Pentecost 2005-Day 50 Part 2

…Revelation 6, as we have seen, let’s follow right along in verse 5. Now right after there is this war that is starting.. And we are going to see what happens because in the modern world today people are so absolutely dependent upon getting their food from stores that there is no way that there is going to be enough food for people to be able to survive very long. And famine comes very quickly. And that’s what this is picturing here. So we’re going to have death and famine follow because of war. Now, I don’t know about you but here in the weeks leading up to Pentecost they’ve been having “Victory in Europe” and “Victory in Asia” and showing all the things that went on in WWII. And I tell you that’s something to really see and understand how devastating and absolutely wretched that war can be. Now all we have to do today is just see what’s going on there in Iraq and see what happens with war, and how quickly things get out of hand.

Now notice verse 5 when He opened the third seal. So Christ is the one who is opening them: “…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.’ ” So food is going to become precious and scarce. And because not all are going to be able to eat, guess what happens? Famine.

“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, to kill with the sword and with famine and with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” So this is how the tribulation is going to be kicked off. It’s going to be something. And when that occurs..and we don’t have time to go into all of the prophecies of that because it’s a series of prophecies which show how it comes, but this is the key which starts it.

Now notice verse 9. You always have to have a scapegoat. You always have to have someone to blame, don’t you? And the Christians are going to be the ones who will be blamed. “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…” Now this is in vision in order to show John the final martyrdom of the saints. And this is going to be done on a vast scale. And it’s going to be easy to find where all the saints are because they refuse to take the mark of the beast. And remember, Revelation 13 says that power was given to the beast there to kill all of those who are Christ’s. So martyrdom is going to come. And this martyrdom will end the church age of the seven weeks of the harvest counting to Pentecost.

So let’s continue on, 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.” So we can look at it this way: we understand that there is going to be a place of safety for those that God is going to take and put in a place of safety. We realize that. But all the rest who are not in a place of safety are going to give their lives in martyrdom for the witness which they have. And when that takes place this is going to end the harvest of the seven churches – 49 days. Now there is still more to come. And when that happens, when all the saints have been killed, except those in a place of safety..now those in a place of safety are sent there to fulfill a promise that Christ has given – not for their goodness, not because they are better than anybody else, but Jesus said He would build His church, and the gates of the grave would never prevail against it. So you have to have some living, and that’s why the place of safety. So there will be some physical Christians still living while this martyrdom is going on.

Now when this martyrdom reaches the point where then all of the existing saints who are not in a place of safety, will have been hunted down, and will have been martyred. Now the reason that is so, and a lot of people cannot understand why there has to be a martyrdom. There has to be a martyrdom in order for us to really give our lives for the eternal life that God will give us. And remember the promise that we know of and have seen: if you lose your life in Christ you’re going to save it. And if you have the Spirit of God the body is dead already because of sin, isn’t it? Yes. And God will give all of those who are going to be martyred the strength that they need.

Now then when that happens the next event is going to occur. And this next event is going to be the beginning of the return of Christ. And the beginning of the return of Christ is also going to lead us to the time of the 50^th day harvest of the Pentecost that is God’s fulfillment, as we read there in prophecy in Acts 2 that Peter quoted from Joel. Now notice what happens. It’s going to be a startling event. And remember, the world is being prepared for an invasion from outer space, and there really will be an invasion from outer space. And they really will be aliens. Not aliens like they think of in showing these silly pictures of these creatures with these big heads and these big eyes. It’s going to be Christ and the angels and the resurrected saints of God, as we will see. So here when Christ opens the sixth seal there is going to be a profound event that’s going to take place, and all the world is going to know this, and everyone is going to see this take place. And this is going to fulfill the prophecy of Haggai 2, that He’s going to shake the heavens and shake the earth, and shake the sea, and shake the land.

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. Then the heaven departed like a scroll…” So this is going to be a mammoth event. God is going to make His presence and His power known to everyone on the earth, and they are going to know that it is Christ Who is returning, though they will think that it is the anti-Christ as we’ve seen with the prophecies from the Catholic prophecies.

Notice: “…and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.” So, don’t think you’re going to find a place to hide and everything’s going to be fine. No, that won’t happen. “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, and who has the power to stand?’ ” (Rev. 6:1-9, 11-17, FV).

Now this event is going to be so earthshaking that after this clears up another great event is going to take place. But hold your place right here and let’s come to Matthew 24 and let’s see what this event is called in the book of Matthew by the very words of Christ, because this is going to be so startling for the whole world. And you can just imagine everyone is going to wonder “What’s happening, what’s happening.” Because you see, they’re going to be worshipping the beast and the false prophet. And they are going to have had signs and wonders and all of these things occurring. And the two witnesses, as we saw yesterday will be in Jerusalem performing great signs and wonders. And then all of a sudden the heavens open up. And as I’ve covered in other sermons in the past, that is about two years down into the time of the end, which means that there is approximately eighteen months left until Christ and the saints set their feet on the earth.

Ok, now Matthew 24. Let’s understand these things and how they’re going to take place. Now, verse 29: “But immediately after the tribulation of those days…” Now let’s understand something: the tribulation against Israel is a little over two years. And that’s what it’s talking about here – the tribulation of those days. Not the end of the events leading to the return of Christ, because there are many things yet to happen. But here it tells us the same thing as we find back there in Revelation 6.

“…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. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man…” So when the heavens roll back as a scroll there’s going to be a sign in heaven – the sign of the Son of man. “…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.” And that’s what they’re going to see. So when that happens this is going to be quite an event. So it’s called “the sign of the Son of man.” (Matt. 24:29-30, FV).

Then we see in the next verse it’s going to lead to the resurrection. But there are more events to happen between verse 30 and 31 before the resurrection occurs. So when this happens..let’s come back here to Revelation 7. Now after the sign of the Son of man appears in heaven, and we know that it’s like the light of day which shines from the east unto the west. So it’s going to look like a great sun that just suddenly appeared in the heavens. They didn’t see it before. Well, that’s literally true. That’s literally true because this is a special event that takes place with the opening of the sixth seal.

Now back to Revelation 7. Now this is interesting what we are going to see here, because we are going to see the 50^th day harvest of God, which is separate from the church age. Remember, the church age closes with the martyrdom of the saints, and there is still about a year and a half left to go before the end actually is upon us.

Now verse 1: “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that the wind might not blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to damage the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not damage the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.’ And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel.” Now keep in mind where it describes them. The children of Israel – out of the tribes. Now let’s also understand something here that it says they are going to be sealed, and an angel has the seal. Now today when we are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, we are sealed. We find that in Ephesians 1, and also we find that in II Corinthians 6. We are sealed with the Spirit of God. Now here, these are people who do not have the Spirit of God. There are no ministers around to baptize them. There are no ministers around to lay hands on them. This is God’s special, personal, 50^th day harvest, if we could call it that.

Now, after all the events that we saw happen in Acts 2 at the beginning of the church on the day of Pentecost, now could this not be beginning on the day of Pentecost with God’s special harvest that He is going to have. Because we know at the end they stand before the throne of God, which shows that they’re going to be resurrected. So we have twelve thousand out of each of the tribes. We’ll just note one, verse 5, from the tribe of Judah – twelve thousand. Now God promised in Zechariah 12 that the tents of Judah would be saved first. So, here God is fulfilling that prophecy with twelve thousand sealed out of the twelve tribes of Israel. Then it lists all of them.

Now after this, because in order to fulfill the prophecy that Peter gave in Acts 2 where it says, “And every one who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” we have a great innumerable multitude, verse 9: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one was able to number, [now notice] out of every nation and tribe and people and language…” (Rev. 7:1-5, 9, FV). So salvation is going to be given to them. All of those who cry out to the Lord for salvation. Now it shows that they are going to be resurrected because they’re going to stand before the throne of God. So that’s quite a thing. And it’s interesting that that is in the seventh chapter of the book of Revelation.

Now then from that point on those who have been sealed will be set aside and protected. Now if this occurs on the day of Pentecost then this has to be the next to the last Pentecost before Christ and the saints return to the earth, because the last Pentecost will be the resurrection. That’s when the harvest is going to take place, as we will see. So God begins intervening with His angels and the trumpet plagues against Satan and his demons and the wars that take place. So now the tribulation, after the sparing of the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude, the intensity of the tribulation gets even worse. And this fulfills the prophecy that Jesus said, “For there shall be great tribulation but unless those days were limited, which they are, there should be no flesh saved alive.”

Now the trumpet plagues here in Revelation 8 and 9 followed by the seven thunders in Revelation 10, these are different than what’s going to take place with the seven last plagues. These are going to be mighty things. In the case of the trumpet plagues then only a third of the trees are burned, and a third of the water and so forth all the way through as you read through and see that.

Now I’m not going to go through every one of these. I’ve gone through them in the past so if you want to go through all of those you can either get the Revelation series or you can listen to any of the tapes that we’ve done in the past on the Feast of Pentecost.

Now let’s come over here to the two witnesses and let’s see what leads up to the resurrection. We are going to see another fulfillment here. Now let’s understand something: from the time of the resurrection until Christ and the saints put their feet on the earth, there is a period of time, as we will see in the book of Revelation, which tells us a little bit about these events and what’s going to happen.

Now let’s pick it up here in Revelation 11:7: “And when they [shall] 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.” Now this is going to be a mammoth event that the world is going to celebrate, because after all of the things that have taken place with the loosing of the seven seals, and then the six trumpet plagues up to this point, then when they are able to kill the two witnesses they are going to rejoice. They are going to declare a world holiday. They are going to think that finally they have won the battle. And all human beings are going to see this. It says: “ ‘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. 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.’ ” Now it’s easy for us to visualize today. I mean, hey, if everyone has a cell phone with a camera, or be able to tune in to a television broadcast, they’ll be able to tune it on and see it. And they’ll all rejoice after all the plagues that have taken place. So I would just have to assume this: that God is going to allow certain of the satellites to stay in place in order to fulfill this so they’re all going to see it.

After they’ve watched this you can almost just see the news channels with camera focusing for three days and three nights on the bodies of the two witnesses. And every body is celebrating, and everyone is giving their comment, and everyone is saying, “Well, we’ve finally been able to prevail. Together now we need to settle all of the problems and difficulties that we have and we can finally have peace on the earth.” God has a little surprise for them.

Verse 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.” So there they are after three and a half days standing up. “And they heard a great voice from heaven, say, ‘Come up here!’ ” So this is the beginning of the resurrection. And it happens just before the seventh trump sounds. Now this then fulfills the prophecy that God has given throughout – the last shall be first.

Now when this voice sounds and tells them to come up, right when they’re ascending we are going to see the seventh trump sounds and the resurrection of the rest of the saints begins. “And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them rise. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand men were killed in the earthquake. And the rest were filled with fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming immediately. Then [so here are the two witnesses rising in the clouds] the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of eternity.’ ” Notice how all of these events are coming from the throne of God.

Verse 16: “And the twenty-four elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, ‘We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; for You have taken to Yourself Your great power, and have reigned. For the nations were angry, and Your wrath has come…” Because two things come with the seventh trumpet: 1) the resurrection; 2) the seven last plagues, as we will see later. “…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.’ And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake and great hail” (Rev. 11:7-19, FV). That’s going to be something when that takes place.

Now let’s see the promise that is given back here in I Corinthians 15 concerning the resurrection. Because the resurrection is going to take place and it’s going to happen, and it’s going to be a very profound and fantastic thing that’s going to take place. Just like Jesus said in Matthew 24, when the resurrection occurs and when that seventh trump is sounded, God is going to dispatch His angels to gather all of those who have been resurrected. And He’s going to bring them in the air from the four corners, from one end of the earth unto the other end of the earth. And we’ll see, bring them to the sea of glass, as we will see in Revelation 15.

Now here let’s pick it up verse 42: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.” And this is the whole purpose of our being, brethren. So when we come to the time of that last Pentecost and the seventh trumpet has been sounded, and the harvest of God for all of the saints (now notice), we know that the dead in the grave shall be raised first. And then those who are alive and remain unto the end, as Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 4, will be caught up in the air together with them for the meeting with the Lord in the air. And we’ll see where that is.

Now 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…” That’s what’s important. We have a physical body, a natural body, and we’re walking around with a guarantee that if we have this body and we are faithful and love God to the end we will be resurrected with a spiritual body. Now how God is going to do that, He already has that worked out. And all of those things, as we will see, God has a way where He is going to do it and here’s the promise of it.

Now it talks in verse 45 the first man was Adam. He was made a living soul. The last Adam was made an ever-living spirit. “However, the spiritual was not first, but the natural—then the spiritual. 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.” And as we’ve seen there in Philippians 3 that He’s going to transform our vile bodies that they be made like unto His glorious body. And that’s what this day of Pentecost is all about. That’s when this is going to be fulfilled. This is the completion of the harvest. And just like the wave loaves were baked and waved, so this pictures the resurrection – we will be changed forever. No longer physical, no longer of the dust of the earth, but spiritual, you see.

Now 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…” So here is the fulfillment of the mystery of Godliness for us: “…we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed…” And here’s how God is going to do it: “…in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…” And the last trumpet the sound was what? The seventh trumpet, as we saw there in Revelation 11. “…For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 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.’ ” We are going to see about that victory in just a bit here. “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” (I Cor. 15:42-55, FV). No, if we can overcome death through the power of the resurrection through Jesus Christ, then if we give our lives in martyrdom it doesn’t matter does it? No. And we’re promised that we will be given whatever strength we need to endure that. And all of those who go through it have the promise of God, which is as sure as heaven and earth. That’s what Jesus said – “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” So we need to understand that.

Let’s come here to I Thessalonians 4 and see part of that which we covered here just in mentioning in passing. Now 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…” And that’s probably the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude who were sealed on that next to the last Pentecost. And we’ll be caught up together with them “…in the clouds…” So we are not going out of the atmosphere. We are not going to the third heaven. As a matter of fact, that’s coming down toward the earth in the sea of glass. “…For the meeting with the Lord in the air; and so shall we always be with the Lord” (I Thes. 4:16-17, FV).

Now let’s come back to the book of Revelation again and let’s see what’s going to happen. Let’s come to Revelation 14. Now if you don’t have the sermon on the difference between the 144,000 in Revelation 7 and the 144,000 in Revelation 14 you can write in for the tape or we also have an article based on the tape. You can write in for that. They are two different groups. And anyone who says that God is limiting Himself to only 144,000 for the first resurrection does not know God, does not know the Scriptures, and is preaching a heresy and is not true.

Now let’s look at the harvest. Let’s see the harvest that it’s going to happen. Now let’s pick it up here, Revelation 14:14. Now all these Scriptures tie in it so it’s a big picture that we’re putting together here. Verse 14: “And I looked, and behold, a white cloud…” Now where are we going to meet Christ? In the air, in the clouds, right? Yes. “…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”, because it’s a harvest, and there are seven weeks to the harvest plus one day. So you have the harvest of the church with the church age, and then you have the harvest of God with the next to the last Pentecost. And who knows, maybe that harvest of God on the 50^th day will actually end up being more than all the harvest of the seven weeks with the church, and then the harvest that goes clear back to the time of Abel, because when God sets His hand to do it personally, you know that it’s going to be more and greater than anything all the combined works of men could do.

“And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice…” So apparently when that sea of glass comes down to the earth what’s going to happen is this: they’re going to see the sign of the Son of man appear in heaven and it’s going to look like a sun that’s going to come closer and closer and closer and closer to the earth until it gets down in the area where the clouds are, and then it will become a sea of glass, because when we’re resurrected we have to go someplace, don’t we? And it shows we’re going to stand on that sea of glass, as we’ll see here in just a minute.

So here’s the harvest: “ ‘…Thrust in your sickle and reap, because the time has come for You to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’ And He Who was sitting on the cloud thrust forth His sickle upon the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel, who also had a sharp sickle, came out of the temple…” (Rev. 14:14-17, FV). Now this is going to be the harvest of the wicked with the seven last plagues. And these are called the grapes who are going to be trod down and are going to be in the final seven last plagues that are poured out. And the final war that takes place – it’s going to be something.

Now let’s come here to Revelation 15. “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and awesome: seven angels having the seven last plagues…” See because when the seventh trumpet blows the resurrection takes place then that opens the way for the seven last plagues to take place. So here we have it. “…For in them the wrath of God is filled up. And I saw a sea of glass mingled with fire…” Now there are some people who still don’t understand the sea of glass. Well, just read it. Is the Word of God true? Yes. Does this say there’s a sea of glass? Yes. Did it say there was a sea of glass in Revelation 4 on which the throne of God sat? Yes. So it’s a sea of glass. “…And those who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” So they are standing on the sea of glass. Now that should be simple to believe shouldn’t it, because it does say so? These are the ones who are saved, right? They’ve gotten victory over the beast, over his image, over his mark, over his number, standing on the sea of glass. I Thessalonians 4 says we are raised for the meeting with the Lord in the air.

Now let’s understand something: there are events that are going to have to take place between the time of the resurrection and we’re all standing on the sea of glass, and we come back to the earth on the day of Trumpets with Christ.

Now let’s see some more symbolism here, verse 3: “And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb [showing those who where saved under the Old Covenant, and those who were saved under the New Covenant], 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’ ” (Rev. 15:1-4, FV).

Now for the saints, what has to happen while we are on the sea of glass? 1) we have to receive the white and bright clothing, which is the righteousness of the saints, right? 2) we have to receive our new name; 3) there has to be the marriage of Christ and the Lamb; 4) there has to be the giving of the rewards; 5) we have to be prepared to come back with Christ, because we are going to fight with Christ. After all didn’t Jesus say, “If My kingdom were of this world then would My servants fight”? And we read in Revelation 11 at the last trump now are the kingdoms of this earth and this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and they shall reign forever and ever, and give reward to His servants the prophets small and great? Yes. So that all has to take place. Then what else has to take place? Well, the seven last plagues have to be poured out. And while we’re there on the sea of glass we can look up and see the temple of God. And we can look down and see the earth and all the events that are going to take place with the seven last plagues being poured out.

So I’m going to leave you in the air, because that’s what Pentecost does. We have been changed, resurrected, meet Christ in the air, and then the events are going to take place from Pentecost on down to Trumpets before we return to the earth.

Pentecost – Day 50 – 2005

June 12, 2005

Scriptural References

Leviticus 23:15-21
II Corinthians 9:6-8
Matthew 13:44-46, 31, 33
Acts 2:1-8, 11-21, 36-38, 40-43
Revelation 4:1
Revelation 5:5-8, 11-13
Revelation 6:1-9, 11-17
Matthew 24:29-30
Revelation 7:1-5, 9
Revelation 11:7-19
I Corinthians 15:42-55
I Thessalonians 4:16-17
Revelation 14:14-17
Revelation 15:1-4