of Heaven is compared to leaven…'"

We know that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, so this leaven cannot refer to sin as it does during Unleavened Bread.

"…which a woman… [a type of the Church] …took and hid in three measures of flour until all was leavened" (v 33).

They were to make those wave loaves with two parts of fine flour.

• What does this represent? The Kingdom of God!
• What does it represent to us?

We will see that each of these loaves were waved before the Lord baked with leaven!

What happens when you put leaven into dough? The dough rises! As long as it's dough you can punch it back down and make it flat again, but the leaven will raise it up. Then when you put it in the oven to bake it, what happens to it? That loaf, all leavened, is permanent! You can't change it! You can destroy it, but you can't change it.

God isn't looking to destroy it, because leaven is likened to the Kingdom of Heaven! So, let's see what they were to do with it; let's see what the loaves represent:

Leviticus 23:17: "You shall bring out of your homes two wave loaves of two tenth parts. They shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven; they are the firstfruits to the LORD."

That represents all who are going to be in the Kingdom of God. One loaf represents all of those up to Christ; the other loaf represents all of those from Christ until the resurrection.

Notice what was going to be offered with it; v 18: And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year…"

How many churches are there in Rev. 2 & 3? Seven! Probably a type of the seven churches.

"…and one young bull… [representing the strength of Christ] …and two rams. They shall be for a burnt offering to the LORD with their grain offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor to the LORD" (v 18).

Because we need to have forgiveness for sin, even when we're in the Church, let's read on:

Verse 19: "Then you shall sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings."

A peace offering was that you would come to God and share the meal, and they were also baked with leaven. All of this shows that the churches have to overcome and not have sin in their lives.

Verse 20: "And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits, a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be Holy to the LORD for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it may be a Holy convocation to you. You shall do no servile work therein. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations" (vs 20-21).

Verse 22: "And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corners of your field. And the gleaning of your harvest you shall not gather. But you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God." It is a big deal Feast!

Now let's see how that God or Christ compares the work of the Gospel—that means the work of the New Testament Church—and all of us as we grow and overcome. He likens it to a harvest!

Matt. 13 shows that Christ is active all the time through His Churches, and what He does in calling people, bringing them to repentance and to baptism. That comes by the hearing of the Word!

Matthew 13:37: "And He answered and said to them, 'The One Who sows the good seed… [we will see that Satan sows the bad seed] …is the Son of man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom…" (vs 37-38).

That's what we are; the firstfruits of the Spirit, of the knowledge of God. The same with all of those from the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) down to the time of the resurrection.

"…the children of the Kingdom…" That reaches back in time because there were two loaves! One for those who were before the ministry of Jesus Christ and His death, crucifixion and resurrection; that one loaf pictures all of them. All of the patriarchs:

• Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
• the righteous kings
• the righteous priests
• the righteous prophets

"…but the tares are the children of the wicked one" (v 38)—Satan the devil! Counterfeit Christianity! They become blind, and we will see how in just a little bit.

We will read what Jesus said is the interpretation of the sowing of the seed, which is the Word of God.

Matthew 13:10: "And His disciples came to Him and asked, 'Why do You speak to them in parables?'" This is very important for us to understand and to grasp the significance of it!

Verse 11: "And He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given to you…'"

All the knowledge that we have comes from God! It's not that we have made it up. When we read these things, we learn of them and God opens our mind to understand it.

"…to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven…" (v 11).

• Is not the resurrection a mystery?
• How is God going to do that?

Think on that a long time! We don't know, because God didn't tell us.

But we do know that when we die our spirit of man is united with the Holy Spirit of God and goes back to God. We will see that those were stored under the altar in the Temple in heaven above (Heb. 12). We will see that the tares are bundled and stored someplace for the Lake of Fire! So, God knows what He's doing and is going to take care of it! Some things we can  understand; other things we don't understand.

"…but to them it has not been given" (v 11).

Let's understand what God is going to do. You've heard it said how many times: Prayer and study! Prayer and study! Grow in grace and knowledge!

Listen, v 12: "For whoever has understanding… [we do] …to him more shall be given…"

The more that we keep the Sabbath, the more that we love God, the more that we keep:

• the Passover
• Feast of Unleavened Bread
• Pentecost
• all the rest of the Feasts of God

the more we understand will be given to us! We will understand! Think how many, going back in time, do not understand or did not understand what God has given us to understand.

We're able to understand—not because we're better than them—because we have the complete Word of God, and the times in which we are living. That's an amazing thing to understand, brethren.

• How great God is!
• How fantastic His plan is!

Verse 12: "For whoever has understanding, to him more shall be given, and he shall have an abundance, but whoever does not have understanding, even what he has shall be taken away from him"—removed!

We've seen that happen to people who have been in the Church. We don't know if they were converted or not. We hope that they weren't, but we don't know! That's why God is Judge.

• only God knows the heart
• only God knows the mind
• only God knows what someone is thinking

We don't!

In the world today with husbands and wives, wives come pretty close to knowing what their husbands are thinking, more than what husbands know what wives are thinking! But that doesn't make wives better than men, or men—because they're the head of the wife—better than women.

Try a world with only men! Or a world with only women! Well, that's what Satan is trying to do out there. How is that working? Not very good!

Verse 13: "For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing, they see not; and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand." Here's why:

• 2-Cor. 3; one of the reasons that they don't understand. At the reading of Moses there is a veil over their mind and they can't understand.
• 2-Cor. 4—there is Satan the devil who blinds the mind of those who don't believe,

So, you have those two factors of unbelief!

With the first one you also have the factor of free moral choice! With the blinders on them, they can choose to have it removed by choosing to obey God, repentance and receiving the Holy Spirit!

Verse 14: "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, 'In hearing you shall hear, and in no way understand; and in seeing you shall see, and in no way perceive; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed…'" (vs 14-15).

People do that today: 'Oh, don't bother me with that!' That's closing their eyes!

"…lest they should see with their eyes, and should hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (v 15). That's quite a verse right there!

• to be in the Church
• to have God's Spirit
• to be part of the Church of the Firstborn
• to be the firstfruits of God

is such a tremendous blessing!

Everywhere you go, those who really believe and love God are few! That's what Jesus said we would be! That's why this Day of Pentecost is so important. It shows what's going to happen with this.

The reason that they don't hear; v17: "For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard." Living at that end of the age, that's possible!

Verse 18: "Therefore, hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom… [this is automatic at anytime and anyplace down through history] …and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and snatches away that which was sown in his heart…." (vs18-19).

Satan can put into the heart and he can take away. We will see when we get to the seven churches that Satan wants to be there to disrupt them all the time.

"…This is the one who was sown by the way" (v 19).

Verse 20: "Now, the one who was sown upon the rocky places is the one who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy; but because he has no root in himself, he does not endure; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word, he is quickly offended. And the one who was sown among the thorns is the one who hears the Word, but the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful" (vs 20-22).

We will how that will be when the dollar eventually collapses. It's going to be awful!

Verse 23—here's us: "But the one who was sown on good ground, this is the one who hears the Word and understands, who indeed brings forth fruit…"

All the fruits of the Spirit and keeping the commandments of God combined together!

"…and produces… [it goes out beyond the individual to other people] …one a hundredfold, another sixtyfold and another thirtyfold" (v 23).

Then He talks about sowing the good seed and the enemy—Satan—comes and sows the tares. We will see when all of this comes to a head. In v 49 He is explaining all of the parables, when they will be all be fulfilled.

Verse 49: "This is the way it will be in the end of the age: the angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the righteous, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire…" (vs 49-50).

There's going to be war and that sort of thing and later they're going to be cast into the Lake of Fire.

"…there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (v 50).

Verse 51: "Jesus said to them, 'Have you understood all these things?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.'" I wonder how much they really understood?

We will come to Acts 2 and see the beginning of the New Testament Church. That's quite a thing with they miracles that happened there, and everything that happened after that,

(break@39:25)

Acts 2 shows how absolutely important that the Holy Spirit is, and how important Pentecost is. Think about this:

They had the preaching from Jesus for 3-1/2 years, and you know that the knowledge of this went out to all of the synagogues wherever they were, and think about the Day of Pentecost.

After Jesus had been crucified and then resurrected and they can't find His body. But He came and showed Himself to the apostles and taught them for 40 days and 40 nights. Then on the 50th day, the Day of Pentecost, was a great astounding thing that happened, which shows the complete division between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

• not doing away with the Laws of God
• not doing away with the Sabbath and Holy Days

but actually keeping them! Think about this: the Church started on a Holy Day! How important is that Pentecost. That's why when this event happened in Acts 2 it was astonishing.

Acts 2:1: "And when the Day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day, was being fulfilled…"

That's the actual meaning of it. Not the day before, not the day after, but the Day of Pentecost!

"…they were all with one accord in the same place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a powerful wind, and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit; and they began to speak with other languages…" (vs 1-4).

Why? Because there were Jews and proselytes there at the temple from all over the empire! Just think about this: they were probably all talking about this:

I wonder what happened to Jesus? They couldn't find His body. Was He really raised from the dead? Some of the disciples say He was!

Then all of a sudden about 9 o'clock in the morning, the time that they're waving the Wave Offerings, here comes the Holy Spirit in power and fills them with the Holy Spirit and then they start proclaiming the Gospel and Christ resurrected, the prophecies and "…heard them speaking in his own language" (v 6)—where they had been born—the wonderful works of God! Then Peter gave a very powerful sermon:

• showing that this was by prophecy
• showing that it was Christ
• showing that David was not raised from the dead
• showing that Christ was raised from the dead

Remember that now God is fulfilling His Word to the Jew first and then to Gentiles. Here were mostly all Jews, and there may have been some proselytes there.

Then Peter called them to repentance! And this is what needs to happen today to hold back the hand of God's correction. If you want any removal from that, you have to repent!

Verse 36: "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with full assurance that God… [it wasn't anyone else; it wasn't a man, wasn't a priest] …has made this same Jesus, Whom you crucified…"

There were a lot of them there in the audience who were some of those who stood out there and yelled, 'Crucify Him! Give us Barabbas and Crucify Him!'

"…Whom you crucified, both Lord… [over all and refers to the Lord God of the Old Testament and Lord God of the New Testament] …and Christ" (v 36).

• The Christ!
• The Messiah!

The One that they had been waiting for all these years and have read in the prophecies of the Old Testament. That was Jesus Christ, and the Father raised Him from the dead!

Verse 37: "Now, after hearing this, they were cut to the heart; and they said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent…'" (vs 37-38).

• that's what it has to be with us
• that's what it has to be with any coming to Jesus

You must repent of your sins, which are the transgressions of God's Holy and Righteous and Perfect Law! And you must repent of your part in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

In order for everyone of us individually to have our sins forgiven, it has to come through Christ. Therefore, our past sinful behavior helped crucify Christ. So that His shed blood can cover our sins and we receive forgiveness through the grace and mercy of 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'" (v 38).

That's what God gives us when we are baptized, the Holy Spirit, so that we can:

• grow
• change
• overcome
• develop the mind of Christ
• understand the Word of God
• live a life the way that we should
• be faithful and obedient to God
• prepare for the second coming of Christ
• prepare for the first resurrection

That's the whole goal of why we are here!

Verse 39: "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."

Out there in the area of the temple there were probably 30-40, maybe 50 thousand people. How many were baptized? 3,000! Those were the first ones, the first of the firstfruits called! That's an amazing thing! They received the Holy Spirit!

So astounding was this that when you read the first seven chapters of the book of Acts the apostles in preaching Christ crucified and raised from the dead literally turned Jerusalem upside down and inside out so much so that by the time we get to Acts 12 most of the Christians had fled to other cities.

God started working with the Gentiles beginning with Cornelius (Acts 10). All of these things are big, ground-breaking things, which are tremendous leading up to the return of Christ.

Rev. 1—we see here that Christ is the Head of the Church, He is always with the Church, and then we will do a brief review of the seven churches.

We need to understand that Jesus was the Firstborn from among the dead! They have never found His body, because He was raised from the dead. The original apostles saw Him for 40 days and 40 nights and preached Him alive and raised to the right hand of God the Father.

Here is the message, the first five chapters of Revelation are for the Church and leading up to the return of Christ. When He returns that's when the resurrection will be! We know in 1-Cor. 15 it says, 'Christ the Firstfruit and those who are Christ's at His coming!' We're going to look at that and how great, important and tremendous that that is.

Rev. 1—this tells us what God is doing. What the message is that is being sent to us and preserved for all the saints down through time, clear to the end of the age. More particularly to us at the end of the age so that we know what is happening. We can see these things taking place; other prophecies being fulfilled.

Revelation 1:1: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God… [the Father] …gave to Him, to show to His servants the things that are ordained tocome to pass shortly…"

Remember that Peter said, 'A with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day.' So, if it's shortly to come pass, in our time from the time of Christ until now, it's almost 2,000 years! But it starts out with the Church at that time, and carries on down through. So, yes, some of the things are shortly to come to pass. The Churches are here! Other things are way out in the future.

"…and He made it known, having sent it by His angel to His servant John who gave witness to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and all the things he saw" (v 1-2).

What a thing, the whole book of Revelation. There's a special blessing that comes every time we read and study it, every time we think about it right here:

Verse 3: "Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy… [then there is a responsibility] …and who keep the things that are written therein; for the time is at hand."

And the first thing, which right then, shortly come to pass, starting then and then coming on down to the return of Christ.

Verse 4: "John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace and peace be to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; and from the seven spirits that are before His Throne."

Those are the seven eyes of God sent into all the earth to keep track of what's going on and find those who are seeking God. That's their job!

Verse 5: "And from Jesus Christ…" Personally! You're reading this, and Christ is there teaching you!

"…the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead…" (v 5). That answers the question: What does it mean to be born again?

• first birth is by your mother, that's by water
• second birth is not baptism; it is the resurrection and that is by the Spirit

What did Jesus say? That which is flesh is flesh, that which is Spirit is Spirit, and if you're born of the flesh, you're flesh; if you're born of the Spirit, you are spirit. The only One Who has been born from the dead to become again a spirit being—that He was before He divested Himself to become human—was Jesus Christ! We are to follow Him!

"…and the Ruler of the kings of the earth…." (v 5).

Go back and read the epistle of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4). He wrote this; amazing! The king that took the Jews in 600s B.C. into captivity into Babylon wrote Dan. 4. read it!

• everyone who is a leader
• everyone who is an official
• everyone who is in government
• everyone who rules over any other people

The lesson is that God rules in the kingdoms of men and gives it to whomsoever He wills! Don't get lifted up in vanity like what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. He was seven years deprived of His Kingdom, his sanity and ate grass like the oxen. His nails curled all up with seven years' growth. Think about that! To show that God rules in the kingdoms of men!

The truth is, for today He still does it. With His Spirit that He gives us, God rules in our lives. But we have to choose to love God and keep His commandments and let that rule stay with us.

"…To Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to God and His Father…" (vs 5-6).

We're going to rule on the earth. That's what God is doing with us. So, God is doing a big time work in every single one of us in preparing us for the most important work that there will be in the history of the world from the creation until the time that Jesus returns. That is bring the Kingdom of God to this world!

"…to Him be the glory and the sovereignty into the ages of eternity. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen" (vs 6-7).

Verse 11: "…'I am the Alpha and the Omega… [the Beginning and the Ending] …the First and the Last, and what you see, write in a book, and send it to the churches…'"

The Seven Churches of Revelation 2 & 3

Let's look at the seven Churches! There's a lesson for all of us in each one of them! I want you see and understand—which fits in for today, as well—Satan the devil—

• the enemy of God
• the god of this world
• of evil and wretchedness
• the prince of the power of the air

—wants to get rid of the Churches of God!

We can't let him do that! Christ will work with us so that won't happen!

The Church of Ephesus

Christ commended them because they tested everyone who said that he was an apostle and found them to be liars. They had works. The first thing Jesus says to the Church is:

Revelation 2:2: "I know your works, and your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot bear those who are evil; and that you did test those who proclaim themselves to be apostles, but are not, and did find them liars."

However, they grew weary in well doing and they lost their first love (v 4) What is the first love? To love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being! That's the first primary love. They got busy in other activities. Then what happened?

You come to the next segment of the Church down through time. These are like eras, but there's not hard and fast, one church stops at this point and new one begins. No! They overlap!

Today we can see in the world that all seven of the churches still exist when we look at the works that are done by the different Churches of God.

So, God warned them that—because they lost their first love—He would remove their candlestick (v 5).

Then we come to Smyrna [transcriber's correction] The candlestick is being removed and Satan moves in.

The Church of Smyrna

Some are cast into jail, and some were killed

Verse 9: "I know your works and tribulation and poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who declare themselves to be Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan."

We have the same thing today, the synagogue of Satan is the whole world's system.

Verse 11: "The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches…. [He says that to every one of the Churches] …The one who overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death."

Verse 7: "The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. To the one who overcomes I will give the right to eat of the Tree of Life that is in the midst of the paradise of God."

The Church of Pergamos

This is where Satan's seat is. That was where there was a big Temple of Zeus dedicated to all the pagan gods that were centered around the worship of Zeus.

What happened? They were faithful up to a point when Antipas the faithful martyr was there, until he was killed.

Verse 13: "…Antipas was My faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells." What happened after that?

Verse 14: "But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication."

That's spiritual fornication, the start of the embryonic Catholic Church, with the early church fathers to change the doctrines.

They also had, v 15: "…the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate." The doctrine of the Nicolaitans is twofold:

• hierarchical overbearing government with the Church that the leaders are the ones—not God
• they put the leaders between God and the people

Jesus says that He hates that!

Verse 16: "Repent! For if you do not repent, I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes..." (vs 16-17).

Church of Thyatira

This was quite a Church; v 19: "I know your works, and love, and service, and faith, and your endurance, and your works; and the last are more than the first."

Now, here we have in prophecy a woman called Jezebel! That's found in the Old Testament, and she was the daughter of the high priest of Baal. What we have is those coming in teaching the doctrines of Baalim and:

"…eating things sacrificed to idols… [and leading people astray] …And I gave her time to repent of her fornication, but she did not repent" (v 20-21)

In our time that's the Roman Catholic Church. The time that was given for her to repent was what the Catholics call The Council of Trent! When the Protestants left they said, 'To the Bible and the Bible only'—'sola scriptura'

There was actually a whole segment within the Catholic Church that was lobbying to give up all their traditions, to give up all the teachings of men and Scriptures only. But they were overruled because of the Protestants!

The Protestants kept Sunday instead of keeping the Sabbath. So therefore, it was decided that the traditions still remain because they knew that Sunday was the tradition of the Catholic Church and so proclaimed. So, even in 1893 when Cardinal Gibbon wrote Rome's Challenge to the Protestants! He told them that Sunday is solely a Catholic institution. It has nothing to do with God, really!

He tells them to repent and don't get involved in the depths of Satan the devil. Jesus says that He's coming!

He gives them time to repent; 22:" …and those who commit adultery with her into Great Tribulation, unless they repent of their works. And I will kill her children with death, and all the Churches shall know…" (vs 22-23).

Here's what God does with each one of us. We can't look back and say that:

They did that, that was them, but we don't do that. Oh, look at that over there; they shouldn't be doing that, but we don't do that.

Here's what God says, and remember that the message is to ALL the Churches!

"…and all the churches shall know that I am He Who searches the reins and hearts…" (v 23).

What are the reins? How God made our mind so that He at any time can know:

• what we're thinking
• what we're doing
• what we're choosing

That there is no thought that can be withheld from God! That's something we need to know and completely understand all the time.

"…and I will give to each of you according to your works" (v 23).

He gives another warning to show you how bad it got. How bad does it get with the Churches of God? Well, when Satan is involved in it—which he is with this here:

Verse 24: "But to you I say, and to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak…"

I don't know what the "…depths of Satan…" are, but I don't want to get involved in that to find out what it is. We'll just wait for the resurrection and we'll find out.

"…I will not cast upon you any other burden" (v 24).

Verse 26: "And to the one who overcomes and keeps My works unto the end…"

Overcoming the law of sin and death within, and keeping the works of Jesus Christ unto the end!

"…I will give authority over the nations, and he shall shepherd them with an iron rod…" (vs 26-27)

Church of Sardis

Revelation 3:1: "…you have a name as if you are alive, but are dead."

They were to hold onto the few things that they had, which was probably the Sabbath and Passover only.

The Church of Philadelphia

• they have not denied the name of Christ
• the one whom Jesus loves
• the ones who love Jesus and are faithful
• the ones who are patiently enduring
• they also have encounters with Satan

Verse 12: "The one who overcomes will I make a pillar in the Temple of My God, and he shall not go out anymore; 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."

How important is it to remain faithful? The Church of Philadelphia, the Church of Brotherly love always remain faithful.

Church of Laodicea

• the end-time Church who are lukewarm (vs 15-16)
• rich and increased with goods (v 17)

But they have really put themselves in a bad position, because they are not keeping the words of God the way that they should. They're neither hot nor cold; they are lukewarm. They are spewed out (v 16) and God says:

Verse 18: "I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire so that you may be rich…"—and qualify for the resurrection!

• Rev 4—John has a vision and is taken up to see the Throne of God and see God
• Rev. 5—we see how important that that is and that Christ is the only One Who can open the seven seals of the things that are going to take place

Always remember that! Nothing in the book of Revelation is going to happen unless God the Father first gives Jesus Christ the order to carry it out!

The Seven Seals

Rev. 6—this is has to do with the seven seals, and we're going to learn some very important things. We don't know exactly when these are going to be fulfilled. Christ was the only One worthy to open the book and loose the seven seals. That means it comes with the Father's permission. That shows us that in all the events in the end-time that Jesus Christ and God the Father are active.

Let's look at this and see the things that take place, We'll just summarize it, because we want to cover some of the prophetic things that are going to take place that are going to shake this world and the heavens around it.

First Seal:

One has a bow and goes out conquering and to conquer. This is the false prophet! (Rev. 6:1-2).

How far along are they on this today? They're getting closer and closer to a one-world religion! And closer and closer to a one-world government!

But none of those things can be fulfilled until the Father says, 'Now is the time, Jesus; let it go!'

This first seal may have already been opened with the pacts and things that that are taking place with Chrislam and the churches coming together. Also, the world powers are beginning to understand that they can't by force bring in a world government. They're going to have to need religion to soften so they can get control!

Second Seal

War! We know that in Matt. 24 there are 'wars and rumors of war,' but here we have the red horse and the seal that is war!

What happens when there's war? All you have to do is look at Ukraine! There's death and destruction! Food is short; everything is short! Then famine sets in. We're going see that because of that war, there's going to be famine in Africa such as has not been in decades and decades. We don't know if this is the final one, but it at least is a prelude of what's going to happen.

Third & fourth Seals

Then you have rationing of food, of water, of wine and oil. All of this is controlled from heaven above!

Fifth Seal

The martyrdom of the saints! What happens when things don't go well with dictators? They look for the enemy! The enemy is going to be the Churches of God who are proclaiming that the beast and the false prophet are of Satan the devil and are not of God!

They're going to come out and start cutting off heads right and left like you would never believe. That martyrdom is going to be bloody! That has to be until all the Christians that are not in a place of safety have been executed.

Sixth Seal

This is where we want to come, because this is going to be the great earth-shaking event that shakes the heavens and the earth.

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… [it's shaking the heavens and the earth] …as a fig tree casts its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the heaven…" (vs 12-14).

Here is a gigantic thing, a great and marvelous sign that is going to happen and startle the earth. As we will see, they will think at first that this is the coming of Christ, because it will be the announcing of the coming of Christ.

We know from the book of Hosea that there will be the children of Israel in captivity who then, after two years, that captivity is going to be lifted. So, out of three and a half years, if two full years are gone, and it's the beginning of a third year, that leaves a year and a half left until the actual coming of Christ on the earth with His saints.

The Sign of the Son of Man

Here's what's going to happen! This is going to startle the world and make them desperately afraid:

Verse 14: "Then the heaven departed like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth… [it affects everyone] …and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the powerful men, and every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb'" (vs 14-16).

They understand at first that this is the coming of Christ; but we will see that they will change their mind and think that this is an invasion from outer space.

Let's see that Christ foretold of this event and what's going to happen. When the heavens roll back as a scroll, they're going to see something that has never been there before. This is why they will react in a way that they will.

Matthew 24:24: "For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall present great signs and wonders…"—which will be from Satan the devil to convince people to follow the beast and the false prophet!

"…in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect" (v 24)—because 'seeing is believing.' No! It can be something that is a deception!

Verse 25: "Behold, I have foretold it to you. 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…. [here's why]: …For as the light of day…" (vs 25-27).

What is the light of day? The sun! Some translate this as lightening, but let's see what else it says so we know that it's not lightening.

Verse 27: "For as the light of day, which comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be."

• What is it that shines from the east to the west? The sun!
• What will they see? They will see when the heavens depart a second sun!

They will be scared to death that it's going to come and crash into the earth and destroy the earth. But it doesn't yet do it.

Verse 29: "But immediately after the Tribulation of those days… [tie in Hosea 6] …the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light… [tie in Rev. 6]…and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven… [that's that great Sun] …and they shall see the Son of man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (vs 29-30).

It shows that it comes down to the time of the resurrection. Here we have the sign of the Son of man shown just before Pentecost of the last year and a half. Let's see that Malachi verifies this. This is really interesting.

Like with all the prophecies we have in the Bible, it doesn't tell us how long these things continue.

Malachi 4:1: 'For behold, the day is coming, burning like a consuming oven; and all the proud, and every doer of wickedness, shall be stubble…."

That's in the war (Rev. 19) and goes forward to the time of the resurrection of the wicked that will be burned up in the Lake of Fire. So, it has quite a reach of time.

"'…And the day that comes shall burn them up,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and will leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you who fear My name…'" (vs 1-2).

• those who love God
• those who love Christ
• those who fear the name of God

"…the Sun of Righteousness shall arise…" (v 2)—that refers to Christ!

What will happen is that the heavens will roll back as a scroll and here's a new sun out there that they've never seen before. That's why they will believe that it's the return of Christ at first, but later the will think it's an invasion from outer space.

"…and healing will be in His wings. And you shall go out and grow up like calves of the stall" (v 2).

Then it goes on showing that the wicked will be destroyed.

Rev. 7—very interesting number! How many weeks are there to Pentecost? Seven! What happens in chapter 7?  The sealing of the 144,000; 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel!

They receive the Holy Spirit administered to them from an angel of God. Then a great innumerable multitude after that; they  are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation.

Revelation 7:14: "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.'"

But they don't get there until the resurrection. So, here's the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude. They will be there, wherever they are, for one year and they will represent the parable of the laborers hired at the last hour in the book of Matthew.

Each one receives a silver coin, likened unto eternal life! Let's come forward. We won't go through all the things that happen except to say that Rev. 8-10 is fighting and warring; the worst fight and the worst wars that have ever been will take place. It's going to be something!

The Resurrection & the End of the Age of Man

Then will come the harvest and the time! Remember what Jesus said: These things will occur at the end of the age!

When does the end of the age take place? Rev. 11 tells us. First of all, the two witnesses finish their ministry, and then the beast and the false prophet—the beast in particularly—kills the two witnesses! The whole world thinks that their going to get relief 'because they've been bringing the plagues upon us!'

NO! that's not going to happen that way. What's going to happen is that they're going to end up fighting Christ because the two witnesses—after they're dead for 3-1/2 days and lying in the street of Jerusalem—will be raised from the dead; literally the last shall be first!

Revelation 11:12: "And they heard a great voice from heaven, say, 'Come up here!' And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them rise. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand men were killed in the earthquake. And the rest were filled with fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming immediately" (vs 12-14).

Verse 15: "Then the seventh angel…" The last angel, because the seven angels were given trumpets to blow.

We find in Rev. 8-9 they blew these trumpets. Now here is the seventh one! What happens? The seventh one signals two things:

• the end of the age of man
• the end of Satan

Remember that Jesus said, 'These things will take place at the end of the age.' Here it is right here!

Verse 15: "Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of eternity.'"

Now notice what the 24 elders who praise God say:

Verse 17: 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.'"

That's the beginning of the reign of Jesus Christ and the resurrected saints. The saints will be resurrected at the seventh trump! What did Christ say in Matt. 24? When that trumpet for the resurrection takes place, He's going to send His angels out to gather the elect from all over the world and bring them up into heaven where the clouds are!

The Sea of Glass

Not way, way out into outer space, but the heaven near the earth. Well, we have to back up a little bit:

• What is up there?
• Remember the great Sun?
• What's going to happen to that?

It's probably going to come streaking to the Earth and is going to scare the living daylights out of all the people on Earth, and all the armies in the world are going to—when they see this starting to happen—the sound is going to go out, 'come, we're being invaded from outer space.' So, that Sun that was out there from the one-year from Pentecost to Pentecost is going to streak to the Earth into the clouds and all of a sudden VOOOM! there's going to be a great Sea of Glass!

• Why does there have to be a great Sea of Glass? Because the saints will be carried up and put on the Sea of Glass!
• For what purpose? We need to know what we have to do if we're going to rule and reign with Christ!

That's not something we're going to understand in just a short period of time. That's why the resurrection cannot be on Trumpets. It's has to be on Pentecost, and that great Sea of Glass!

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… [read it carefully]: …and those who had gotten the victory over the beast… [over Satan the devil and the one personified as 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).

Those are harp-like instruments. Why are they standing there?

Verse 3: "And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 'Great and awesome are Your works, Lord God Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the saints. Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You only are Holy; and all the nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been revealed'" (vs 3-4).

After that comes the seven last plagues! Here are all the saints up there.

• Why are we up there?
• What are we going to do?

Let's just have a real quick summary of it:

• we're going to meet Christ in person and we're going to see all the resurrected brethren

When we're resurrected, God is going to put into our new spirit mind the language we're going to speak as spirit beings. So, all of us down through the ages of time who had different languages while in the flesh will be able to communicate by talking with each other. We're going to see the Prophets, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

• We're going to see God the Father and be presented by Jesus Christ to the Father because we're His children.

• we will all receive our rewards and new name

We will have a new stone that has our new name on it. I wonder what God is going to call each one of us?

• the marriage of the Lamb and the Church and all the saints has to take place

Blessed is he who is called to the wedding supper of the Lamb!

• we're all going to watch while the seven angels pour out the seven last plagues.

• we're going to receive our assignments

• What are we going to do when we come back to the Earth?
• How do we know where we're going to go?
• Who are we going to serve?
• Who are we going to rule over and show the way of God?

• We'll all be organized into Christ's army

But Christ is going to solve the problem of fighting, because out of His mouth will come a two-edged sword so that all the soldiers that are coming to fight against us returning to the Earth, BAM! their flesh is going to fall right off of them (Zech. 14).

• we will return with Christ to the Earth on the Feast of Trumpets

We will be on the Sea of Glass from Pentecost to Trumpets and then come back to the Earth, and then we will start setting up the Kingdom of God! This is the great mystery of the Feast of Pentecost!

Scriptural References:

• Exodus 23:14-16
• Exodus 34:18-23
• Deuteronomy 16:9-11
• Leviticus 23:15-17

• Matthew 13:33
• Leviticus 23:17-22
• Matthew 13:37-38, 10-23, 49-51
• Acts 2:1-4, 6, 36-39
• Revelation 1:1-6, 11
• Revelation 2:2, 9, 11, 7, 13-17, 19-24, 26-27
• Revelation 3:1, 12, 18
• Revelation 6:12-16
• Matthew 24:24-27, 29-30
• Malachi 4:1-2
• Revelation 7:14
• Revelation 11:12-15, 17
• Revelation 15:1-4

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Hebrews 12
• 2 Corinthians 3; 4
• Acts 12; 10
• 1 Corinthians 15
• Daniel 4
• Revelation 2:4-5, 15-17, 16
• Revelation 4; 5; 6:12
• Hosea 6
• Revelation 19: 8-10
• Zechariah 14

Also referenced: Booklet:
Rome's Challenge to the Protestants
by Cardinal Gibbon

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 5/16/22

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