by
Robert Thompson
"But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they who are Christ's at his coming" (I Cor.15:23).
"Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth, that we
should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (James 1:18).
"These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto
God and to the Lamb" (Rev.14:4).
The convocation of Firstfruits is the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, and our entrance into His resurrection life... This is
the beginning of the harvesting of our life. Our spirit at the
moment of receiving Christ is raised up to sit with Christ in the
heavenlies. Our spirit is the firstfruits of our personality unto
God. There is a great part of us which has not been harvested, as
we can tell by the way we act sometimes, the things which we do,
and the battles which we have....
Our soul has to go through many experiences with God before
it is completely harvested.... But we rejoice in God because we
know that what He has begun in us He will finish. Our spirit has
been accepted as a firstfruit of our whole personality. Therefore
God will transform our soul and body through His grace, and then
the harvest of our life will be completed.
The harvest of the Christian church will be completed as
soon as each member has been fully harvested; and then the church
will come down as the holy city, the new Jerusalem, upon the new
earth (Rev.21 and 22).
Calling those things which are not as though they were....
God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which are
not as though they were" (Rom.4:17).
There is an extraordinary fact connected with the seven
convocations: it is that the ordinances governing their
celebration were issued in detail while the Hebrews were
wandering in a desert. And these were agricultural festivities!
Firstfruits, Pentecost, and Tabernacles were formal announcements
of distinct phases of the harvest season, given when the Hebrews
had no farms.
That they were all harvest ceremonies is arresting in itself
because it shows that God regards the entire Christian era,
commencing with Christ's death and resurrection during Passover
Week, as being a harvest of that which had been sown in the earth
by the Lord (John 4:35). In other words, the Christian church is
the fruit of sowing which has been going on from the time of
Abraham (Gal.3:6-18).
But the extraordinary fact of which we are speaking is that
precise regulations for harvest rituals were given to former
slaves who did not own a square foot of land (except by faith in
God's promise). At the time that the Levitical convocations were
enjoined upon the Hebrews they were wandering in the Sinai
Desert. They were following a cloud by day and a pillar of fire
at night through as barren and desolate a furnace of a
countryside as can be imagined. Yet the Lord insisted on
furnishing them with a list of detailed instructions for the
observance of ceremonies celebrating the ingathering of barley,
wheat, olives, nuts, etc.
This way of doing things is characteristic of God who
"calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Rom.
4:17). Does the Holy Spirit of God do that to us - speak to us
about spiritual realities which are not a fact of our physical or
spiritual environment? Indeed He does! And it is the grasping of
the promises of God by resolute and unswerving faith that brings
the victory in the overcoming Christian life.
Our death with Christ on the cross and our ascent with Him
into the heavenlies are two examples of this pattern of divine
operation. The positive assurance of the possession of the good
things of God's Word provides an anchor and direction for our
faith, and creates the substance of the reality. We lay hold upon
our land of promise when objective evidence testifies that we are
not as yet in possession of it.
When the Holy Spirit makes a promise of God real to us, or
even if we just read the promise in the Scriptures (taking due
note of the attendant conditions), we then can lay hold upon the
promise by faith. We gain possession of various aspects of our
land of promise by seeking them out by faith: sanctification,
healing, the indwelling of the Father and the Son, the gifts and
ministries, etc. Faith in God's promises creates value where none
exists, or where evil exists.
"And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence
to the full assurance of hope unto the end: that ye be not
slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises" (Heb.6:11,12).
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him" (Heb.11:6).
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth" (Heb.11:13).
A warning is necessary at this point. There is a trap into
which we can fall that is related to the business of possessing
the kingdom by faith. There is a light head belief which is not
overcoming faith. We may know of someone who prayed a brief
prayer, or who even strove in prolonged prayer, and who then
claimed that he had the answer because of his mental grip upon
the letter of the Bible promise. Yet nothing happened! There is a
great difference between making plays upon the promises of
Christ, or mental striving, and gaining ground with God through
overcoming faith.
We cannot force God to do anything, no matter how much we
"believe." We cannot walk on a broken leg, unless and until God
evidences to us that He is cooperating with us in the act of
faith. It takes experience in the ways of God to be able to walk
successfully within the line drawn between presumption and
aggressive faith.
The Hebrews would have been regarded as demented by the
surrounding tribes if they had gone through the motions of
reaping nonexistent crops in the desert, thinking that thereby
they were honoring the God who had given them agricultural
holidays to celebrate.
True faith gains a vision of God's promise, lays hold upon
God through prayer in the Spirit and obedience, and is sensitive
to God's schedules. Faith eventually obtains the knowledge of the
mind of the Spirit of God. Faith is a real walk in the Spirit and
produces concrete results in the physical world.
It is a fact that we secure our inheritance by maintaining
unswerving faith in the promises of God, and some of these
promises are fantastic. The doing of "greater works," the
resurrection of the body into immortality, the powers of the
world to come - these are incredible dreams. But these glories
and others like them, raised to the millionth power in quality
and quantity, will some day be solid reality for the Christian
who maintains to the end an unchanging trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ.
In God's time the Hebrews had to fight a bloody war to
obtain their land of milk and honey. In God's time we Christians
are going to have to fight fierce spiritual battles if we intend
to transform our spiritual desires into permanent possessions.
Let us therefore lay hold upon the promises of Scripture.
Let us maintain in rock-like faith that we "have" the promises.
And then let us follow the Spirit of Christ as He leads us in
spiritual warfare to accomplish the dislodging of Satan. Now back
to our consideration of the convocation of Firstfruits.
The concept of firstfruits is prominent in God's plan of
salvation. For example, Romans 8:23 informs us that we Christians
have "the firstfruits of the Spirit." We have a firstfruits, or
first instalment, of the Holy Spirit at the present time.
(Imagine what the receiving of the balance of the Holy Spirit is
going to be like!) If we "hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast unto the end" (Heb.3:14), we shall come to the day when
we shall reap the remainder of the harvest - the fullness of the
Holy Spirit permeating every part of our being, just as is true
of Jesus.
SANCTIFIES THE WHOLE HARVEST
Another dimension of the Firstfruits convocation is that the
sanctifying of the firstfruits sanctifies the entire harvest.
"For if the firstfruits be holy, the lump is also holy" (Rom.
11:16). This principle explains how it can be that we are without
condemnation in Christ even though we still may observe sinful
tendencies in our body. Our will already has been reaped (Rom.
7:18) and we delight in the law of God after the inward man (Rom.
7:22).
Our life (the inner spiritual life) "is hid with Christ in
God" (Col.3:3). Thus a firstfruits of our life already has been
"waved" (Lev.23:11) before the Lord. And our "members which are
upon the earth" (Col.3:5), the "body of this death" (Rom.7:24),
are sanctified through the fact that the inner spiritual life,
having been waved as a firstfruits before the Lord, has been
sanctified by our receiving of the sacrifice of Christ upon the
cross. The day will come when our mortal body also will be
harvested (Rom.8:23), thus completing the reaping of our entire
being by the Spirit of God unto everlasting life (Gal.6:8).
We see the principle of the firstfruits operating in the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. "But now is Christ
risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that
slept" (I Cor.15:20). Because He (Jesus) was "waved" as a holy
offering before the Lord, we also, the harvest of the earth, are
sanctified in the sight of God. And we too shall be raised from
the dead. "But every man in his own order Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at his corning" (I Cor.15:23).
The saints are the firstfruits of the kingdom of God. James
1:18 presents an interesting thought: "Of his own will begat he
us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of
firstfruits of his creatures." This verse is in harmony with the
idea that God's working in the earth during the church era
includes the construction of a temple, a living house from which
He can communicate with the rest of His creation. The concept of
a group selected out from the totality of His creatures can be
observed in Romans 8:19: "For the earnest expectation of the
creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God."
The sin and confusion of the old creation was exemplified by
Adam's inability to observe one simple prohibition; and the old
creation was judged and finished on Calvary. The new creation
began with the resurrection of Christ. He is the firstfruits of
the new creation - a whole new working of God. And the sons of
God, since they are one with Christ in His death and
resurrection, can also be considered as a firstfruits of the new
creation. The world of nature is waiting expectantly to see these
sons of God who already have in themselves the firstfruits of the
Spirit of God - the substance of eternal life.
Revelation 14:4 refers to those who are "firstfruits unto
God and to the Lamb." Let us, like Paul, "follow after" so that
we may grasp that for which we have been "apprehended (grasped)
by Christ Jesus" (Phil.3:12). Let us press toward participation
in the first resurrection that we may be firstfruits to God and
to the Lamb. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power (authority),
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years" (Rev.20:6).
Notice how clearly the Passover, Unleavened Bread, and
Firstfruits convocations portray the crucifixion, descent into
the heart of the earth, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The
Levitical convocations are symbolic of events in the life of
Christ, and therefore have direct reference to our own spiritual
experience because of our close relationship with Him in His
crucifixion and resurrection.
Our book, up to this point, has been reviewing doctrine
which is fairly well known to Christians. The remainder of The
Feasts of the Lord will bring us into waters which may be
unfamiliar to some of us; although the next feast, Pentecost, is
becoming much more widely understood ... By the Lord's help, we
are going to follow the divine pattern of the Levitical
convocations to the climax of the Christian experience - the
omega of salvation.
PENTECOST
"And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath,
from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering;
seven sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the
seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days; and ye shall offer a
new meat offering to the Lord" (Lev.23:15,16).
"Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the
seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to
the corn. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord
thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand,
which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the
Lord thy God hath blessed you" (Dent.16:9,10).
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with
one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from
heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared to them cloven
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost (Spirit), and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts
2:1-4).
There are amazing differences between the Hebrew assemblings
and their new covenant counterparts. The old covenant celebration
of Pentecost (feast of weeks) was an important annual
agricultural ceremony. But the new covenant fulfillment of the
feast of weeks is an extraordinary spiritual occurrence which has
affected to a great extent the subsequent course of mankind upon
the earth.
The record of Acts speaks for itself concerning the meaning
of the Hebrew festival of Pentecost. Jesus had said, "Wait for
the promise of the Father"; and again, "But you shall receive
power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall
be witnesses to me." (See Acts 1:4,8.) "But you shall receive
power"! The book of Acts is a record of divine power working in
the lives of Christians....
Harvest rain. The harvest (spring; latter) rain (Joel 2:23;
Zech. 10:1) began, as we understand it, with the events recorded
in the book of Acts. The Pentecostal "harvest rain" has been
available to all Christians since the days of the first apostles
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is regrettable that the early
Christians rejected the leadership and manifestation of the Holy
Spirit in favor of a human - directed church, as soon as the
original apostles passed from the earth. In fact, there is
evidence in Paul's writings that while he yet was ministering,
his own converts were rejecting the teachings which the Lord
Jesus had presented through him (see Gal.3-5, for example).
People seem to find it difficult to be willing to live under the
rulership of the Holy Spirit of God.
History of the harvest rain. The history of the outpouring
of Pentecostal "rain" upon mankind is a fascinating and inspiring
story. The miraculous effects of the workings of the Holy Spirit
are described in the book of Acts. Since that time there have
been powerful manifestations of the Spirit of God whenever and
wherever Christians have met God's conditions; and also in times
and places selected sovereignly by the Lord Jesus according to
His own purposes. Some of the outpourings of the Spirit are on
record; no doubt there were many of which we are ignorant...
The book of Joel has some important things to say about the
convocation of Pentecost. On the day of the celebration of
Pentecost, the Holy Spirit announced through Peter: "This is that
which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16). The message of
Joel is that there is to be a time of desolation and famine,
followed by restoration and fruitfulness. This, we believe, is.
the pattern of the spiritual harvest rain: a period of
desolation, followed by an abundant restoration of the things of
God.
It appears that the dark ages of Western civilization were
paralleled by a dark age of the Christian church in which, with
some notable exceptions, the presence of the Spirit of God and
the understanding of the Scriptures were diminished greatly from
that which had been true of the ministry of the first apostles...
Of particular interest here is Joel 2:23,24 which suggests that
the end of the Christian era will experience a visitation of
God's Spirit upon the earth, the like of which never has been
witnessed from the time of Adam to the present day...
It is useless, we believe, to pray for and to expect an
outpouring of God's Spirit unless and until we are willing, under
the guidance of the Spirit of Christ, to change the patterns of
our individual and corporate behaviors until they line up with
the wishes of the living and present Christ...
A symbolic portrayal of a believer entering into the life in
the Spirit of God can be found in Chapter 47 of Ezekiel, starting
with the third verse:
"And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth
eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me
through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he
measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the
waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and
brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he
measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass
over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that
could not be passed over."
When we first come to Christ it is as though the waters of
the Holy Spirit are "to the ankles." That is to say, we can walk
at our own will although we have been saved from wrath and are in
contact with the life of God.
If we go a bit deeper in the things of Christ the waters of
the Holy Spirit's rulership come up "to the knees." The "water"
is not as easy to churn through; it slows us down. More of our
being is in contact with and affected by the Spirit of God. The
powers of the natural self-life are beginning to be diminished
and the life from God is beginning to affect our words and deeds.
We can at this point turn around and walk back to dry land, back
to the life lived in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life. Or we can choose to go yet deeper with God
in the process of death to self and the laying hold upon
resurrection life.
"Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters
were to the loins (hips)." By now our walk has been influenced
very greatly. We are controlled in our motions by the water to a
much greater extent than is the believer who is splashing about
in ankle-deep water. Notice how the illustration of the "water"
parallels that of "precept upon precept; line upon line." The
Spirit of God, always with our consent and eventual cooperation,
gradually extends His holy rulership over our deeds and words and
thoughts. What was once an experience of the manifestation of the
Spirit, an addition which we have attached to our regular church
life, has now become an important part of our Christian life, a
source of enablement to us as we pray in the Spirit. The fullness
of the giving over of our life to the Spirit of Christ is a
joyful attraction to us.
"Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I
could not pass. over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim
in, a river that could not be passed over." It is a sad day for
the flesh of man when finally he comes to something that is too
big for him. But the fullness of the life in the Spirit is as a
river which cannot be mastered.
The entire being of the believer - imaginations, motives,
words, and deeds - comes under the dominion of the Spirit of
Christ. The "shore line" has been cut. The believer's life has
been given over to God without reservation. In the words of
Isaiah, the Christian has been "broken, and snared, and taken."
He is experiencing the knowledge of Christ, and the power of the
resurrection of Christ, and the fellowship of the sufferings of
Christ. At the coming of Christ, the sufferings will cease and
the faithful disciple will be immersed in the fullness of the
Holy Spirit, the river of God, for evermore.
Resurrection life will extend completely into the body,
soul, and spirit of the overcomer.
We humans are unable to measure the quality or the quantity
of the Spirit of God. But mankind has seen one Person who walks
eternally in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The Son of man has
the Spirit without measure, and He came that we also might have
the Spirit without measure. Will we, like Esau, trade the
inheritance of the life lived in the fullness of the Spirit of
God for the fleshly pleasures of this age?
Here then is the dimension of the Pentecostal outpouring
that we have not understood. The latter rain is the law of the
new covenant - the law of the Spirit of life. We are to be
brought under the governing power of the Spirit of God. The
manifestation of the Holy Spirit is a means given by God to bring
us to the goal of redemption, which is complete union with, and
conformity to the express image of, the Lord Jesus Christ.
LOAVES OFFERED WITH LEAVENING
The convocation of Pentecost came at the end of the wheat
harvest. Two large loaves made from wheat flour were "waved"
before the Lord. The harvesting of grain had been completed.
The loaves contained leaven. We have noticed previously in our
study that the Levitical convocations started off with Passover,
during which unleavened bread was eaten; and then moved to a
seven-day period of time, the week of Unleavened Bread, during
which there was to be "no leaven found in your houses" (Exod.
72:19). The prohibition was very strict: "for whosoever eateth
that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the
congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the
land" (Exod.12:19). Leaven typifies sin, in the symbolism of
Passover Week. We learn from this that God is exceedingly strict
concerning the sincerity of our repentance and turning away from
sin when we accept Christ and enter into water baptism. The
disciple rust be "crucified" with Christ so that the old leaven
of sin is to be destroyed (Rom.6:6).
But now we find the Pentecostal bread, loaves which were
waved before the Lord as a sign that they were intended for His
use alone, being baked with leaven!
When we first come to Christ we must repent and turn away
from all sin (leaven) of which we are aware. We identify ourself
with Christ upon the cross in order that the body of sin in us
might be rendered powerless. At the same time we identify ourself
with His resurrection so that we can give our attention to
walking in newness of life with Christ. Through means of this
double identification, with His death and with His resurrection,
we become free to choose to be servants of righteousness and to
live righteously.
So, we are to consider the old leaven as being gone
permanently, having been left by faith in the waters of baptism.
Such is our position in Christ. In actual experience, we have to
deal with the actions of the flesh. The Holy Spirit leads us in
the putting to death of the deeds of our body (Ram.8:13). The Day
of Atonement, the sixth of the Levitical convocations, portrays
the provision which God has made for forgiving our sins and
cleansing us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).
But now there is a new leaven working in our life. The new
leaven is the substance of Christ within us. A little leaven will
work in a loaf until the whole has been affected and rises into
the shape and texture which we desire. When we first come to
Christ a piece of Him is placed into our nature (Luke 8:15). As
we move along in our discipleship we come into situations where
it seems that we are surrounded by never-ending problems and
getting nowhere. Yet, though we may not be aware of it, the
substance of Christ is working as leaven within us and governing
the new creation which is being formed in us.
The two wave loaves of the convocation of Pentecost
represent the church of Christ, which is a firstfruits unto God
of the harvest of the earth. The loaves are two in number because
the church is going to receive a double portion of His power and
glory (Joel 2:23-32). The resurrected Christ is the first of the
firstfruits. Then comes the church, which is His body. His body
is leavened with Himself. Then will come the "nations of them
which are saved" (Rev.21:24). This pattern is revealed in the
three areas of the Tabernacle of the Congregation: the holy of
holies; the holy place; and the courtyard. There also is a
"firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb," a "Tabernacle of David"
if you will, which is being born through the travail of the
church in these days (Acts 15:15; Rev.12:5; 14:4).
Pentecost was not the last feast of the harvest season.
There was more to the agricultural season after the grain had,
been harvested. The oil, nuts, fruits, and wine still had to be
gathered and processed. It was the feast of booths (Tabernacles)
coming at the very end of the agricultural year that announced
the completion of the harvest season. The person who has received
the baptism of the Holy Spirit has been partially harvested, in a
manner of speaking. There remains much of his personality,
including his mortal body, which has not as yet been harvested by
the Lord.
A "halfway point." Of the seven Levitical convocations,
Pentecost is number four. Since four is halfway between one and
seven we might infer that the person who has "arrived" at
Pentecost is at a critical point in his spiritual journey. He is
about to pass the "point of no return" (Heb.6:4-6). He will still
feel the world pulling him back, and he always must keep his body
under discipline and guard himself with vigilance against
deception. And yet there is an ever-deepening yearning in his
heart to pass on to the richer joys of the Spirit of God. God has
spoken plainly. to this situation: "If any man draw back, my soul
shall have no pleasure in him" (Heb.10:38).
ANOINTING FOR PRIESTLY SERVICE
Another aspect of the out-pouring of the harvest rain is the
anointing for priestly service.
"And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them,
that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. And thou
shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be a
holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. Upon man's
flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other
like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be
holy unto you" (Exod.30:30-32).
There are certain spiritual responsibilities attached to the
anointing of the Holy Spirit who is upon and within the Christian
disciple. Note the great importance of the ideas contained in the
following statements:
"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace unto you: as my Father hath
sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost
(Spirit): whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them;
and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained" (John
20:21-23).
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost (Spirit)
is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ (the
anointed One)?" (I Car.6:15).
The ... Holy Spirit anoints the church, the body of the
anointed One, for her priestly service unto God. The Christians
are to bring the words and graces of God to mankind. They are the
"seed of Abraham" through whom all the nations of the earth are
to be blessed (Gen.22:18).
The presence of God, healing for the body, the knowledge of
how to receive forgiveness of sins through the offering of Jesus
Christ on the cross, moral direction, peace, wisdom, the
remission or retention of sins: all these divine blessings,
guidances, and judgments come to the world only through the
priestly services of Christ working through Christian people. The
... Holy Spirit sanctifies the believer for his priestly service
and endues him with the power to bring the presence, power, and
grace of God to people who are bound by the power of the devil.
THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER
Perhaps the word Pentecost is more familiar to us than are
the names of the other Levitical convocations, with the possible
exception of Passover. Pentecost is an anglicized form of a Greek
word referring to fifty - the fiftieth day after Passover Week.
Jesus rose from the dead during the Passover Week. He visited the
earth for a period of forty days after His resurrection. Then He
ascended into heaven. Following His ascent was a period of ten
days of waiting. Jesus had commanded the apostles to stay in
Jerusalem and wait for the "promise of the Father." Finally the
fiftieth day arrived, the day of the Hebrew feast of Pentecost.
Naturally there were present at Jerusalem many thousands of
devout Jews from all over the Roman Empire who, in obedience to
the law of Moses, had come to the holy city to observe the
convocation of Pentecost. It was upon this memorable day, while
the faithful of Israel were gathered together by the Word of the
Lord - some in obedience to Moses and some in obedience to Jesus
of Nazareth - that the mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit of God
fell as a hurricane from heaven, introducing the glory of God
into the room where they were sitting.
Suddenly from heaven the spiritual fulfillment of the
convocation of Pentecost came down upon them, bringing power to
carry out the plan of redemption. The course of world history was
changed radically on that day of days...
HEAVENLY DYNAMITE
Pentecost! The very name draws our spirits toward the world
of the Spirit of God. The word should inspire to the core a true
Christian. For upon that day was given to the church the dynamite
of the Spirit to so empower the Christian camp that it can blast
the kingdom of Antichrist until everything that exalts itself
against the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be reduced to
ashes.
"But you shall receive power (Greek, dunamin) after that the Holy
Spirit is come upon you." Here is the baptism of dynamite for
service. The tongues of flame abiding upon them signified that
the word of judgment had been put into the mouths of Christ's
heralds. We see the effects of the word of judgment in the
ministries of anointed saints whose words caused people to be
gripped in an agony of conviction as the Holy Spirit convicted of
sin, righteousness, and judgment...
Pentecost!: Pentecost! Pentecost! How desperate is the need
for Pentecostal power in the world today. Sin-burdened, sick,
frustrated people need the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, a
gospel of power which brings miraculous healings and other
supernatural workings of the Spirit of Christ. Let us cry
unceasingly to the Lord for "bread" to feed the friends who have
come to us "in their journey." Harvest time is here now...
TURN YOU NORTHWARD!
The person who has come to Pentecost is neither in Egypt nor
in the land of promise. He ought not to look back toward Egypt
(life controlled by fleshly lusts). He must press on toward
maturity of the Spirit. The land of promise is reached when our
whole being is in total accord with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thus far in our study of the Levitical convocations we have
discussed the blood of Passover, the repentance of Unleavened
Bread, ... Firstfruits, and the spiritual law of Pentecost. Three
more feasts are ahead of us-three convocations that stand between
us and the fullness of redemption. Perhaps most of us have not
passed this way before. But Christ surely was in that which went
before, and Christ surely is in that which lies ahead. We cannot
stop in this pilgrimage until maturity has been reached. There
remains much land to be possessed. "Ye have compassed this
mountain long enough: turn you northward" (Deut.2:3).
TRUMPETS
"Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month,
in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a
memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation" (Lev.
23:24).
"And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that
oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets;
and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall
be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and
in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye
shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over
the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you
for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God" (Num.
10:9,10).
"So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the
Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet" (2 Sam.
6:15).
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show
my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins"
(Isa.58:1).
"Blow... the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the
day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand" (Joel 2:1 ).
.................
TO BE CONTINUED
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