The Greatest Day in History!

We're going to approach taking up the offering in a little bit different way. I want you to think about the calling that God has given, and I want you to base your offering on what God has done for you!

Let's understand what God is doing. Because we need to realize that God has called us to the greatest, most precious calling that there really is! This day of the Feast of Pentecost shows us how it's going to end, and the end will be a new beginning; that the rest of the plan of God cannot continue until the fulfillment of this Day of Pentecost and the first resurrection.

2 Peter 1:1: "Simon Peter a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained the same precious faith as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and virtue; through which He has given to us the greatest and most precious promises, that through these you may become partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (vs 1-4).

God is doing this for us, in calling us and having us be the special firstfruits of His spiritual creation, we're going to take up the offering. But base it upon the promises that God has given you, as well as all of the blessings that He has bestowed upon you!

(pause for the offering)

Now let's begin this Holy Day by turning to Lev.23. Of course, we know all the Holy Days are listed there. We have already covered on how to count Pentecost. But I just want to cover two things on the counting. This is so important because one of the things Satan likes to do—and the reason he does—is because the plan of God, and the calling of the saints, and everything leading up to the first resurrection is so profound and important, that Satan likes to get all of his devious devices to change, twist, turn and get people confused.

Because of that, we need to go back and just reiterate so that we understand exactly how to count:

• where we end up
• why we end up on this day

It has to be a continuation from the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the resurrection of Christ; and then to Pentecost. It is all one long process in those two seasons.

Leviticus 23:15: "And you shall count to you beginning with the next day after the Sabbath… [the first day of the week] …beginning with the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering..."—the premier sheaf, which was a type of the resurrection of Christ and the acceptance of Christ, the resurrected Christ.

He was resurrected just as the Sabbath ended before this day began, and then in the morning He ascended to the Father.

"...seven Sabbaths shall be complete. Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days.…" (vs 15-16).

The only way you have the morrow after the 7th Sabbath—the Hebrew here is 'shabbat'—is that it starts out on a Sunday and ends up on a Sunday.

"...And you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD" (v 16). A special offering was to be brought of two loaves, and these loaves had leaven in them!

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread the leaven was a type of sin, but here leaven is a type of a good action of leaven. Then when the loaves were baked it was permanent.

In Matt. 13 it talks about the woman who took three measures of flour and put leaven in it until all was leavened. This was like the Kingdom of God. So, this really means that because the leaven is in there, you put in the dough, and then when it is leavened it's changing form. It is changing! It is growing! That is much like to our spiritual growth from the good side of the action of leaven, which is then a type of the Holy Spirit, as far as changing the bread.

Likewise, through the Holy Spirit our natures are to be changed, completely changed! Then when the bread has risen it may be knocked down several times before the baker is ready to put it in the oven. But when it is ready to put in the oven and baked, the dough is permanently changed.

This is what we are talking about in relationship to those who are the firstfruits. When the resurrection comes we will be permanently changed forever!

During the seven weeks leading up to Pentecost, that's the harvest of God, as we have seen through the seven churches. There has to be growth, there has to be change, as we saw yesterday. The message was 'he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.' This is God's message to us so that we can come to the point of the resurrection and be permanently changed. That's why these loaves were made with leaven.

Now let's look at some other things concerning the Feast of Pentecost that we have already covered. As we went back and we started with creation, let's come on down to one of the greatest and most significant events that took place this side of the Flood. That's after God took the children of Israel and led them:

• out of Egypt
• through the Red Sea
• to Mount Sinai

God came down and spoke to His people on Pentecost and gave them the Ten Commandments!

Then after they agreed to all the words—not only the words that God has given, but also to all the statutes and judgments that Moses read in their ears—they said, 'All that the Lord has commanded we will do.' Then God established a covenant with them!

We're going see there is going to be likewise many, many parallels that we will see that took place at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments, and:

• how that applies to the Church
• how it applies to the resurrection
• how it applies also to the New Covenant that will be given at that time

Whenever God deals with His people He always begins with a covenant! We saw that He did:

• with Abraham
• with the children of Israel
• when Hezekiah did what he did, making a covenant in his heart to love and serve God
• when Christ came He established the New Covenant

When the resurrection occurs there's going to be another covenant that will be given just based upon the parallelism that we find there in Exo. 20-24.

Note our messages on The Sea of Glass {truthofGod.org} We're not going to go through it in great detail today.

Exo. 24:7—this is the Day after Pentecost, and it's very interesting that it takes place the Day after Pentecost. The covenant between Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the resurrected saints cannot take place until after the resurrection. Then there will be that new eternal covenant that will go on forever.

Exodus 24:7: "And he took the Book of the Covenant, and read in the ears of the people. And they said, 'All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.' And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, 'Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words'" (vs 7-8). We have had the blood of Christ applied to us. So that is our covenant now!

Now let's see what happened. This is kind of a type of 'going up on the mountain' is kind of a type of being resurrected to meet Christ in the air.

Verse 9: "And Moses went up, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel…. [God wanted to have plenty of witnesses to this] ...And they saw the God of Israel..."

They didn't see Him directly, but as they were looking up toward the top of the mountain they saw the God of Israel.

Verse 10: "And they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the heavens in clearness."

What was the Lord God standing on? A Sea of Glass! There had to be a separation between all of those other than Moses, that they would not be able to come up near to God as did Moses.

Verse 11: "And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay his hands. Also they saw God, and ate and drank."

This is almost like a wedding feast, because the covenant that God made with Israel was to take them as His people. That's a covenant that God has made with us! So, this is almost like the wedding feast. Now then, here is where it gets a little different here:

Verse 12: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Come up to Me in the mountain, and be there. And I will give you tablets of stone, and the Law, and commandments which I have written, so that you may teach them.'"

Moses was allowed to go up and see God and talk to Him, as it were, face-to-face. This is the second greatest event that happened since the creation of the world: God speaking to the children of Israel and giving the Ten Commandments!

Let's see what happened on the Pentecost when we come to the New Testament. Let's understand that God, through the Old Testament, established Jerusalem as the place where He would place His name, and the place where He would have the temple built.

So, the temple that was there in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus and the apostles was the second temple, which was actually started by Ezra and Nehemiah after they came out of the Babylonian captivity; because seventy years before the captivity, God destroyed it because of the sins of the people.

Then we come down to the time of Herod, and Herod had a great building program where he beautified the temple, where he really expanded the area and made it one of the near wonders of the world at that time.

• here's the place where God's name was placed where His Temple was
• here is where His people would come and worship
• here is where His priesthood was

In showing that God was going to do something different, a very startling event took place, unheard of in all of the history of the world!

I want you to understand something very important: God has called us and has given us the understanding of the most important events in the history of the world and mankind! This knowledge and understanding is really fantastic and profound.

• How many people have this knowledge and understanding?
• How many people have some knowledge of it, but they really don't have the full understanding?

Acts 2:1: "And when the Day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day, was being fulfilled, they were all with one accord in the same place…. [then God did a profound miracle]: …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, as the Spirit gave them the words to proclaim" (vs 1-4).

Let's just make this clear:

• God is not the author of confusion
• God will not do something that leads to confusion

His Spirit is the Spirit of the Truth!

• God created all the languages back at the Tower of Babel

What God is doing here in opening the way to proclaim through this salvation to all men, He is going back and saying that He is going to, in spite of the confusion of the languages that He gave, make it known to all people in their language the words of salvation! So, this goes back very similar to where on Pentecost God spoke the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai.

After the three and half year ministry of Jesus Christ and the teaching of the apostles, what do we have? We have the apostles now speaking the words of God in multiple languages, so they can all understand the beginning of salvation to those whom God will call. This is a tremendous thing. This is a fantastic witness.

The ministry of Jesus Christ was not done in a corner, as the Apostle Paul said. As Peter told Cornelius when he went to see him in Caesarea, he spoke of Jesus and said, 'And you know these things'

In other words, the whole ministry of Jesus Christ was powerful and well known. It was also well known that Jesus Christ was crucified and died. Many of them probably heard that He was raised from the dead, although the guards and the Jews and the Romans kept saying, 'The disciples came and stole His body away.'

Here they are all gathered there. Just think, I want you to think of two things as we're going through here. All of those who came to the days of Unleavened Bread, and the Passover, and were there for the crucifixion, and the resurrection, and so forth, I want you to:

• Think about what they must have told all the other Jews when they went back to their synagogues and their cities and their countries where they were in the Diaspora:

• they probably told them about Jesus
• they told them about what He went through
• they told them about the darkness that covered the land from noon until 3:00
• they told them about the rent of the veil in the temple
• they told them about the great and fantastic earthquake that took place

• Many of them were probably there even when some of the relatives came in who were resurrected from the dead back to the flesh again so that they could be witnesses in Jerusalem. Maybe they even talked to some of them.

Here they are all coming to the Temple of God in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. This is a momentous event. Imagine how everyone was anticipating, just like they did when Jesus came up to the Feast. They said, 'Where is He?' Imagine what they were saying here on the Day of Pentecost:

I wonder what's going to happen at this Feast? I wonder where His disciples are? I wonder if the priests know about it? I wonder what is going to happen?

Let's put this back in the setting in which it really took place.

Verse 5: "Now, there were many Jews who were sojourning in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 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?'" (vs 5-7).

This also tells us they knew an awful lot about the disciples. They knew they were from Galilee; they knew they were with Jesus. And now look at what's happening. This is an amazing event.

Verse 8: "Then how is it that we hear each one in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites..." {vs 8-9).

All from the ten tribes of Israel scattered out because of the captivity.

"...and those who inhabit Mesopotamia… [the Jews who did not come back with Ezra and Nehemiah] …and Judea and Cappadocia… [that's Asia Minor] …Pontus and Asia, both Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt… [and there are lots of Jews down in Egypt] …and the parts of Libya which are near Cyrene, and the Romans who are sojourning here, both Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians; we hear them speaking in our own languages the great things of God" (vs 9-11). So, this was a momentous day!

Today when you have those who claim a Pentecostal religion! Let's understand: that is nothing but a lying, satanic, counterfeit; had nothing to do with what this event portrays, or what was going on there.

Verse 12: "And they were all amazed and greatly perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?'"

They knew that at the temple that if something like this took place, it had to have great meaning. This is not only when the Church was formed, but this is when the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel in power by the apostles went forth in a most dynamic and miraculous way.

Verse13: "But others were mocking and saying, 'They are full of new wine.'"

You're always going to have the dissenters. You're always going to have the skeptical and unbelieving. Don't worry about them. Don't pay any attention to them. It's just like it is today with the religions of this world. Brethren, I want to tell you something very clearly:

• all of those who are Sunday-keepers
• all of those who keep the holidays of this world
• all of those who go into the Scriptures and pick and choose what they want to have their nice little Jesus, and to have their nice little gospel

need to be ashamed because they would be so partial with the Word of God!

We have nothing to be ashamed of. God has called us to the greatest calling, to the greatest thing! He has called us:

• to eternal life
• to be as He is
• to educate us with His Word
• to grant us His Spirit
• to show you how great and Almighty He is

He started the Church this way!

Verse 14: "Then Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to them: 'Men, Jews, and all those of you who inhabit Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words. For these are not drunken as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day'" (vs 14-15).

Right at the time the Jews were offering the morning sacrifice, because at that time they were not offering the morning sacrifice at sunrise like God said, they were doing it about 9:00 in the morning. Right at this time when all of the things were going to take place right at the temple, here this begins. When they offered the sacrifices they blew the trumpet.

So, we have a parallel back there, going clear back to Exo. 20, where on the Day of Pentecost when God gave the Law, the trumpet of God was blowing. Here the trumpet blew, the sacrifices were started, and all of a sudden this great commotion comes about of speaking in tongues. They didn't know what to do.

So Peter said, v 16: "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel..."

We want to read this, because this is going to give us a clue as to how God is going to finish the Pentecost harvest. Because what he quoted here did not all take place on that Day of Pentecost. At this time, the apostles were thinking that Christ would come back very soon. That's why Jesus told them the night of His last Passover, He said, 'I have many things to say to you, but you're not able to bear them now.'

They wouldn't have been able to bear the fact that it was going to be nearly 2 centuries before He returns. So, they were thinking that this was going to happen quite soon. This is why he goes to this prophecy and he brings this prophecy of Joel. It did apply in part then. But as we're going to see, it is going to apply in its fullest at the last Pentecost before the resurrection. That would actually make it the next to the last Pentecost. So hang on, we'll get there.

Verse 17: "'And it shall come to pass in the last days,' says God, 'that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and even upon My servants and upon My handmaids will I pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy; and I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapors of smoke'" (vs 17-19).

Part of this occurred, v 20: "The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the Lord."

We're talking about the Day of the Lord. What do we have? We have a prophecy, and the Day of the Lord, and Pentecost put together. We need to keep this in mind.

Verse 21: "'And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Men, Israelites, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarean, a Man sent forth to you by God, as demonstrated by works of power and wonders and signs, which God performed by Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know" (vs 21-22)—so this is widespread knowledge!

Someone will surely ask: I wonder why we can't find the historical Jesus? Because it's contained in the Bible! If you don't believe the Bible you won't find it, because the Orthodox Jews who succeeded in writing the history of the Jews eliminated Jesus from their history because of their hatred toward Him. That is why. That's why the ossuary which says, 'James the son of Joseph, the brother of Jesus' that was found absolutely turned the Jewish community on edge!

They say it's not authentic. But later proof has shown that it is authentic. That shows that Jesus the man, Who was the Son of God, did exist and did preach. But their expunging from history the historical Jesus was very thorough and very complete. That's why we go to the Word of God. That's why the history is contained here. That's why when you read the commentaries in the New Testament, why God had the apostles write it and canonize it, because they preserved the Truth; whereas the world would not preserve the Truth. As Jesus said, 'They hated Me and My Father.'

Do you suppose that they are going to preserve the history of someone they absolutely reviled and hated with the greatest despicable hatred possible? Of course not! So, that's why it's in the New Testament. They knew back then.

Verse 23: "Him, having been delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you have seized by lawless hands and have crucified and killed."

As I said earlier, these were the very ones who stood there and said, 'Crucify Him! Crucify Him!' God offered them forgiveness and repentance and many of them took it.

Verse 24: "But God has raised Him up, having loosed the throes of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it." Then He gave the prophecy of David!

Verse 36. "'Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with full assurance that God has made this same Jesus, Whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.' 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 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'" (vs 36-38).

So the very ones who said, 'Let His blood be upon us and upon our children,' some of those very ones now had the blood of Jesus Christ applied to them for the forgiveness of their sins, and that particular sin of condemning Jesus to death.

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.' And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation.' Then those who joyfully received his message were baptized..." (vs 39-41). I imagine so!

• Can you imagine how those felt who said, 'Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Away with Him! Away with Him! Give us Barabbas!' now God brings to repentance?
• Can you imagine the joy of having that lifted from off your mind, heart and soul? Yes, they joyfully received the message were baptized!

"...and about three thousand souls were added that day" (v 41).

1 Cor. 15 is talking about the resurrection. The resurrection is what the Day of Pentecost is all about, as we're going to see.

1-Corinthians 15:20: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He has become the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep." That's the Wave Sheaf Offering!

The Wave Sheaf Offering Day begins the 50th count, and it ends on Pentecost, and so you see the connection. Now let's see when the rest of the firstfruits will be resurrected. Because James the apostle wrote that we are a kind of firstfruits of His creation. That means the spiritual creation that God is doing in us now. That is the greatest creative work that God is doing at the present time.

"…He [Christ] has become the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order..." (vs 20-23). There's an order of things in the plan of God!

Notice the connection here: "...Christ the Firstfruit; then those who are Christ's at His coming" (v 23). It's talking about the resurrection; this tells us clearly

Paul is refuting the fact that there is no resurrection:

Verse 13: "For if there is no resurrection from the dead, neither has Christ been raised." They were claiming that there is no resurrection.

In other words, in the Church of Corinth they were already preaching the immortality of the soul. That's no strange thing, because that's what the Hellenist religionists believed anyway in the immortality of the soul going back to heaven.

So Paul, this saying here that none have gone to heaven. That sounds familiar, doesn't it? John wrote that no one has gone to heaven; only Christ! Notice when it takes place. "...then those who are Christ's at His coming"

So this ties together Jesus' resurrection and acceptance of God the Father, beginning the count toward Pentecost, and it ties in the end together. Those who are resurrected at that time, then, are the firstfruits unto God.

Verse 24:"Afterwards the end comes..." Even Paul didn't understand the fullness of what we understand concerning the plan of God through His Holy Days as we do today. But he knew that the rest would come later.

"...when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to Him Who is God and Father, when He shall have put an end to all rule and all authority and power. For it is ordained that He reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (vs 24-26). Ahe resurrection is going to destroy that death!

Let's see how Paul likens this to a harvest, just like Jesus did (Matt. 13).

Verse 35: "Nevertheless, someone will say, 'How are the dead raised?…. [we can answer that very clearly: by the power of God] …And with what body do they come?'"

The Catholics have a real horrible problem, because they still preach the resurrection of the dead, but somehow the soul has got to come back down from heaven, and it's got to enter into a fleshly body again. So, they have a real difficult problem with that. But the problem is, the fleshly body has been corrupted and rotted away. Here we have the same argument.

Paul says, v 36: 'Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that shall be... [because we will have a body like Christ's] ...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, and to each of the seeds its own body" (vs 36-38).

Then he talks about the flesh of men, the flesh of birds, the flesh of fish, and all flesh is not the same flesh, etc., etc.

Verse 44: "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 44-46).

Now let's understand something that he is also refuting here: Because those who believe in the immortality of the soul, there is also the doctrine which goes way back into paganism—which is also one of the major doctrines of Mormonism today—is that 'souls are in heaven' and they have to be sent down to be put in a person. That is saying in essence that the spiritual is first, then the physical. That contradicts what Paul was teaching here:

Verse 47: "The first man is of the earth—made of dust. The second Man is the Lord from heaven. 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 47-49).

That is the harvest. As we saw earlier, the harvest is the end of the age!

Verse 50: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery..." (vs 50-51).

It is a mystery! It is something that God is going to do, and He alone can do. Human beings can't do anything like this.

"...we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed" (v 51).

At this time he knew, he was convinced in his own mind that Christ would return not too far down the road. That's why he is saying this. But little did he realize that this is a prophecy for us today. We're not all going to fall asleep and go into the grave. But we shall be changed.

Verse 52: "In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

That's what we are looking for. Now we're going to see how all of this transpires in just a bit.

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 53-54).

This is why Christ kept saying to the Churches, 'To him who overcomes…' Paul also wrote that in Christ—as we saw on the last day of Unleavened Bread—we are more than overcomers through Him Who loved us and gave Himself for us.

This is what we have to look forward to, and this is the meaning of the Day of Pentecost, the firstfruit harvest, those who will be resurrected when Jesus Christ returns! It starts with His resurrection and comes all the way down on continuous count to the first resurrection when He returns.

(break)

We've already covered Rev. 2 & 3 yesterday, so now we want to pick up on it and go beyond and show what happens. In the harvest there are 50 days. The harvest of the Church is represented by the 7 churches and the 7 weeks of the harvest. But remember, it was to the morrow after the 7th Sabbath. There is one more day of harvest!

This is the sole harvest of God, and He is going to do it at a particular and a set time! That in itself is going to be quite spectacular. This is not going to have anything to do with the Church, except that maybe the churches help spread the seed a little bit. But by the time it comes down to the 50th day harvest that God is going to do, and those whom He is going to convert at that time, it's going to be an entirely different situation than what we're facing today. He is going to save them from the destruction of the world! So it will seem to them.

• Rev. 5 is where we see that it begins because Christ is the One Who is worthy to open the seven seals. Understand that there is coming a time when this event is going to start taking place, when these things are going to happen.

What we're going to do is lead up to the events of the resurrection!

• Rev. 6 & 7 end the meaning of Pentecost in prophecy
• Rev. 8-10 shows the trumpet plagues
• Rev. 11 shows when the first resurrection, including the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude. All will be resurrected at the last trump, which will be the last Pentecost.

Let's put this all together. What we are going to do now is come back to Rev. 6, and we're going to lead up to the next to the last Pentecost and see the events that will take place.

Revelation 6:1: "And I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures say, like the sound of thunder, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a white horse; and the one who was sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer" (vs 1-2).

This is the false christ, the false messiah. We are going to see, beginning with The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson, a flood of movies that Satan is going to put out there, which is going to help give the mindset of millions and millions of people to accept the false christ, to accept the antichrist! That's what this is preparing the way for. Now the false christ is going to come and be spectacular. When that occurs, all those who have the Spirit of God will understand it. Right after that, shortly after that, could it be that the false messiah is going to be here?

• Rev. 13 shows that he is going to be here for quite a while, and then the last three and half years is when the Tribulation begins.

So could it be that in the seven-year period we have the false christ, and he's going out and doing all of these things, bringing everybody into the one world government, bringing everybody in with the false prophet to the one-world religion?

Then all of those who are not a part of that, as Rev. 13 shows, those who have the name of God written in their heart and mind, and their foreheads, they are going to be killed by the beast; with the exception of the few that go to a place of safety to fulfill the Word of God that 'the gates of the grave would never prevail against the Church.'

{Note our In-Depth Study on the deception of the rapture: The "Secret Rapture: is a Hoax} Millions of people believe those things. Here's a good thing to understand:

• we know if it's not according to the Word of God, it's not from God
• when the majority of the people in the world do it, it is not from God

It's just that simple!

Verse 3: "And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, 'Come and see.' And another horse went out that was red; and power was given to the one sitting on it to take peace from the earth, and to cause them to kill one another; and a great sword was given to him" (vs 3-4).

This is when the Tribulation breaks out with all fury. I'm not going to bring in all the Scriptures, but this is talked about in Dan. 11 & 12, Rev. 13, and so forth. This is when world war breaks out. It's not going to be everywhere in the world all at once; it will be in different places and different locations. As we will see here a little later on in just a few verses, all of this encompasses one-fourth of the part of the earth. So three-fourths of the earth have not been affected in the same way, yet. But it will be affected later.

Let's look at the third living creature. The seal is opened. Christ is the One Who is doing the opening of all of these seals. Everything in prophecy is in control by God. Nothing is going to take place except He makes it happen. All these things that are taking place today are building up and building up so that it will eventually come to this point.

Then right after war, what do you have? You have famine and rationing, and that's what we find in vs 5-6

Verse 7: "And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a pale horse; and the name of the one sitting on it was Death, and the grave followed him; and authority was given to them over one-fourth of the earth…" (vs 7-8).

Not the whole earth, yet. That will all take place a little later. Just one fourth of the earth!

"…to kill with the sword and with famine and with death, and by the beasts of the earth" (v 8).

When that happens they're going to be looking for scapegoats, who are going to be all of those whose names are written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world! Here will be a great and awesome martyrdom.

People say, 'I wonder why God would have saints killed?' Just realize that God even had Himself killed by His own creation. So, those that He has called will have to die for Him! Besides, as far as the flesh is concerned, and sin is concerned, we are already dead through baptism! We're alive through Christ! So when this martyrdom of the saints comes, which is the fifth seal:

Verse 9: "And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony that they held"

That's why it's so important that now that we have things where we can:

• study
• grow
• overcome
• do the things that we can do while there is still enough time, and peace

We need to be about it in a very zealous and profound way!

• the time is coming when it won't be able to be done
• the time will come when the preaching won't be able to get out

That's why God has to intervene and do what He is going to do. That's why He has the harvest of the 50th Day, which is His and His alone!

Verse 10: "And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord, Holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' And white robes were given to each of them; and they were told that they should rest a short time, yet, until it be fulfilled that both their fellow servants and their brethren also would be killed, just as they had been" (vs 10-11).

Then there is going to come a time when… with the exception of those few who are in the place of safety… I have said many times:

IF you know where the place is and don't get there, your knowledge isn't going to do any good, and IF you don't know where it is and you get there, you will know when you arrive!

So, let's not worry about the place of safety. God is going to choose them and take them Himself, and undoubtedly by the hand of an angel, just as it happened with Lot and his family when God bought them out of Sodom. At that time there will be no brethren left except those who are in the place of safety. All will have been martyred. That ends the Church harvest. The martyrdom of the saints here ends the Church harvest.

Since God's interest is that He increase His Family, He is not going to stop there. He is going to show His own harvest, as beginning in v 12. When we come down in a prophetic setting we are down just before what would be called the next to last Pentecost.

Verse 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" (vs 12-13).

You compare that what went on there at Mount Sinai when God gave the Ten Commandments, and now here we have God intervening and showing that He is going to declare and save the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude. He is making it absolutely irrefutable that He is the One Who was doing this.

Verse 14: "Then the heaven departed like a scroll that is being rolled up..." Imagine the spectacular thing that will take place!

By the way, I need to mention that there is a defense plan that is being circulated among the major nations of the world to fight an invasion from outer space. So when they see this take place, and the heavens roll back as a scroll, guess what they're going to say? The aliens are coming!

That will be a true statement, because God is alien to them! When the saints are resurrected and they are coming with Him, we're going to be all counted as aliens. So, Satan is getting things set up. We're getting close at hand.

"...and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 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" (vs 14-15).

When God fulfills the prophecy like He said that He is going to rise and shake the heavens and shake the earth and shake the sea, and all things that are therein. As we go through the rest of the book of Revelation, as we come down through the Holy Days, there are going to be many great earthquakes. But this is really a tremendous one: God announcing His direct personal intervention in the world!

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, because the great day of His wrath has come, and who has the power to stand?'" (vs 16-17).

As soon as that is done, God is going to perform a great act of grace and mercy. The world isn't going to know what's taking place, because after all of this upheaval of the earth and the sign of the Son of man in heaven….

When the heavens roll back as a scroll, there's going to be the sign of the Son of man in heaven. It's going to be like the light of day, like a new star suddenly bursting on the scene, and will start coming closer and closer to the earth. With the help of a mathematician, Ben Ambrose wanted to figure out how far out that this sign of the Son of man would have to be for all the earth to see it. I don't have all the figures with me, but it was really quite a wonderful paper that he did. Then He showed how it would be as it comes down closer and closer to Jerusalem. So, that was quite a tremendous study.

Matthew 24:29: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days…"

We're talking about the sixth seal here, so the Tribulation which kills all the saints who have the Spirit of God, that ends the Tribulation against the Church; and against Israel. But it doesn't end-the end-time events. Because it's going to go on with greater than tribulation through Rev. 8-10, and then finally the return of Christ (Rev. 19).

"...The sun shall be darkened… [just like it said in Rev. 6] …and the moon shall not give her light, 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; 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" (vs 29-30).

We'll come back to v 31 here in a minute, because it talks about the resurrection. Between vs 30 and 31 we have quite a few other events that take place!

Let's see what that great event is going to be. So, with all this upheaval, the sign of the Son of man appearing, then there will be a great calm for a little bit.

Revelation 7:1—we will get into the 144,000: "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..." Now the "seal of the living God…" (vs 1-2).

This means that they are going to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. Today we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of God (Eph. 1:13). We are sealed with the Spirit of God! So, when we talk about the 144,000 and great innumerable multitude, please understand that doesn't include any of us because we have already been sealed!

However at this time, according to the prophecies that we see in the Old Testament, Israel and Judah—all 12 tribes—are going to be in captivity. There aren't any ministers around to baptize them. So, God is going to do a supernatural and profound thing in His day of harvest. This is His 50th day right here.

"...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'" (vs 2-3). That's who this 144,000 is!

We know from the book of Hosea that they are in captivity. And we also know that this event—the saving of the 144,000—begins when the prophecy is fulfilled in Hosea 5, that in the third day—the third year—He will raise up the children of Israel and they shall live. This is it right here, of all of the tribes of Israel. It is to the Jew/Israel first, then it is also to the Gentile. With all of these events that are transpiring, there are going to be a lot of people knowing that this is the hand of God. There will be people falling on their knees and crying out to God in mercy and forgiveness, and asking God to spare them. So, God will look down and He will spare 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, was standing before the Throne and before the Lamb..."

This shows that they're going to be in the resurrection. So here is the great innumerable multitude. Now it tells us very clearly here who they are.

Verse 13: "And one of the elders answered and said to me [John], '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).

Go back and see in Acts 2 about the Day of Pentecost, how the blood of Christ, then, covered the sins of even those who slayed Him. Even those who cried out, 'Crucify Him!'

Now here we have those coming out. This is on the Day of Pentecost, which will be fulfilled for one year, because the resurrection does not take place for another year, because there are many other events that have to take place. We will cover those as we get down toward the time of the Feast of Trumpets.

Verse 15: "For this reason, they are before the Throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One Who sits on the Throne shall dwell among them"—the same promise!

Tie this in together with Rev. 21 and you see the parallels there when salvation is granted to those people.

This is the 50th day harvest of God, which is done unilaterally by God the Father, and Jesus Christ and the angels, and is not done by the Church, and includes no one yet in the Church. These are all people to be saved during the Great Tribulation.

If you are one of the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude, that is when you will be harvested. God is going to make the decision. There many, many other things that are going to take place in that. But let's go on and see some more things concerning the resurrection. All of these things will come down.

Let's see when the resurrection actually takes place. You have all the trumpet plagues coming down leading from that time, leading up to the literal return of Christ to the earth. But first we have on the next to the last Pentecost the sign of the Son of man in heaven. It appears for a whole year, and keeps coming closer, and closer, and closer to the earth.

We have to bring you up to speed as to what's happening. All during this time in Jerusalem you have the two witnesses, and you have the beast and the false prophet. The two witnesses begin their ministry in such a way that it ends at the resurrection. So, the only way to know, if you put it out on a calendar, which we have done, to know when the two witnesses begin their ministry is to know when it ends.

Since the resurrection is on Pentecost, and they are the first ones to be raised, then that's when their ministry ends, and you go back 1,260 days. Now then, let's see what it says here about the two witnesses and what they are able to do. It falls right in with what God has said. {Note message: The Two Witnesses and Elijah} They prophesy 1,260 days; which, by the way, is different than forty and two months. That's a key to understanding where people put the 42 months and the 1,260 days as equal. That's where they get off in understanding prophecy and when the resurrection is!

Revelation 11:4: "These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands that stand before the God of the earth. And if anyone attempts to harm them, fire will go out of their mouths and devour their enemies. For if anyone attempts to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have authority to shut heaven so that no rain may fall in the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they will" (vs 4-6).

The trumpet plagues accomplish a lot of these things, too. Then the two witnesses have this ability. That's why it is such a thing that nobody better appoint themselves as one of the two witnesses. Or as one man did, the two witnesses. Now you figure that out! Anyway, they are so close to God that they have this authority and they use it in this way.

God is going to let the enemy be trapped. Just like God let Pharaoh go into the Red Sea, because he thought that all was safe, and now he can go get them. So likewise, God is going to let the two witnesses be killed, and everyone is going to say

Hurray! It's over with! Now we need to start fighting this enemy that's coming that we see out here in outer space. We better do something about this.

Verse 7: "And when they have completed their testimony, the beast who ascends out of the abyss will make war against them, and will overcome them, and will kill them. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations shall see their bodies three and a half days, for they will not allow their bodies to be put into tombs" (vs 7-9).

Could it be that by that time everyone is going to have a portable phone that is able to have portable TV, either on their wrist or in the hand, and everyone will be able to see, and everyone is going to be so happy, they're going to have a three day party like there was never any party before. That's what it says here.

Verse 10: "And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, and will make merry, and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets had tormented those who dwell on the earth.' Then after the three and a half days..." (vs 10-11).

Just when the enemy is rejoicing and thinking 'we've got it made!' God intervenes with the final coup. Here it is.

"...the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. 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" (vs 11-12).

What a thing that is going to be! Here is a literal fulfillment of the last shall be first! The two last who were killed, the two witnesses, will be the first who are resurrected. Because if they are ascending up into heaven, if that's not a resurrection, I don't know what it is. Do you? They were dead, weren't they? They came alive and they ascend up into heaven.

Verse 13: "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. Then..." (vs 13-15).

Right after they are raised, while they're ascending into heaven, that ends the second woe. The third woe is coming quickly. And right while that is taking place:

Verse 15: "Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet…" This is the 7th trump, the last trump! This is when the resurrection takes place! We will see that in just a bit here.

"...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.' 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. 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, and to the saints, and to all those who fear Your name, the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth'" (vs 15-18).

That tells us an awful lot what's going to happen right after the resurrection occurs!

Let's see how this parallels with what we read earlier after the sign of the Son of man in heaven. It has to be coming closer and closer to the earth all during this time, because as we are going to see, when the saints are raised, they have to go somewhere. We're going to see that is going to be a Sea of Glass.

So, when the seventh trumpet sounds, the dead are going to be raised (1-Cor. 15). The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised. Now let's see how God is going to accomplish this.

Matthew 24:31: "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet; and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

In other words, the angels are coming down and they are going to be gathering the people that God is resurrecting. They're going to take them. Where are they going to take them? We will see!

Let's come to, and let's see how the Apostle Paul explained it and the resurrection here to the Thessalonians. Then we will put this together with some other Scriptures in the book of Revelation and see exactly how this is going to take place.

1-Thessalonians 4:13. "But I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, that you be not grieved, even as others, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in exactly the same way also, those who have fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with Him" (vs 13-14).

They are going to be brought with Him, and they are resurrected from the earth. Before they're resurrected, they are not with Him. When they're resurrected they then become with Him, and then they're going to come back to the earth.

Verse 15: "For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall in no wise precede those who have fallen asleep."

The dead in Christ shall rise first!Then we who are alive will be caught up with Him!

Verse 16: "Because the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds for the meeting with the Lord in the air; and so shall we always be with the Lord" (vs 16-17).

Well, the Lord is coming to the earth and the saints are coming to the earth. That's where we will be!

Let's see the harvest, and where everybody is going to be. When we are raised… I am looking forward to the time when we are going to be talking to the angels as they take us up to the Sea of Glass. All the saints through all ages are going to be raised, and they are going to meet Christ in the air. We will see this described in Rev. 15 in just a minute.

Revelation 14:14: "And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and one like the Son of man sitting on the cloud, having a golden crown on His head; and in His hand was a sharp sickle. 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'" (vs 14-15).

So, at the set time, the resurrection is going to take place. That is the Feast of Pentecost, the firstfruits, because we are the firstfruits of God. Here's the harvest

Verse 16: "And He Who was sitting on the cloud thrust forth His sickle upon the earth, and the earth was reaped.".

After the resurrection takes place, then what's going to happen? There is going to be the judgment of the wicked (vs 17-20).

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..." (vs 1-2).

Now wherever God is, there is a Sea of Glass. Read Rev. 4, and when John saw the Throne of God it was in the middle of a great Sea of Glass. Now here it talks about a Sea of Glass mingled with fire. In other words, it was sparkling and shimmering.

"...And those who had gotten the victory over the beast…" (v 2).

This is the resurrection! The beast has been there ever since Satan has been here

"...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. 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." (vs 2-3). So, here we are on the Sea of Glass!

One of the first things that's going to happen while on the Sea of Glass, we're going to see Jesus Christ and all the saints; and undoubtedly God the Father is going to come down there because He is going to have to perform the marriage of Lamb and the Bride. We're all going to

• get our rewards, as we saw there in Rev. 2 & 3
• get our new name
• get our righteous garments, which is talked about
• receive our assignments
• get our horses, so that when we come back with Christ that we are going to be able to fight
• know exactly what we're going to do

It's going to take all the time from that Pentecost until Trumpets, about four months—as we come to Trumpets we will fill in the missing blanks as we get to it—in order for all of these things to transpire!

Part of that time is going to be the seven last plagues, which are poured out; that takes part of the four months. Then when it's finally over, and the marriage of the Lamb has taken place, and God the Father tells Jesus Christ, 'Now is the time, GO!' We will all come back to this earth on the Feast of Trumpets (Rev. 19). All of the Feast days of God are connected:

• Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost relate to the Church and the plan that God has now for the firstfruits and that harvest.
• Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day relates to the plan of God for the world.

We have a part in carrying it out as the sons and daughters of God!

Brethren, look forward to the great resurrection that is going to take place. We will be glorified, and be spirit beings, and this will be the greatest event to take place since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and you are a part of it!

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scripture References:

• 2 Peter 1:1-4

• Leviticus 23:15-16
• Exodus 24:7-12
• Acts 2:1-24, 36-41
• 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 35-38, 44-54
• Revelation 6:1-4, 7-17
• Matthew 24:29-30
• Revelation 7:1-3, 9, 13-15
• Revelation 11:4-18
• Matthew 24:31
• 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
• Revelation 14:14-16
• Revelation 15:1-3

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 13
• Exodus 20-23
• Revelation 2-3; 5; 8-10; 13
• Daniel 11-12
• Revelation 6:5-6; 19
• Ephesians 1:13
• Hosea 5
• Revelation 21; 14:17-20; 4

Also referenced:

• In-Depth Study: The "Secret" Rapture Hoax
• Message: The Two Witnesses and Elijah

FRC:
original transcription date unknown
Reformatted: bo—12/2021