First Resurrection

(Pentecost—2020)

The first phase of the coming of Christ

Fred R. Coulter—May 31, 2020

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Feast of Pentecost!

A lot of us figured we'd be in the Kingdom of God by now. We had all the false starts and misunderstood prophecies, and yet, at that the same time the most fantastic thing about the Sabbath and Holy Days—and in particularly the Holy Days—is that those unlock the secrets of God's plan for all mankind. That's a tremendous thing to contemplate. Think about what it says in:

Revelation 12:9: "And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…" We can see how that's operating today!

God has intervened to call His people. God has provided His Word, and He has put in His Word:

• some things simple and easy to understand, like the Ten Commandments and things in the book of Proverbs
• some things difficult to understand
• some things that He has hidden, and it takes the key of the Holy Days to unlock it and give us understanding

This is why the majority of establishment fake Christianity does not keep the Sabbath or the Holy Days, because God put it in what is called the Old Testament, which is actually the covenant with Israel.

If you want a true definition of it, it is the covenant with Israel and the covenant with the Church: Old Testament and New Testament. There are some things in the O.T. that are all the way through the N.T. That's what they miss!

They are truly the blind leading the blind! They don't know what God is doing. They have some parts of it, because they're willing to accept part of the Bible, but not all of the Bible! That's what we covered yesterday on Day 49!

Lev. 23—we have the Passover, bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. Then we have Pentecost. Remember that every Holy Day represents a major accomplishment of God, a major step in fulfilling His plan. So, we have the Passover for the children of Israel, sparing their firstborn. Who was the firstborn in the New Testament that was most important? Jesus Christ! He was also the Firstborn from the dead, the Wave Sheaf Offering Day after the Passover.

Important things hidden in the Word of God! The secret of God, which He has revealed to His Church and His people.

Now, we've already gone through the Sabbath, the Passover, the first and last day of Unleavened Bread, the Wave Sheaf Offering Day, and now we come to the next command beginning with the Wave Sheaf Offering Day. Isn't that something? To start the count to the harvest of the resurrection begins with the first one resurrected from the dead: Jesus Christ!

He ascended to heaven on that Wave Sheaf Offering Day! Now we will see that the count from Christ to the resurrection of the saints is a continuous count from that time forward.

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." That means a whole week ending in a Sabbath!

Verse 16: "Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days…."

People have had it wrong because they want to do it their way! What is so interesting is that the Jews—who say that the Old Testament is the Word of God—don't even understand what God is doing. They have covered over everything that they do with their traditions.

In other words, they have professed the Bible, but buried it. They're blinded, don't know and don't understand.

"…And you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD…. [we'll talk about that and what it means] …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" (vs 16-17).

During the days of Unleavened Bread, leaven is a type of sin. But this is an entirely different thing with meaning. This means that when you take this loaf and wave it, you're producing to God something that is entirely different than when you started with the flour.

We find in Matt. 13 about the woman who takes three measures of leaven and puts it in flour until it's all leavened, and Jesus said, 'That's like the Kingdom of God.'

The Kingdom of God is not likened unto to sin. So, what is the meaning of that? The good action of leaven that changes the dough into a loaf, then it's baked!

There are many analogies that you can have here. The grain is crushed fine, like all the trials and tests that we have! It is kneaded together, and that's like the things we have to change and overcome! The leaven is put into it, and that is like the Holy Spirit and the raising of the dough is the metamorphose, or the changing and renewing of our mind!

In other words, this depicts, with the baked loaf, the converted Christian, and depicts the resurrection, changing from one form to another! And we will see that the resurrection is on Pentecost!

Verse 18: "And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year… [seven churches] …and one young bull, 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." That pictures the Church!

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."

You have sins forgiven for the sin sacrifice, and that's a type of Christ! The peace offering means that you have peace with God, because the price of your sins were paid by the sin offering.

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."

The priest represents Christ, and all of the Churches that He's the Head of. We all belong to God!

So, right here in this very lengthy explanation for the Holy Day of Pentecost, there is multiple meanings in the things that are here, and projections into the New Testament.

As you know, we take up an offering on all of the Holy Days. We do this in this age because there are no sacrifices with an offering that is a monetary offering.

(pause for the offering)

After God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and brought them to Mt. Sinai, it was on Pentecost that God gave them the Ten Commandments and started the covenant with Israel. A major event! The first time that human beings heard the voice of God from His spiritual form and power and glory, from the top of the mountain. No other people have had that happen to them, before that time, or since that time.

Yes, there have been dreams and revelations. Yes, there was the ministry of Jesus Christ, where as a man He taught the 12 apostles and started the Church. So, this is quite a thing. We know that in the New Testament we have:

• Passover, the sacrifice of Christ
• Unleavened Bread, getting sin out of our lives

That's about as far as the Protestants go, and they don't even do it the right way, because they don't understand anything concerning the things that God wants them to learn.

Luke 4 has to do with the temptation by Satan the devil against Christ. Look at the chronologies and Jesus began His ministry, but first He had to meet Satan the devil; as a man, not as God, but a man! To make it even more difficult, He fasted 40 days and 40 nights. The chronology shows that after His baptism He went to the wilderness. That was in 26A.D.

The Day of Atonement—which also carries out a very important part of the plan of God and gives us the details about it—that's when Jesus actually began His ministry, because the temptation  of Christ from Satan began on the Day of Atonement in 26A.D., which was also a Jubilee Year.

After the temptation and Jesus recovered, here's another event that occurred on Pentecost. Though it's not listed as Pentecost directly, but that's what it actually is.

Luke 4:16: "And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and according to His custom, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and stood up to read." This day was the Day of the Sabbaths—plural—the day of the weeks. What day was that? Pentecost!

Notice what He did on this Pentecost, which was an important, profound fulfillment of prophecy. This was on this Day of Pentecost.

Verse 17: "And there was given Him the book of the prophet Isaiah; and when He had unrolled the scroll, He found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me… [referring to Himself] …for this reason, He has anointed Me… [a prophecy from Isa. 61] …to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal those who are brokenhearted, to proclaim pardon to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind… [physically and spiritually] …to send forth in deliverance those who have been crushed… [by Satan's system] …to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord'" (vs 17-19).

That's an astonishing thing to read! But listen to this: How do you count for a Jubilee Year? You count 49 years—7 x 7 (sound familiar to Pentecost, 7 full weeks ending in a Sabbath)=49)—then the next day is 50. So, in a Jubilee Year when the temptation with Satan the devil for 40 days and 40 nights, He could not proclaim publicly that He was the Messiah.

But since this was for the spiritual New Covenant, God gave the proclamation on Pentecost where He had been brought up. Pentecost is the 50th day in the 50th year. Think on that, and how God does things!

Verse 21: "Then He began to say to them, 'Today… [that Pentecost, the 50th day in the 59th year] …this Scripture is being… [present tense passive] …fulfilled in your ears.'"

They didn't know what to make of it. They said, 'Who do you make yourself to be?' They chased Him out of the synagogue and were going to throw Him over the cliff, but He got out of their hands.

Let's take a look at a another major fulfillment. This was a major fulfillment, the announcement that He… How did He announce it. He didn't stand up there and say, 'I am the Messiah.' NO! He quoted Scripture to show that He was the Messiah, because it was the pronouncement of God that was given in prophecy to Isaiah, right from the Scroll of the Book of Isaiah in the synagogue, which they had probably read many times over. He said that's it's "…being fulfilled…" today!

Now lets see another fulfillment of the Day of Pentecost, and this is something you really need to understand. Just like God spoke to the children of Israel from the top of Mt. Sinai on Pentecost, now on this Pentecost He began the Church at the temple.

It had to be a the temple, couldn't be anyplace else, because God put His name there, and that was the house of God. This was quite a thing that happened, a major fulfillment. I imagine that it was very stunning when it took place. You know the account, and here's the proper translation of it:

Acts 2:1: "And when the Day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day, was being fulfilled… [same verbiage we saw in Luke 4] …they were all with one accord in the same place. And suddenly there came from heaven…" (vs 1-2).

What came from heaven at Mt. Sinai? The words of God! The mountain was all on fire like lava rolling down, and the wind was blowing, the tempest was happening, and the trumpet was being blown. I think at the time that this began the trumpet was being sounded in the temple.

Verse 2: "And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a powerful wind… [the Holy Spirit coming, the power of God] …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 2-4).

Think about what was happening at this Pentecost at the temple:

• Jesus had His three-year ministry (a little over 3 years)
• He preached mightily
• He healed thousands and thousands of people

I wonder how many of them really understood what was happening? Because out of all of Jesus' preaching, there were only 120 there on the Day of Pentecost! That's amazing!

Now then, here comes a message from God spiritually, by the power of His Spirit, through His chosen apostles!

• What did they preach? The Word of God!
• What was the command that Jesus gave to them before He ascended to heaven? You remain in Jerusalem and in Jerusalem there must be preached repentance of sin for remission!

Then is was to go from the whole world from there, but it had to start from the temple.

"…and they began to speak with other languages… [Why? Because there were Jews from all different countries there!] …as the Spirit gave them the words to proclaim" (v 4). So, this was from God!

They were the mouthpiece, but God was the power! What they spoke was the Word of God! So, they were just like a recording machine, a little different though, big megaphone!

Verse 5: "Now, there were many Jews who were sojourning in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven."

I imagine that God inspired many of them to come, because many had heard that the Messiah had died. 'How could that be? We'll go to Pentecost and find out what happened.'

God does a lot of things that we don't understand what He's doing, but I imagine that God had angels directing certain ones all around the area of the Mediterranean and the Holy Land to come to Jerusalem.

Verse 6: "And when word of this went out, the multitude came together and were confounded, because each one heard them speaking in his own language."

This is amazing, because everything up to the time—from the temple out—was in Hebrew or Greek later on, but mostly Hebrew. That was the 'sacred language,' they said, but now there's a vast change. That's why the curtain in the temple, at the death of Christ was ripped in two, to show that the way to God was open to people.

Verse 7: "And they were all amazed, and marveled, saying to one another, 'Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that we hear each one in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those who inhabit Mesopotamia, and Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, both Phrygia and Pamphylia, 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 7-11).

Now they were hearing the Word of God! They didn't do like the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai when they went to Moses and said, 'O Moses, you speak to us and let God speak to you, and we'll do what you tell us. We can't stand to hear the voice of the Word of God anymore.'

Different here! God brought it to a level for conversion, for repentance and for understanding what happened with the death of Jesus Christ. So, that's when Peter gave this tremendous sermon. This sermon is really something else. He told them that God is pouring out His Spirit like the prophets had said and that the rulers took Jesus and killed Him, but God raised Him from the dead. Now He offers to you repentance of your sins.

No such a thing was heard up until that time! This is an amazing thing that took place at the beginning of the Church. Then Peter really preached to them, and he left no doubt. He said, 'I want you to know that the tomb of David is still with us, but Christ is raised from the dead.

Verse 34: "For David has not ascended into the heavens, but he himself said, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand until I have made Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."' Therefore, let all the house of Israel…" (vs 34-36).

Then later all the nations of the world, beginning with those right there in Cesarean and later in Antioch and then all around the Mediterranean up into Britain, all through Europe and going to the East into Armenia clear over to the Indian border.

Quite an amazing thing that the apostles were doing. But here's what Peter said:

Verse 36: "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with full assurance… [you can believe it with absolute confidence] …that God has made this same Jesus, Whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

There were probably those there who were at that Pentecost who were shouting, 'Crucify Him!' Think of how their hearts must have pricked them. Think of how it must have gotten down deep in to their soul and being, that they had part in killing the Messiah. 

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 and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves… [not just the priests, the prophets and kings, but you, the ordinary man and woman] …shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (vs 37-38).

That's quite a thing! You know what happened, they baptized 3,000 on that day. Then you go on into the book of Acts and you see later multitudes and 5,000, and it was an overwhelming thing that was done for the first 12 years of the apostles' preaching in Judea.

Then you come to Acts 10 and Cornelius. That was where the great addition to the Church began. The Jews, especially the Pharisees, with their traditions that they had, didn't want to associate with any of the Gentiles in anything.

Then from there it goes out into the whole world, down through the ages and time, down to our day. But then God has given us—as we saw on Day 49—the book of Revelation, which is the revelation from God the Father given to Jesus Christ to give to all of those in the Church. Let's look at that.

Rev. 1—what do we have here? We have:

• the Passover
• death of Christ
• resurrection
• Wave Sheaf Offering ascension

Christ is the central figure of everything in the New Testament. All of this that we saw on Day 49 was written down! God wants it written down so that we know it. That's something!

Then we went through the seven churches. If you count the seven weeks, the seven churches are analogous to the seven weeks of harvest. Quite a thing! There's the parallel with it.

What happens after the seven weeks? You come to Pentecost! Here's a type of Pentecost in Rev. 4. It's interesting: Jesus was crucified, in the grave three days and three nights, and on the fourth day—the first day of the week—he ascended to heaven.

Rev. 4—this is like the resurrection, but this was just for John only. He was a type of the firstfruits, the first one to understand about the resurrection, the Throne of God, Jesus Christ, and everything that was to be done from that time forward.

Revelation 4:1: "After these things I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was as if a trumpet were speaking with me, saying, 'Come up here…'"

• When are the saints resurrected? At the last trump!
• What is here? A trump!

Let's go forward just a little bit! Rev. 11—this is the two witnesses; they have a three and a half year ministry. They are killed and their dead bodies lay in the street of Jerusalem for three and a half days while the world celebrates. All of a sudden there is a great earthquake and they stand on their feet and there's a voice from heaven that says:

Revelation 11:11: "Then after the three and a half days, 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. And in that hour there was a great earthquake…" (vs 11-12)—and the seventh trumpet blew and the rest of the dead were raised!

(go to the next track)

When John was told to come up, he said, Revelation 4:1: "'Come up here, and I will show you the things that must take place after these things.' And immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One was sitting on the throne. And He Who was sitting was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius stone; and a rainbow was around the throne, like an emerald in its appearance. And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments; and they had on their heads golden crowns" (vs 1-4)—and the four living creatures!

Does this give us a prophetic foretaste of when we're resurrected we going to see the Father? We are His children, aren't we? Jesus is going to present us to the Father!

I'm getting little ahead of myself, but this is kind of foretaste of it here. That's something that is really quite profound.

Rev. 5—here we find that there was the Lamb that was slain that had seven horns, which are the seven churches, and also likened to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Who is the warrior Christ!

There was a scroll written front and back. Remember what we covered on Day 49 about writing it down. Everything that is going to take place has already been written down. The rest of the book of Revelation is to reveal the things that are to come. Jesus is the only One Who is able to open the seven seals.

When that event occurs, it's going to be quite a thing for the whole creation of God. They're going to glorify God. What is going to happen, beginning in Rev. 6, is going to unfold with the plan of God in the way that it has been written in this book that is sealed with seven seals.

We will go through some of them, because this brings us to a point about the coming of Christ and the resurrection that will follow later.

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!
• This is the pope who represents the false christ, the beast!

The Seventh Day Adventist think this is Christ; no it's not! That's in Rev. 20; that happens later.

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…" (vs 1-4). So, there will be a short time of peace just before the Great Tribulation starts!

This setting right here of the second seal ties in with Matt. 24. We know from Matt. 24 that there has to be the abomination of desolation standing in the Holy Place. So, the temple has to be built. When the beast enters in, the one in the second seal, and he sits down and says that he is God, and greater than anything on earth that is worshipped; whose working is after Satan the devil. That's when the Great Tribulation begins!

We know when the Great Tribulation begins it will be 3-1/2 years because of Dan. 9:27. When that begins, it is unfolding right here in Rev. 6.

Verse 5: "And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a black horse; and the one sitting on it had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, 'A measure of wheat for a silver coin, and three measures of barley for a silver coin: and see that you do not damage the oil and the wine'" (vs 5-6)—rationing!

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…" (vs 7-8).

So, when that second seal is opened and war begins, the first thing in war is shortage of food, famine and starvation. What follows right on that? Death!

"…and the grave followed him; and authority was given to them over 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).

One-fourth of the earth we don't know that location, so we can't tell you exactly where that is.

Verse 9: "And when He opened the fifth seal…" What happens in every war? You've got to find the fall-guy to blame! So, they go blame those who have been proclaiming the Truth of God, those who have been saying that Christ is going to return and take over the world. Those who are saying that there is coming a destruction of Babylon the great and everything that it stands for, and all of their armies. The beast and the false prophet are coming to their end!

Before they come to their end, they're going to look out for everyone who is a Christian. The fifth seas is the martyrdom of the saints.

Sidebar: there will be some preserved in a place of safety. Why? So that what Jesus said, that the gates of the grave would never prevail against His Church, so they are there to fulfill that promise. Satan doesn't like them there because he comes out from there and makes war against the remnant of her seed who have the testimony of Christ and keeps His commandments!

Here it is right here!

"…I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God… [this is in vision; there's no one in heaven] …and for the testimony that they held; 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?'" (vs 9-10).

This is very similar to when Peter, James and John went up on the Mt. of Transfiguration with Christ. They saw things taking place that were in vision. So, this is in vision.

Verse 11: "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."

They will try to eliminate all of them, but over in Jerusalem you have the two witnesses! They are still there preaching, prophesying, calling down fire, hail and blood as often as the will! Those are the last two that they want to get! So, the martyrdom takes place.

Notice that after that, God is not going to leave a long period of time until there are more who are converted. But these events are earth-shaking events, and there will be many people being prepared for repentance.

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).

These are earth-shaking events! Christ now is going to make His presence known to the world in a spectacular way.

Verse 14: "Then the heaven departed like a scroll…" Wonder what that's going to be like? All of a sudden the heavens roll back as a scroll!

"…that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place…. [everything is shaken on this earth] …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; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us…'" (vs 14-16).

They heard the preaching from the two witnesses, Christ is going to return! They heard the saints who were martyred, Christ is going to return! So, right at first they believe that this is Christ, which it is. But later they are convinced that is an invasion from outer space. That's why they're going fight! We'll see that leading up to the day of Trumpets.

"…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). Nobody!

Let's see what it's going to be like when the heavens are rolled back as a scroll. It's going to be astonishing to the whole world. At first they will believe that it is Christ, but because it does not immediately come to the earth, they will later believe that it's an invasion from outer space by aliens, which in a sense is true. Christ is an alien to them. The resurrected saints will all be aliens, so they have the definition correct, but they have the understanding of who they really are wrong! So, let's see what happens:

Matthew 24:26: "Therefore, if they say to you, "Come and see! He is in the wilderness"; do not go forth. "Come and see! He is in the secret chambers"; do not believe it'"—because He's coming from heaven!

Here is the first phase of Christ's coming: The heavens are rolled back as a scroll and here's what appears. They're going to see something they never saw before.

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." That's quite a thing!

What shines from east to west? The sun! So, when the heavens are rolled back as a scroll there will look like there's a second sun, but far enough away from the earth that when they look at it, and it's not coming directly to the earth, that's when they begin to change their mind.

Verse 28: "For wherever the carcass may be, there will the eagles be gathered together. But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken…. [tie in Rev. 6] …And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven… [like a second sun; that's His sign] …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 28-30).

The sun is going to be out there for a little over a year. That's quite a thing!

Verse 31: "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet…"—the resurrection, but that doesn't happen immediately because a lot of events take place.

• the heavens roll back as a scroll
• they see the sign of the Son of man
• the whole world is shaken to the core

Now, all of a sudden it's quiet! All of a sudden there's no fighting! Everybody has to stop and recover from, the earthquakes. Since the Tribulation is 3-1/2 years we know from Dan. 6 that at the beginning of the third year God is going to raise the captivity from Israel, which means there's a year and a half left.

Rev. 7 is when that occurs and God begins to raise up Israel. The first thing He does is to begin to convert 144,000—12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel—and then a great innumerable multitude. That's quite a thing!

From the time of the destruction, which is just before Pentecost. Let's say that Rev. 7 represents Pentecost. Right on Pentecost we have this 144,000 and great innumerable multitude sealed. What does this tell us? Every one of us today who have the Holy Spirit of God have been sealed! So, the 144,000 have not been sealed, and since there are no ministers around to do baptizing and so forth, God is going to have an angle bring the Holy Spirit to seal them and convert them. They will be in the first resurrection along with the great innumerable multitude.

When you read the rest of the chapter it appears that they immediately go to heaven. That's not true, because no one goes until the seventh trump sounds. The two witnesses a little bit before, but on their way up the trump sounds.

So, these people are converted from Pentecost to the next Pentecost. On this Pentecost they are saved, and the next Pentecost is the resurrection with all the saints. We will see that as it unfolds.

Rev. 7 & 8 bring about the understanding of the worst wars to come upon the face of the earth. All nations of the world are involved in this. It starts out in Rev. 8, and in Rev. 9 there are great and tremendous things happen, but those are saved for the Feast of Trumpets. We're talking about Pentecost.

Rev. 13 is an inset to show us the dual system of Babylon the Great, which is also detailed in Rev. 17. So, we have a world government, and I think that is going to come when the false prophet does great miracles and proclaims the beast to be 'God on earth.' This is a summary of it before it happens.

Rev. 14 has another 144,000, which is a different group. This is quite a thing!

Revelation 14:1: "And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb standing on Mount Sion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. Then I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of great thunder; and I heard the sound of lyre players playing their lyres. And they were singing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one was able to learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth" (vs 1-3).

• not from the tribes of Israel
• not from the great innumerable multitude

These represent the very, very faithful down through time who did not get involved in false doctrine or the churches of this world. How do we know that?

Verse 4: "These are the ones who were not defiled with women…"

The woman—the great whore—and her daughters are the women. In other words, they never brought in the doctrines of Satan the devil into the Church of God! Therefore, they are virgins!

"…for they are virgins; they are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were purchased from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, and no guile wasfound in their mouths; for they are blameless before the Throne of God" (vs 4-5). That shows eventually where they're going to go!

Now, at the same time that some of these other events are taking place, we have the three angels' message. When there are more preachers to give a warning, God sends His angels. The exact time setting on this we don't know, but it's quite some time before the mark of the beast and the resurrection.

Verse 6: "And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and language and people; saying with a loud voice…" (vs 6-7).

So, God is giving an opportunity of repentance! Always before God does something of a magnitude of this nature, He always gives a space for repentance. You can read that throughout the Old Testament.

"…'Fear God, and give glory to Him, because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him Who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters'"—not the beast! Rev. 13 says that 'the world worships the beast.' This is a warning to them so they will know better.

Verse 8: "Then another angel followed, saying, 'The great city Babylon is fallen, is fallen, because of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, which she has given all nations to drink.'"

Warning! Babylon is falling! Babylon is falling! Don't go down with her!

Verse 9: "And a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives the mark in his forehead or in his hand, he shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed undiluted in the cup of His wrath; and he shall be tormented in fire and brimstone in the sight of the Holy angels, and of the Lamb" (vs 9-10). Warning before the mark of the beast comes!

Rev. 13 says that if they don't take the mark of the beast, they will be killed. That's how the martyrdom is going to take place. All of these things fit together.

Verse 11: "And the smoke of their torment ascends into the ages of eternity…"

How does this happen? That means it's going to escape the gravitational pull of the earth! Once something gets out into outer space it's there forever, floating on and on and on! Look at the numerous satellites that men have sent up there that have gone to the outer reaches of the solar system and still are working and going. That gives us a hint of what this means.

"'…and those who worship the beast and his image, and all who receive the mark of his name, have no rest day and night.' Here is the patience of the saints; here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (vs 11-12).

Now it shows that they're going to be martyred! Verse 13: "And I heard a voice from heaven say to me, 'Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from this time forward. Yes, says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labors; and their works follow them.'"

Now we see something very interesting. The last part of Rev. 14 is a little difficult to understand, because here we have what the Bible does in many places: it tells you what's going to take place before it happens!

When we read it, it looks like it follows immediately one after the other, but that's really not the case. We will see that it tells us that there are two harvests here: first it is the harvest of God, which is Matt. 13, the harvest of the grain, the Wave Sheaf loaves

Verse 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…. [what you use to cut the grain] …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'"—that's the resurrection!

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

Matt. 24 says that when Christ is coming toward the earth, He's going to send the angels to bring those at the sound of the last trump, and they will be raised!

Now the harvest of the wicked, that is all the battles of the seven last plagues. But that comes after the resurrection of the saints. We'll come back to it, but first:

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

• When did the beast first come? In the Garden of Eden! The serpent!
• Is the serpent the beast? Yes, it is!

"….and over his image… [over the idolatry of Babylon the Great] …and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the Sea of Glass, having the lyres of God" (v 2).

The angels are going to be raising the saints and bringing them to a vast sea of glass. This may not be the same sea of glass that you find in Rev. 4, or it may be the same sea of glass with the Throne of God on it, expanded so that all the resurrected saints will be on it, and the world is going to see it!

The world will probably see the saints being raised out of the earth. Think about what that's going to do to the rest of the world. That's when they're going to be convinced that this is the antichrist; that's what they will be told. What a thing that's going to be to be raised to the Sea of Glass! All the world can look up and see the Sea of Glass and see everything that is taking place on it. A great phenomena from outer space that is absolutely unreal to them!

But for us, we'll be on the Sea of Glass receiving our reward, our new name, our new garments. We'll be there for the marriage of the Lamb and the Church and all the rest who are invited to the supper. What do we do?

Verse 3: "And they were singing the song of Moses…" All of those who come through the first covenant that God gave beginning with Moses, Abraham and so forth, who will all be there.

"…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 a few other things take place! Have to get rid of the beast and the false prophet and Satan the devil! That takes place after this.

Verse 5: "And after these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened."

That's right there, you have the Sea of Glass, now what do you have? The testimony in heaven above, right there!

Verse 6: "And the seven angels who had the seven last plagues came out of the temple; they were clothed in linen, pure and bright, and girded about the chest with golden breastplates. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, Who lives into the ages of eternity. And the temple was filled with smoke… [right there with the saints; we'll see all of this going on] …from the glory of God, and from His power; and no one was able to enter inside the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled" (vs 6-8).

We will cover that sometime before Trumpets, because that takes place after the resurrection on Pentecost, and leads up to Trumpets!

What a thing that is going to be, all the saints together, all of us. God is going to give us:

• a new body
• a new mind
• a new language
• a new name
• new clothing

we're all going to be organized and know:

• what we're going to do
• who is going to lead us
• where we're going to go
• what we're going to do when we get down to the earth

which will be absolutely nearly totally destroyed on the surface!

That's the meaning of the Day of Pentecost! Great things on the Holy Days take place, and this will be the greatest event from the creation of the world to take place, and that's the meaning of Pentecost!

Scriptural References:

• Revelation 12:9
• Leviticus 23:15-20

• Luke 4:16-19, 21
• Acts 2:1-11, 34-38
• Revelation 4:1
• Revelation 11:11-12
• Revelation 4:1-4
• Revelation 6:1-17
• Matthew 24:26-31
• Revelation 14:1-16
• Revelation 15:1-8

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 13

• Isaiah 61
• Acts 10
• Revelation 1; 5; 20
• Daniel 9:27; 6
• Revelation 7-9, 13, 17
• Matthew 13

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 5/3/20

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