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“…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy [Spirit] Ghost.  For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.  And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (vs. 38-40).

Now verse 41 is a very key important verse.  “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day…”  Which day?  During the fulfilling of the 50th day.  “…The same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”  So that is a tremendous thing that happened.  So imagine the account that every one went back and told the story of being there at the temple, and this tremendous event took place.  And that one that was called Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, and how the power of the Holy Spirit came on them.  This was a tremendous event.  And so we’ll project forward to the last Pentecost here in just a minute.

But now I want to go back and pick up something that’s very important. Let’s go back and let’s pick up concerning in Leviticus 23 the two loaves that were baked with leaven.  And let’s ask ourselves a couple of questions concerning this and let’s see if we can determine the true scriptural use of leaven here in Leviticus 23, and what that pictures in it’s fulfillment.  Now remember, all during the Feast of Unleavened Bread leaven represents sin.  Outside the Feast of Unleavened Bread leaven does not represent sin.  Now what we are looking at here is a good use of leaven, is it not?  Let’s read it.

Now in verse 17, and this is to be done on the 50^th day.  “Ye shall bring out of your habitations…”  Now this is all who assembled up at the temple area, that they were to bring out of their habitations.  “…Two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven…”  Why would God have them put leaven in these?  Now this has to be a good use of leaven because it’s waved before God.  Now I think we were right in our past understanding that one loaf equals those were qualified for the first resurrection under the Old Covenant, and the other loaf represents those who qualify for the resurrection under the New Covenant.  Now then, why leaven?  Now what does it say these are?  “…they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.”  Baked. 

Now let’s go to Matthew 13 and let’s see something important here, where there is defining the kingdom of God with the parable of the leaven, which is a good use of the leaven.  Matthew 13:33, “Another parable spake He unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven…”  Now you can’t say that this is a bad use of leaven.  You cannot say that leaven here is picturing sin because then you would have to say that the kingdom is likened unto sin.  And the kingdom is likened unto righteousness, not sin, correct?  Yes.  So it’s likened unto leaven “…which a woman took [now the woman is the Church], and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” 

Now what happens to bread… Now all dough when you first make it is unleavened.  When it’s baked in unleaven then it’s permanently in that form.  That is permanently until it’s eaten.  Now, when you put the leaven in it it rises.  It completely changes the form of the bread.  And when you bake it it is permanently in that changed form.  It can’t be…well, I suppose it could but it’s dough.  It can’t be beaten back as though to make it flat again like you do when it rises and then you beat it back, let it rise a couple more times so that you really get everything leavened.  So here is a good use of leaven.

Now what does this picture?  This pictures the new spirit body, which we will receive.  All of those from the Old Covenant that qualified, and going all the way back to Abel.  And those who under the New Covenant, beginning with the day of Pentecost as we saw who received the Holy Spirit at the resurrection, they will be changed.  Now let’s see that in 1 Corinthians 15.

Now this becomes very important, very profound.  You are not going to be raised with the same body that you have in the flesh today.  Now let’s notice how the apostle Paul describes this.  Let’s begin here in verse 34.  Now remember he also condemned them already as we saw earlier, that there were some who did not believe in the resurrection.  “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.”  Can you imagine that?  Sitting in the Church of God not having the knowledge of God?  Well we see the same thing being repeated today.  How can people sit there in the Church of God and have not the knowledge of God?  Well number one they have not been taught, and number two some of them may be tares, and number three, some of them may be Laodiceans or whatever attitude of the seven churches that be there. 

Now continuing on in verse 35.  “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?  Thou fool [Paul says], that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.” 

Now hold your place here and let’s come to John 12 and let’s see how Jesus explained it concerning Himself, likening it also unto grain.  And remember that Jesus was the first of the firstfruits, right?  He was the premiere sheaf of the harvest of the grain, correct?  Yes.  Now let’s begin here in John 12:24.  “Verily, verily [or that is Amen, Amen], I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…”  Now this is a sowing, isn’t it?  And we covered part of that yesterday, didn’t we in Matthew 13?  Yes.  “…But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12-24-25).  So Christ is likening even His own death as a grain being planted that dies. 

So let’s come back here to 1 Corinthians 15.  It’s the same thing here.  “…That which thou sowest is not [made alive] quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed His own body.  All flesh is not the same flesh…”  So he goes on to explain it in quite detail here.  “…There is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.  There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.  So also is the resurrection of the dead.  It is sown in corruption [as you die]; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.  There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (vs. 36-44).  Now notice how it’s talking about the harvest continually.  It is sown, it is sown.  That’s why the day of Pentecost pictures the resurrection because that’s a finality of the firstfruits harvest for the grain. 

Now let’s pick it up here in verse 45.  “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening [or a living] spirit.”  That is Christ through the power of the resurrection.  “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthly: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (vs. 45-49).  And when we bear the image of the heavenly we’re going to see here that we will be changed, just like a lump of dough is changed when leaven is put in it, and then when it’s baked in it’s final form, it is permanently in a changed form.  So that’s exactly what it will be with us for the resurrection.  

Now let’s continue on, verse 50.  “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”  It must come from God as a gift.  “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (vs. 50-52).  Now we will see in a little bit that in Revelation 11 the last trump is defined as the seventh trump.  And that is the resurrection. 

Now notice, “For this corruptible must put [from God] on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory [by the very power of the resurrection]” (vs.53-54).  Now notice here.  We will be changed.  Permanent change.  Now that is what the leaven of the two loaves picture on the day of Pentecost.  And of course when all the thousands of them came there were thousands and thousands of those loaves.  And they waved them before the Lord and then that became part of their keeping of the Feast of Pentecost. 

Now let’s continue on brethren because this really gets exciting.  Now let’s go back and we’ll just review.  We won’t turn there but turn to the book of Revelation and let’s come to chapter 6 here for just a minute.  But we’ll review chapter 2 and 3.  And chapter 2 and 3 we have the seven churches.  And that pictures the seven churches that were then.  That pictures the seven churches down through history.  That pictures perhaps even the seven churches at the end time.  If we have seven from which comes seven, out of which comes seven, which is the pattern of the book of Revelation then we probably have seven churches in the end-time which will match up to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3.  These seven churches represent the seven weeks harvest.  Now let’s see when the seven week harvest comes to an end and then we are left once again with the 50^th day harvest, which will be God’s harvest. 

Now, right after Revelation 2 and 3 we have Revelation 4 and 5 showing the events that are going on there, and how that Christ is the only One to open the seals.  And then He was given power to open the seals, and that is after the time that God the Father gave Christ the authority to do so.  Now let’s begin in chapter 6 because here we will see where we have the end of the Church age. 

Let’s begin, “And I looked when the Lamb opened on of the seals…”  Now I’m reading out of my translation here.  “…And I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as a voice of thunder, “Come and see!”  And I looked, and behold, 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” (Rev. 6:1-2, A.T.).  Now this is a picture of the false religion going out in   conquering and to conquer.  We see that happening right now bringing all coalesced into the coming one world government.

“And when He opened the second seal I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see!”  And horse went out that was red: and to the one sitting on it was given to him to take peace from the earth…” (vs. 3-4, A.T.).  This is the time of Revelation 13 after the beast receives the deadly wound and that is healed and he comes back, and authority is given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations, and it was given him authority to make war against the saints.  Now we will see that will happen here in the 5^th seal in just a minute. 

Verse 5, “And when He opened the third seal I heard the third living creature saying, “Come and see!”  And I looked, and behold, a black horse and the one sitting on it had a balance in his hand.  And I heard the voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A measure of wheat for a [coin] denarius, and three measures of barley for a [coin] denarius: and see that you do not damage the oil and the wine.”  And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see!”  And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and the one sitting on it, and his name was Death, and the grave followed him; and authority was given to them to kill over the fourth of the earth with the sword and with famine and with death, and by the beasts of the earth” (vs. 5-8, A.T.). 

Now then, here’s what we have, verse 9.  This is when the Church age ends.  “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 because of the testimony which they held;”  Now this was in vision.  This is not saying that they are immortal souls.  But this is a way of God conveying to John, and to us, the events that are going to take place.  “And they were crying out with a loud voice, saying, “How long O Lord, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who are dwelling on the earth?”  And white robes were given to each one of them; and it was said to them that they should rest yet for a short time, until it shall be fulfilled that both their fellow servants and their brethren should be killed as they also were killed” (vs. 9-11, A.T.). 

So we have two categories of Christians at this particular point.  We have those who have gone to a place of safety, as we find in Revelation 12.  But also in Revelation 12 we find that Satan goes after to make war of the remnant of her seed, which have the testimony of Jesus Christ and keep the commandments of God.  This is the war pictured right here by the 5^th seal.  Now there will come a time when all of those who are not in a place of safety will be martyred.  And that will end the Church harvest.  That will finish the harvest of the seven churches.  That will finish the seven-week harvest.  But there is still one more day, and one more day of the harvest which God Himself is going to do in a way different than dealing with us. 

Now let’s see how that begins. 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 unto the earth, as a fig tree casts its untimely figs, when being shaken by a mighty wind.  Then the heaven departed as a scroll [just rolled up]…, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places” (vs. 12-14, A.T.).   This is a tremendous event.  This is the event which is spoken of there in Haggai 2 where the Lord says, “And yet one more time I will shake the earth and the heavens and the dry land, and the sea.”  And then Christ will appear.  This is it, right here.  Now we’ll see another of this in Matthew 24 in just a minute. 

Notice what happens then.  “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, 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 an who has the power to stand?” (vs. 15-17, A.T.).

Now let’s see in Matthew 24 where this occurs.  Jesus talked about this.  Matthew 24:21 (King James), talking about the tribulation because see, the tribulation begins with the second seal.  Then we have the third seal, the fourth seal, and then the fifth seal is the martyrdom of the saints.  They are blamed by the beast as causing all of these problems on the earth.  “And as soon as we get rid of them then we’re going to solve all the problems on the earth and we’ll have one government, we’ll one religion, we’ll have one mind, and all of these nasty Christians will be exterminated.”  So when they come to the point of killing every Christian they can find, because they’ll be able to find them.  Because even without the mark of the beast, which none of the true Christians will have, they have the global positioning system, and they can track down any human being on earth within 100 square feet.  So there is no mountain you can go to, no cave you can go to, no cellar that you can go to, because when God has determined it is His will that those who are to be martyred will be martyred, they will be martyred.  And at that time God will give great strength to be able to give a witness, and to prophesy against the evil powers of Satan and the world. 

Matthew 24:21, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And except those days should be shortened…” Now the Greek here doesn’t mean, “cut short”, shortening up less than 3 ½ years.  It means, “limited”, those days are limited.   God has in advance set a limit of the days of the tribulation.  “…There should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be [limited] shortened.  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  Behold, I have told you before.  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not” (Matt. 24:21-26, KJV). 

Now here, this ties in with the beginning of the sixth seal with the rolling back of the heavens as a scroll rolled up together.  Verse 27, “For as the lightening cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west…”  Now this is not talking about a bolt of lightning.  Unfortunately this is not a good translation.  This should read, “and as the light of day.”  Because lightning does not just proceed from the east.  I proceeds from the east, from the west, from the north, from the south.  From the clouds down to the ground.  From the ground back up to the clouds.  It goes sideways, it goes at every angle.  So this cannot be talking about lightning as a bolt of lightning, but the light of day, which comes out of the east because that’s where the sun rises, and shines even unto the west because that’s where the sun sets.  “…So shall the coming of the Son of man be.”  This is called the sign of the Son of man.  So what is going to happen?  When the heavens roll back as a scroll there is going to appear this brightness as if it’s another sun, and of that day, and of that hour knows no man. 

Now let’s see it here, verse 29.  “Immediately after the tribulation of those days…”  Because we saw the tribulation come up to a certain point.  And when we come to the book of Revelation we are going to see that it shifts from the tribulation of man against man to the more dastardly part of it of demons and men against the angels of God with the seven trumpet plagues.  So this becomes important to understand. 

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven [as a sun just being exposed – never there before]: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (vs. 30).  And so because of the time that is left, as we will see, that sign of the Son of man must be like a sun coming closer and closer, and closer, and closer, and closer, and closer to the earth.  And then when it comes time for the resurrection then it will, I believe, lock into orbit right over Jerusalem.  And that’s where the sea of glass will be.  How high it will be, I don’t know.  It says it’s going to be in the clouds.  How high are the clouds?  Clouds can be as high as 50,000 feet.  They can be as low as 2000 or 3000 feet.  So we don’t know but we are going to meet Christ in the air in the clouds.  So Christ is coming with the clouds.  Now notice, when the resurrection occurs this is what is going to happen.  “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” (vs. 31). 

Now we got ahead of the story a little bit, but let’s go back to Revelation 7 because we need to look at the 50^th day harvest of God.  And this is a special harvest of God.  Now let’s pick it up here beginning in verse 1. Now remember how we ended with Revelation 6.  They saw the sign of the Son of man in heaven.  And because great is the day of His wrath is come, who has the power to stand?  Now then God does something very important.  He intervenes to fulfill a prophecy.  He intervenes to show His mercy.  He intervenes because He does not want, with the end of the Church age, that there lack human beings who are converted and qualify for the kingdom of God.

Now let’s pick it up here in verse 1.  “And after these things I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that the wind might not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor upon any tree.  Then I saw another angel who was ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels, those to whom it was given to damage the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not damage the earth nor the sea, nor the trees, until we seal the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Rev. 7:1-3, A.T.).