Pentecost and the Law – Pt. 2

Wayne Matthews

May 25, 2013

Welcome, brethren, to another seventh day Sabbath. This week we have a few announcements.

Divorce and Remarriage

Over the past year and a half, individuals who were divorced or had recently become divorced were told they should wait until Christ returns before any dating or consideration of marriage should be made. That is now being removed since the conditions for that have now changed. There is definitely need for more revelation from God about how to address the numerous variables in such cases, as each case is individually unique. It should also be stated that brethren should be cautious to not make judgments of these things in other people's lives concerning things they do not have all knowledge in and of that which God has not given them.

After much consideration and prayer regarding such cases, it has now been determined that you are free to date and enter into marriage if dating leads to that choice. The Church in this end-time is not equipped to enter into long counseling and then rendering individual decisions and judgments in all such cases. In addition, there are simply too many things that must yet be revealed about this subject that God has not yet done. It is firmly believed that this will not happen until after Christ returns. This was never clarified fully in Mr. Armstrong's time as the Church went back and forth on this matter for a long time. God simply has not clarified all the issues that are involved in this age of mankind.

The primary stipulation in all this is that it is an individual decision each of you must make before God in entering any relationship of dating or marriage - even as it is always a matter of an individual relationship before God in spirit and in truth. So you are free to pursue dating relationships that may in time lead to marriage, but this should only be done in truthfulness and openness with any person being dated and before God.

In all cases where both individuals are in God's Church and a matter of divorce results, such individuals should always be in full contact with an evangelist and with the administration of the Church. These matters must be dealt with as a matter of God's judgment and counsel through His Church.

That, of course, was from Ron. The next announcement is in relation to disfellowshipment and is also from Ron.

Disfellowshipment:

Although it has been covered in times past, the subject of disfellowshipment needs to be repeated at this time due to the fact that some have recently been removed from fellowship in God's Church. The key in all this is "fellowship". God's instruction in this matter, especially spoken of by the apostle Paul, is about His love concerning what is best for the Body of Christ and what is best for any who are disfellowshipped. We simply are to no longer pursue having a continuing fellowship with a person in this case. Part of the purpose is to hopefully shock such an individual into the reality that their fellowship with God's Church and God no longer exists and that it is only because of being in God's Church that they enjoyed such relationships with others that they will not experience anywhere else. Whether they are brought to that reality now or in an age to come, God wants them to learn this most important truth. So it is important that we do this the way God instructs. Any personal human concept of what is best for such individuals or what is true and meaningful isn't from God and it isn't His love but one's own selfish motives that would do anything other that what God instructs. God's love is described through His instruction to us and we should seek to understand it.

One of the things that sometimes are not handled well in such cases involves physical family. One can continue to have a relationship with one's family members to whatever degree they determine is best, although the relationship will never be the same as it was when all were in God's Church together.

Also, if an employer were disfellowshipped, you would obviously continue in a relationship that is exclusively one of business and work, but only on a level that is between an employee and employer. No further outside fellowship should be nurtured in such a case.

Another area often misunderstood is when someone who has been disfellowshipped is at some function where you have been invited or happen to attend. You should not shun nor ignore such an individual, but you should be friendly to them and greet them if you cross paths. You should not treat them with any disrespect of any kind. You simply would not pursue a relationship of fellowship outside that environment, nor would you spend any real length of time with them in conversation other than being friendly and giving a greeting. The same is true if you bump into someone like this within the community, for example: out shopping, dining at a restaurant, etc.

Hopefully this gives a little more balance to the subject as sometimes this is an awkward situation for people when they do not yet fully understand how they are to obey God's instruction in such difficult matters.

And the last announcement for today – Congratulations; Bob from California has been raised to an elder and John from Erie, Pennsylvania has also been raised to an elder.

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The title of today's sermon is Pentecost and the Law – Pt. 2.

Last time we looked at the command to keep the Day of Pentecost in Leviticus 23. We also looked at an offering is commanded to be given three times a year based on what spiritual and physical blessing we could see we have received from God. We also saw that the sacrifice we are to give is of ourselves; we are to sacrifice our natural carnal mind, our desires, and put others needs and desires before our own, before the self.

We looked at the instruction Christ gave to the disciples not to leave Jerusalem so that the disciples could receive the promise of the Father on the Day of Pentecost in 31 A.D., which was, of course, God's spirit. We considered the fact that we should not leave the Church because this is where God is and this is where He pours out His spirit. We looked at scriptures that covered the final day of the Day of the Lord and the resurrection of the 144,000 at the return of Jesus Christ on a Day of Pentecost. We also started to look at Christ's return on the final day of the Day of the Lord, so let's continue with this topic.

If you'd like to turn to Matthew 24:29 - Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give it's light, the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Now this, of course, is talking about immediately after the tribulation. So we're going to see a period of distress that's going to come on the earth during the Day of the Lord, and near the end of that it says the sun and the moon will be darkened and they will not give their light because of the atmosphere that the sun and the moon will not be able to shine through. And we're also seeing here that 'the power of heavens will be shaken'; this is referring to the demonic world, because they know at that time that their end is near.

Verse 30 – Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven: and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds. Now, we looked at that before, that there is a sign of the Son of man. We're going to see the glory of Jesus Christ returning to this earth, and all of the tribes of the earth will mourn. They are going to be in distress because they're not actually going to know what is happening, but they will see the Son of man, Jesus Christ, on the clouds. There is going to be this bright light that is going to cover the earth.

Verse 31 - And He, Jesus Christ, will send His angels with a great shout of a Trumpet, and we looked at that before, which of course is the 7th Trumpet at the beginning of the Day of Pentecost, and they will gather together His elect, Jesus Christ is going to send out His angels and they will gather the 144,000 from the four winds, so the four corners of the earth, the angels will gather the 144,000 and we read previously that the dead in Christ will rise first and then those that remain alive, that are alive, that make up the 144,000 will also be raised to meet Jesus Christ in the air, from one end of the earth unto the other. So this is about all of those over a 6,000 year period that are made up in the number of 144,000. They are the firstfruits that will be harvested from the earth by Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ will send out the angels and they will gather, they will harvest the 144,000 from the earth.

Verse 32 – and Christ goes on and says, Now learn this parable from the fig tree; When its branches have already become tender and put forth leaves, you know/you see that summer is nigh; Christ is referring here to a physical example that when you see a fig tree and you can tell what's going on from seeing it, that you know that it's time, it's time to harvest.

Verse 33 - So you also, when you see, so once we see the 2nd Trumpet, for example, we will know that we are where we are in time and that we're heading for the 7th Trumpet. When you see all these things, know/see/understand that it is near, at it's very door. So it's going to talk about the return of Jesus Christ. So when we see certain events we will know for sure that the return of Jesus Christ is very soon. Assuredly I say to you, This generation will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled.

Verse 35 - Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Now, heaven and earth passing away in time will happen, in the sense of where it is on a physical level now. So Jesus Christ is saying, "Well, that will not happen until the time of when My words," about the return of Jesus Christ and, "all that has been written, is fulfilled."

Verse 36 - But of the day and hour no one knows; so here it's talking to the disciples, which was 2,000 years ago. ...no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. So at that point in time God the Father had reserved that knowledge. But of course, that was 2,000 years ago and God has revealed a lot more knowledge to His Church through Jesus Christ, which is what the book of Revelation is, it's about the revealing of Jesus Christ and about certain events. So we do know the hour and we know the day, the Day of Pentecost, and we know the hour because we can work it out as far as Jerusalem time. But outside of the exact year, well, of course, that is knowledge that is given to God's Church.

Verse 37 - But as the days of Noah, as they were, so also will be the coming of the Son of man. In the days of Noah, if you go back and look at it, here was Noah building an ark over a long period of time, and of course he had made certain statements I'm sure about a flood, and people would have mocked him because he was building an ark, a large boat on dry land. 'Course there wasn't any rain so people would have mocked him and ridiculed him and all the things that we have suffered, God's Church has suffered, Noah would have experienced and I'm sure His family would have experienced. It's really talking about unaware – there is a total unawareness of events that are soon to come on this earth.

Verse 38 - For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, so life went on as normal, people did not know what was coming and they didn't really care at that point because they were enjoying life, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, then there is a period of time when God will reveal exactly what is happening to His Church, and of course we know that the Church – because this is where God is – is a place of safety on a spiritual level. ...and not until the flood came and took them all away; so also will be the coming of the Son of man. So it's going to be right up to the end people will not know what is happening.

Matthew 25:31 - When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory: this is referring, of course, to power and authority, that Jesus Christ has authority, because He sits on a throne, a spiritual authority that He has, symbolic of that great power and the authority to implement God's word on the earth.

Verse 32 – All the nations will be gathered before Him; now this is over a period of 1,100 years. It's now covering a time span, it's not just that instant of time at the return of Jesus Christ. And He will separate them one from another, so this is based on their attitude of repentance, whether or not these people over a period of time have overcome themselves. And how is it done? Well, it gives a physical example: as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats... the sheep that follow and the goats that are stubborn and resistant.

Verse 33 – And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. The sheep are those that follow Him wherever He goes. Like the 144,000 it's talking symbolically about following, and we just heard a sermon about 'Follow...' or 'Following God'. It's on the right hand – it's talking about righteousness. But on the left, of course, are the goats – those that are not of His way. These are those that will not follow God on a spiritual level over this period of judgment of 1,100 years.

Verse 34 - Then the King, Jesus Christ, will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom, inherit eternal life/life everlasting, prepared for you from the foundation of the world: so God's purpose is revealed here. Everlasting life is God's purpose and therefore God prepared this, thinking about Jesus Christ as the Savior, then it was all about mankind, and the way that mankind would be redeemed or harvested over a period of 7,100 years was by the death of Jesus Christ. And of course, this harvesting that is now taking place on this Day of Pentecost it's talking about how it will happen but it's also talking about what is the purpose of God, about being prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Verse 35 – Now it's referring back to those that are going to be sitting on the right hand of God in the sense of the right hand having authority in God's Kingdom. For I was hungry, and you gave Me food: and I was thirsty and you gave Me drink: I was a stranger and you took Me in: talking about an attitude and a spirit of giving, about sacrificing themselves, sacrificing the self. I was naked and you clothed Me: I was sick and you visited Me: I was in prison and you came to Me. Then the righteous, course it was talking about the sheep, those at the right hand... the righteous will answer Him; now, they're righteous because God has made them so, because they have God living and dwelling in them. And they said, Lord, When did we see You hungry, and feed You? ...or thirsty, and gave You drink? So it's going back and talking about it physically... well, looking at it and thinking, "Well, when did we see You, Jesus Christ, in this condition?"

The answer is verse38 - When did we see You, a stranger, and take You in? ...or naked, and clothed You? ...or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? And the King, Jesus Christ, it's referring to, shall answer and say to them, Assuredly I say to you, Insomuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. When it's talking about this it's saying, "Well, when did we see you, Jesus Christ, in this condition?" So it's almost implying about, saying, "Well, we didn't know it was You," and that's true. But what Jesus Christ is saying is that, "If you do it to the least of these My brethren," anybody in the Body of Christ; if you do anything in that way you're doing it to Jesus Christ, and the reason is that God and Jesus Christ are in them.

Verse 41 - Then He will say to those on the left hand, talking now about the goats, those that by implication here are unrighteous, because it's talking about the righteous before and it's talking about the unrighteous - the goats, those who desire not to follow God but to follow their own way, follow their own thinking. Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: Now this is symbolic of a final death. Whenever you read often in scriptures talking about an age-lasting or an everlasting fire and gehenna, it's actually a symbolic meaning towards a final death, a complete destruction never to have life again. So it says, Depart from Me, you cursed, you unrighteous, because you refuse to follow Me, you refuse to follow God. For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, and I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink: so they didn't put themselves out in any way to sacrifice the self for the benefit of others. I was a stranger and you did not take Me in: naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.

Verse 44 - Then they will also answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to You? Here, if you look at it, the response is based on a carnal mind really, because what it's saying is, "Well, if we had known it was You, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, appointed by God the Father as the Messiah – if we had known it was You, well, we would have put ourselves out." In other words it is almost like you're admitting a way of life that is contrary to God but you're really admitting that you're prejudice, that you're a respecter of persons, because, "If it was You, Jesus Christ, well, we would have done something, but all these rest, all these other people, the brethren and everyone else, well, we're not going to worry about them."

Verse 45 - Then He will answer them saying, Assuredly I say to you, Insomuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me, in other words the brethren, because God dwells in them. And these will go away into everlasting/age-lasting punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. So there is the contrast – obedience and righteousness leads to life everlasting, and disobedience and unrighteousness leads to an age-lasting or everlasting punishment which is eternal death.

Now we'll continue on and look at the Day of the Lord, that very last day of the Day of the Lord when the physical manifestation of the Day of the Lord comes to it's fruition and now God is going to pour out His plagues on mankind for their rebellion, to humble mankind on this one day and bring it down so that people will know at the end of it what has happened in the sense that total destruction has happened and few will remain alive at the end.

So let's look at Revelation 15, and we're going to look at God's wrath on this Day of the Lord. Revelation 15:1 - Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the Seven Last Plagues; for in them, in those plagues, the wrath of God is complete; so these Seven Last Plagues  completes God's wrath toward mankind in this one day.

Verse 2 - And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire: so that's something like it, it's being seen by John and it's difficult to describe; and those who have victory over the beast,  it's talking about the 144,000, over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, so here we have the resurrected 144,000 with Jesus Christ, having harps of God.

Verse 3 - They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God Almighty; just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints.

Verse 4 - Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? ...for You alone are holy: it's only God that is holy, it's only God's ways that are holy. Everything that God is, is perfect, so we are holy when we are separated by God in the sense of a calling and God's spirit dwell in us, so God then sets us aside for holy use and purpose. So He is the only one that can make anything or anyone holy. ...verse 4, continuing, for all the nations shall come and worship before You; and that's in time; for Your judgments have been manifested.

Verse 5 - After these things I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: Now, to understand all that, a lot of that is symbolic and I don't fully understand what it's really saying. And out of the temple came the seven angels, having the Seven Last Plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen and having their chests girded with a golden band/with golden bands. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple till the Seven Plagues of the seven angels were complete.

Revelation 16:1 – Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth; and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and who worshipped his image. So it's those that are in rebellion still to God and God's way of life. Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea and it became as the blood of a dead man; in other words, it's congealed, it turns to a congealed state, and every living creature in the sea died. Now, it's not necessarily talking about the whole sea, but it's about an area that God is pouring out His wrath where it has people that are in rebellion and warring against Jesus Christ.

Verse 4 - Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water; and they became blood. So they also became congealed in an area that Jesus Christ is now warring against those nations and pouring out God's wrath on mankind.

Verse 5 - And I heard the angels of the waters say, You are righteous, O God, the One who is, and who was, and is to be, because You have judged these things. Because it's righteous judgment. This is the penalty of sin, this is the penalty for rebellion that God is pouring out on mankind – all for the purpose of learning a lesson, because these people will be resurrected at some point and they will give glory to God during that hundred year period and they will remember this day, if they died during this day, because they'll remember these Plagues that were poured out on them and they will look back and they will see that it is a righteous judgment.

Verse 6 - For they have shed the blood of the saints and prophets, and that has happened, of course, over 6,000 years; that's exactly what mankind has done; and you have given them blood to drink; we're not sure exactly what that really means, because I'm sure there are symbolic meanings to some of this, but it also means in this area the water that they have has congealed and it's undrinkable, for it is their due.

Verse 7 - And I heard another from the altar saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.

Verse 8 - Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun; and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. So here we have the fourth Plague that is being poured out and whatever happens here there is a heat, that it scorches mankind, so obviously it becomes very hot, and it says, with fire, so we're not really sure exactly all of the meanings of this but obviously there is great suffering from this heat.

Verse 9 – And the men were scorched with great heat and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these Plagues: and they did not repent and give glory to Him. So they don't glorify God and they won't repent, they will not change their thinking, they don't think differently, because that's what repentance is.

Verse 10 – Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast; so this is the seat of authority and power, and his kingdom became full of darkness: Now, this is talking about Satan's kingdom, really, his area, and also the united Europe - His kingdom became full of darkness. So there is this great darkness and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain, because of this distress that comes. Obviously there is agony involved.

Verse 11 – They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds. Because that's why God punishes. He punishes for the purpose of correction, to change an attitude that will lead to repentance.

Verse 12 – Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates; and its waters were dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, so here we're talking about unclean spirits and we're talking about Satan; and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. So here we have a demonic area of beings coming out and starting to manipulate things even more than what they already have – from the Day of the Lord, the beginning of this day you can see that Satan and the demons still have operational things that they are doing with united Europe, Russia, and China to this point of time.

Verse 14 - For they are the spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, so they still have that freedom to this point in time before they are finally locked up at the end of this day, to gather them to battle, of that great day of Almighty God.

Verse 15 - Behold, I am coming as a thief. Now, people really, when you look at this, it's talking about people being unprepared. People aren't ready for this, they are not ready for the return of Jesus Christ and they don't want to know about it. It's saying here, Christ is saying, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, spiritually, and keeps his garments, spiritually, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. It's talking about a spiritual condition, that we should be watching our attitudes, we should be watching ourselves. It's very interesting, really, because when you look at the history of God's Church we see that people have left God's Church over time, and they either disfellowship themselves or they're disfellowshipped. The reality is that we often talk about government, they're no longer under government. The main problem is that we, brethren, have the potential to stop looking at ourselves, stop examining ourselves, stop correcting ourselves by the power of God's spirit, and rather than looking inward at our own problems where we have wrong attitudes we tend to start looking out and looking at others and then starting to say what we think is right and wrong. That's the problem with mankind. We've got to watch ourselves, not others. So we're to bring ourselves under government, we're to place ourselves under government – under government, the government of God, which is God's spirit ruling our lives. And when we're not under government any longer we start to then make decisions of what we think is right and wrong, we set up our own government.

Verse 16 - And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

Verse 17 - Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple in heaven, from the throne saying, It is done. All seven vials, all seven Plagues have been poured out on mankind.

Verse 18 - And there were noises, and thunders, and lightning's; and there was a great earthquake, a great shaking, such a mighty and great earthquake/shaking, as had not occurred since man were on the earth. So this is a marvelous and great event that God does through His great power through Jesus Christ.

Verse 19 - And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: because that's what has to happen. Babylon must fall, the system of government must fall, the way of Assyria must fall, it must be brought down; the way of Egypt, the way of bondage must be brought down. The nations and all that they represent, everything that Satan has set up must fall. ...and great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.

Verse 20 - And every island fled away, every nation, and every mountain was not found/and mountains were not found. Man's governments no longer existed, everything has been brought down, it has collapsed because of God's wrath, the Seven Last Plagues.

Verse 21 - And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hail stone about the weight of a talent: I can't remember how many kilos it is but it's big! ...men blasphemed God because of the Plague of the hail since that Plague was exceedingly great. It is very destructive and it will kill people but it will also destroy housing and everything else that is around.

Revelation 17:1 – Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me saying to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits over many waters: now, this great harlot, as we know, is false religion, and it's symbolized really by the Roman Catholic church who started a false religion through Simon Magus and who has fought God's Church and God's way of life, and from that, of course, many other religions have come out which are – it says later on in scripture – the mother of harlots, but she is the main harlot that is being referred to here, that sits over many waters – over many governments and over many nations.

Verse 2 - With whom the kings of the earth, the nations, committed fornication, now, 'fornication' in scripture is talking about an unlawful relationship, something that God has not or does not permit. ...and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So this unlawful relationship, this having a relationship with Satan's way of life, she has actually promoted it and therefore the nations of the earth and the peoples of the earth have had this relationship, unlawful, and it's driven by false doctrine, the false doctrine that comes out from the Catholic church that other religions have left the Catholic church and started up. Well, man has started up their own religions and adopted the religion, or the doctrines, of the -- most of the doctrines – of the Catholic church.

Verse 3 - So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, so here we're talking about a woman, a church, a false church sitting on a scarlet beast, which is Europe, the united Europe, which was full of names of blasphemy: so they take God's name in vain by what they do, having seven heads and ten horns. And of course that's talking about the seven revivals of the Roman Empire; and ten horns, the final 10 nations. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, so this woman, this church was arrayed with great power and wealth, because purple is symbolic and scarlet is symbolic of power and wealth, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls and having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication: Well, these abominations, of course, are false doctrine. The doctrines that have come out from the churches are... they are abomination because they are opposite to what God is. God is love and God has a way of life. Well, these religions and this main harlot promotes a way of life that is an abomination. You have men that call themselves 'Father', yet in scripture it clearly says that you're not to do that, you shouldn't take on a religious title and call yourself 'Father' in place of God. It's absolutely disgusting when you really sit down and think about it, let alone all the other stupid and crazy man-made doctrines they have, relation to christenings rather than immersion, they have things like 'communion' rather than keeping the Passover. They are...it's actually filthiness as God's says; they are abominable and they are filthiness because they promote a false relationship, fornication. They promote a relationship with a demonic world.

Verse 5 - And on her forehead, symbolically talking here about the way of thinking, a name was written, MYSTERY, BABYLON, confusion. Their religions are a mystery, no one can work it out! You talk about a trinity, how you can work it out – you can't, so it is a mystery, but worse than that it is Babylon. It is confusion! ...BABYLON THE GREAT, there is great confusion amongst all these religions, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, she is the mother and they are all harlot churches, it says here, because she is the mother of all the harlots, all the other religions that have come out from her, AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Yes, their doctrines are an abomination of the earth, they are abominable.

Verse 6 - And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: Yes, this church has persecuted God's way of life and has persecuted God's prophets and apostles and brethren over the period of its existence, and it still does in ways that are not necessarily obvious, but we are persecuted because we're looked at as odd because we don't fit in with their religious beliefs, their doctrines. This church has been the instigator of the death of many of God's people. ...and when I saw her, I marvelled with great amazement. So here it's referring back to this confusion. If you go back to the tower of Babel, it was Babylon and you can see that in the end it was called Babel because it was confusion, God confused the languages. Well, there is nothing but confusion in the religions of the world today.

If you'd like to drop down to Revelation 18:1 – Now, this is about a new government that is going to be set up at the end of the Day of Pentecost. After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven having great authority; and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, Babylon, this world's system, has fallen, is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison of every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. Winged spirits. It's talking about this confusion and it has now fallen because it is and has been occupied by unclean spirits, the evil spirit world. Satan and his demons have set this up – well, now it is completely fallen. It is done because now we have Jesus Christ and the 144,000 setting up a new government, which we read about in Isaiah 2.

Verse 3 - For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, so every nation, because they were never called, has consumed and drunk the doctrines of this false religion; the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. So here it's referring back to Babylon, this system, the way that man operates, the way that man governs, the way that man thinks, that the nations have drunk all this in, false doctrines, religiously, but also the way of the system, the way of get. When you look at all the systems...they talk about democracy or liberal or labor or republican, doesn't matter what it is, Republics, it makes no difference, they are all set up under the thinking of mankind and it is about captivity. It's about holding man and man's thinking captive, it's about ruling and controlling, governing the way we think. And it's not only on a physical level that you are governed, but you're governed the way you think, you're not allowed to do this, you're not allowed to do that, and all is contrary to the way that God is. They are oppressive in their nature and in their design. They enforce authority over you in ways that shouldn't happen.

Verse 4 - And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, So God's people are to leave this system of government, this oppression that has been set up. We're to leave this way of thinking, lest you share in her sins and lest you receive of her plagues. So we are to be separated from this world, we're to come out of this world's thinking, we're to come out of the bondage of the way the world thinks, which is the way of sin, and we are to come out and be separate. Because if we don't and we go back into this system we will receive the Plagues that God is going to pour out. So the way to avoid these Seven Last Plagues on this very last day, the Day of Pentecost, is to come out and be separate, to think differently, to repent of our sins and go before the mercy seat of God on a regular basis and fight that fight, fight that battle that God has set before us. Because if we don't we will receive the Plagues that are going to be poured out because we will no longer be part of the Body of Christ, we will no longer have God and Jesus Christ dwelling in us, we will leave the fellowship of God and God's people.

Verse 5 - For her sins have reached to heaven and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works: in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously; and of course here it's saying she glorified herself, she lifted herself up to be above others. When you look at the Catholic church and if you look at the rituals and everything that they say are a mystery, really that religion and the religions of mankind have lifted themselves up above God. They refuse the seventh day Sabbath, they refuse the 10 Commandments, they refuse Passover. They've changed all those things and they accept it willingly. God says here, really, that they deserve a double measure really, of punishment, because often – not always – often it's willful, that they know full well what they're doing but they just reject it. ...in the same measure give her torment and sorrow: for she says in her heart, I sit as queen, and I am no widow, and will not see sorrow. So really this is about pride, and we know there are scriptures talking about that God will pour out His wrath on all those that have pride. Well, here, this is an arrogance of false religion. I sit as queen, I'm number one, nothing can touch me! ...I'm no widow, what are you talking about, I actually have relationships and I will not see any sorrow, I won't be brought down, I won't fall into destruction!

Verse 8 - Therefore her Plagues will come in one day, death and mourning and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire: which is also symbolic of trial. There is going to be this massive trial! ...for strong is the Lord God who judges her. So God is more powerful because He is the creator of all things spirit and physical, and yet man's mind has the capacity to raise itself up so that it can nullify God's great power and authority.

Verse 9 – The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! ...for in one hour your judgment has come. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her; for no one buys her merchandise any more: So this system of Babylon, of confusion, of man's governments but also religious confusion will be brought down, it will fall in this one day and it will be brought to an end. And we look forward to that day, brethren.

Revelation 19:1 - After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, belong to the Lord our God: for true and righteous are His judgments; so what is happening is just. God is just in all His dealings, so here it is  glorifying God saying, "Thank God that He is doing what He is, for He is true and righteous and His judgments are true and righteous," because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and that's exactly what has happened, and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her. God is going to pour out His wrath on this false religious system and on Babylon, and it's going to be brought down because of these reasons, because the great harlot, this false religion, has corrupted this earth with its thinking and it's doctrines, and He will avenge the blood of these servants, those that over the period have died and have been persecuted by this church.

Again they said, Alleluia. Her smoke rises up forever and ever. It's going to be brought down and destroyed and of course it does come to an end, but it's implying here that its burning lasts, in the sense of it lasts a day and it's destroyed, but it's smoke will rise forever and ever but it's destruction happens in one day, in one hour it's brought down.

And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. You know, "We thank God that it's over." Then a voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all you His servants, and those who fear Him, both small and great. And we read a scripture about that before; the 144,000 will give glory to God on this day. His servants, those that live on into the Millennium will give God glory and will continue to fear Him through obedience, obedience through the commandments.

Verse 6 - And I heard as it were a voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns.

Verse 7 - Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, it's talking about the resurrection of the 144,000, the Church that is changed, because it is talking about a marriage of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and it's come, and His wife, the 144,000, the Church of God has made herself ready.

Verse 8 - And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, it's talking about the 144,000, and because the 'fine linen' is the righteousness of the saints, clean and bright: fine linen is the righteous acts of saints. Because it is God living and dwelling in them, that's what makes a person righteous.

Verse 9 - Then he said to me, Write, Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Well, it's a great blessing, brethren, just to be called, but we're all called at different points for different reasons. There are some alive today that were called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, to be part of the resurrection of the 144,000, and there are others that are called to live into the Millennium, that at a future point in time will marry Jesus Christ in the sense of be changed and have a relationship with Jesus Christ as a spirit being.

And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. So here is John saying he fell at the feet of an angel. But he said to me, See that you do not do that, I am a fellow servant; so here is an angelic being saying, "I'm a servant of God," and of your brethren; so he is a supporter, a servant of the brethren who have the testimony of Jesus: the brethren that have the testimony of Jesus, they have the witness, the evidence of Jesus Christ living and dwelling in them; worship God: we are to worship God the Father for His great power. He is the Almighty God and everything that exists is because of what God has established. God is all powerful and everything will come out exactly as He has planned, and His plan is to create Elohim...for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Verse 11 - Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; now, it's talking symbolically here, and He who sat on it was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and make war. It's talking about Jesus Christ who God established; He was faithful and He is true because it is God living and dwelling through Him that established Him as being righteous, and He judges because He is righteous, because He is now God and He makes war. On behalf of God the Father He is going to make war with mankind.

Verse 12 - His eyes were like a flame of fire and on His head were many crowns; symbolic of the authority that He has been given by God the Father: He had a name that no one knew except Himself. And this is often talking in symbolic language and we don't fully comprehend all of it.

Verse 13 - He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. Because He was the Word of God. Jesus Christ was the Word of God manifested in human form.

Verse 14 - And the armies in heaven, the 144,000, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. So here it is talking about a group of people that have been harvested from the earth on the Day of Pentecost that follow Jesus Christ wherever He goes, in the sense of they follow the spiritual lead that comes from Jesus Christ, from God the Father to Jesus Christ in their minds and they follow in total unity of belief, total unity of character, which is love.

Verse 15 – Now, out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, which of course is the Word of God, it's what is spoken will happen; it is true because it is righteous, that with it He should strike the nations; so He strikes the nations by words which often are written in prophecy in the book of Revelation already, but He strikes them through words: and He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron; so it is about commandments, it is about authority, and there are penalties for sin. We know the wages of sin, of this continual unrepentant rebellion is death on a physical  and spiritual level. This 'rod of iron' is symbolic of authority: there is a cause and effect. If someone willingly will not repent and if they are deliberate and willful and don't want God's way, well, God will deal with it, Jesus Christ will deal with it, the 144,000 will deal with it because it's just and right, it's the only outcome that will bring unity. People will have to be dealt with. ...He, Himself, treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. Jesus Christ now insures that there is a punishment for those that are in rebellion to God, or those who have been destroying the earth.

Verse 16 - And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Because God the Father appointed Him to this role, and we look for the return of Jesus Christ as King of Kings. We yearn for it, we desire it, but we will wait on God's timing because God knows best; God knows best in all things and He knows when it is best to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth.

Verse 17 - Then I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice, of course symbolically, this is talking, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather together to the supper of the great God; Now, here it's talking about Armageddon, where there is going to be a destruction of mankind across a broad area of the earth. God is saying here that He is going to invite the birds of the earth to this supper, to destroy the flesh that is going to be there...but it's also speaking symbolically as well.

Verse 18 - That you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains and the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great. Talking about a destruction of all types of mankind both small and great. So they're going to be brought down, they're going to be destroyed because of their rebellion.

Verse 19 - Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against Him, Jesus Christ, who sat on the horse, and against His army, the 144,000 and also the angelic realm.

Verse 20 - Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast, and those who worship his image. These two were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone –now, this is symbolic of death. There is going to be the death of this religious system – it's going to be brought down – and it's also the death of the governments. They're going to be brought down!

Verse 21 - And the rest were killed with the sword which precedes out of the mouth of Him who sat on the horse: and all the birds were filled with their flesh. So here it's saying that Jesus Christ, by words that are spoken, that are often written in this book here where we can see them, that it is about destruction, it is what Jesus Christ says, the timing of the pouring out of this destruction will happen and here we have Europe and the armies that rise up against Jesus Christ, with Russia and China, will be destroyed. They'll be brought to nothing, as will false religion.

Revelation 20:1 - Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. Now this, of course, is symbolic and it's talking about restraint. This key to the bottomless pit is basically pointing to a place of restraint that the angels have been held under, and there are no physical chains, it's talking about spiritual restraint.

He laid hold on the dragon, that serpent of old who is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. So here we have an angelic force that binds Satan and his demons and they are now held in a place of restraint, and it's called 'the bottomless pit'. So this place of restraint is they can no longer broadcast and they no longer can have an effect on mankind's thinking.

Verse 3 – And he cast him into the bottomless pit, this place of restraint, and he shut him up and a seal was set upon him, so this seal is about not having power and authority any longer, because Satan and the demons have authority and power on this earth at this point of time - they've had it for 6,000 years according to God's will. Well, now God's will is they no longer have any effect on mankind. Mankind is going to be freed from this transmitting of evil; this system that Satan has built is going to be done away and their influence on mankind is going to be put away for 1,000 years. ...so that he should not deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished: so it is about this deception, it is about the false religious deception that has been broadcast out through Satan through false religion, and it's going to be stopped for 1,000 years. ...but after these things, he must be released for a little while. So there is a period of time that after the 1,000 years is finished – and we're not sure exactly when that is – that he will be released again.

Verse 4 - And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them: it's talking about authority and rulership given to the 144,000 for this 1,000 years; and I saw the lives of those who had been cut off for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, these are the people that have been cut off from the world, and they have been cut off in the sense that God had called them and drawn them out of this world – where it says 'come out of her My people' – they had achieved that and over a lifetime they had fought against themselves by the power of God's spirit. And the reason they came out? ...for a witness to Jesus, because they had Jesus Christ living and dwelling in them and it was God doing the works in them; and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, they hadn't now and they were no longer subject to that system and had not received his mark on their foreheads, in their thinking, or on their hands, in other words, in their actions. So these were people that had changed the way they thought, they were repenting and they no longer had their works in their hands, they no longer were Sunday worshippers, they changed their actions, the way they lived... and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So this is the 1,000 year period where they are going to have the 144,000 living and ruling with Jesus Christ on the earth and all of those people that live into the Millennium and are then born during that Millennium will have a wonderful rule of Jesus Christ. Because the law is going to go out from Zion, as we read in Isaiah.

And then in verse 5 it says - But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. So it's referring now that the rest of the dead will not be resurrected so there is only the 144,000 that are resurrected, the rest will stay dead until the end of the thousand years where there is a resurrection and they will be resurrected for a hundred year lifeline, a hundred years of life to live in obedience to God. And now it refers back to the previous comments. This is the first resurrection; it's the resurrection of the 144,000.

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection - anyone that has been called by God and given the great blessing of being part of the 144,000 on the Day of Pentecost when that 7th Trumpet blows and the dead in Christ rise first, and then those that remain alive and are resurrected to spirit, it is a marvelous and wonderful blessing...and they are holy because God makes them holy! Isn't that an exciting time! ...over such the second death has no power, so this second death, of course, to have a second death you would have to live twice. These 144,000 cannot die, they are spirit in composition and they are part of Elohim and God lives in them. ...but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years. So that is what the Day of Pentecost is about.

Let's look back at Acts 2:1. We understand that the Day of Pentecost was about the pouring out of God's spirit, and so we're going to review that because it's only by God's spirit that we can obey the law and it's only by God's spirit that the 144,000 can be given life everlasting.

In Acts 2:1 - Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. So they had followed the commandment that Jesus Christ had given, which was to get together on the Day of Pentecost, to not leave Jerusalem, and that the promise of the Father would be given. And here they are in one accord, one way of thinking. And suddenly there came a sound, so there is this loud noise from heaven as of a rushing and mighty wind, so it sounds like a roaring wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. So there was this great noise that is taking place, like a rushing wind. Then there appeared to them, so this is a physical thing they're seeing, divided tongues as of fire, so it looks like it's fire, and sat upon each of them. So there is this appearance of a fire sitting on top of them....and they were all filled with the holy spirit and began to speak with other tongues/other languages as the spirit gave them utterance. So it's only the power of God that could enable this, and if we think about it God created the languages.

At the tower of Babel when He put confusion amongst the people there the languages were created, so that one person could go off to another person and say something and they wouldn't be understood. Yet you could go and talk to someone else and you were perfectly understood. So God, through His great power, created languages. Just like if you think back about Adam and Eve. When Adam was created he was created with a language, he understood language so he knew when he spoke, when he spoke to Eve, they could understand each other. Well, here we have a great miracle of God because it's only by the power of God that somebody that could only speak one language could all of a sudden understand other languages.

Verse 5 – Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. So all different languages.

Verse 6 - And when this sound occurred the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. So this is the miracle. The miracle is not only in speaking but it's also in the hearing in the sense that they could hear the language being spoken. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these men who speak Galileans? So there was a language, they were from Galilee... and how is it we hear each in our own language in which we were born? They could understand what was being said to them.

If you drop down to verse 14 - But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words: For these are not drunk, because that's what they had said, as you have supposed, since it is only the third hour of the day. It's early in the morning, it's about 9:00am on the Sunday morning which was the Pentecost daylight portion. But this is what was spoken by Joel the prophet, And it shall come to pass in the last days, now this is also talking about then, but it's also talking about now as in the fact that God pours out His spirit when He calls somebody and He gives them that opportunity, that God's spirit is continued, it's been a continual process and it will continue. And that is the beauty of the Day of Pentecost; it's a continual giving of God's spirit until the end. And that's why we look for the Millennium, because we want the return of Jesus Christ so that those living waters can be poured out on all mankind that are left alive, so that they can begin to see spiritually.

Continuing in verse 17... And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My spirit on all flesh: so it was that point, and it was the beginning of it on 31 A.D., and it will continue and it's going to be magnified in the Millennium and particularly in the Last Great Day period, that last hundred years, in that second resurrection to physical life. God is going to fulfill this because He's going to give the opportunity to mankind by pouring out His spirit, which gives them the opportunity to think spiritually, to see spiritual things. It's exciting! ...your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams: And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out My spirit in those days; so here was a beginning of it and it's going to continue through. ...and they shall prophesy: and I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor, and smoke: And it's talking about the time of the end.

Verse 20 - The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, we read about that, before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord, that final one day. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And of course, it's about God calling them first and then that person responding.

Drop down to verse 36 - Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made this Jesus, whom you put to death/impaled on a pole, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this they were cut to the heart, God gave them the power to see spiritually. It's the beginning of seeing and repenting. ...and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? In other words, what shall we do? Now we have all this knowledge, what shall we do? And of course it's God who grants the knowledge, it's God who grants the understanding, and it's God that grants the repentance.

Then Peter said to them, Repent, this is about thinking differently, turn; to repent is to turn from one way to another, and every one of you be baptized/be immersed in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness/remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the holy spirit. So this is the promise. The promise is that once we are drawn and called we have the opportunity to repent, to think differently, to turn from where we were heading before and turn in the complete opposite direction, to go against the natural carnal mind and to let God govern our life. And of course, through that, upon repentance, we then can turn to God and be immersed, to bury the old man and the way we thought before and to rise up a new man, a new way of living. So we put to death the old way and we are now going to walk in newness of life, a new way, which is to follow God in obedience to His commandments that have not been done away. The only way we can do it is the beauty of Pentecost, which is the power of God's spirit. We can receive the gift of God's spirit and God can honor His promise by placing His spirit permanently, in the sense of dwelling in us until we sin, because sin cuts us off from God and if we repent before God, God will allow the flow of His spirit to continue in us. So we can be impregnated with God's spirit, receive this gift of God's spirit. God's spirit is the ability to see spiritually, the ability to think spiritually, and the ability to obey God and God's law.

Verse 39 - For the promise is to you, at that time it was to them and it's to us if we're drawn and called, and to your children, which we are, we are children of God because we have God's spirit. But we are also children from descendents of Abraham in the sense if we're not on a physical level we are on a spiritual level because the promise applies to both Jew and Gentile as it says. It doesn't matter about what race a person is, it all depends on a calling, and we all become members of the Body of Christ and once we receive God's spirit we become begotten sons of God. So we can receive the promise, and the promise was to us and to your children, and that's something in the future, to all who are afar off, all those in the future. It's to Jew and Gentile, doesn't make any difference. ...as many as the Lord our God will call, because that's what it requires, it requires a calling, otherwise you can't come to God.

We can see from this that God's spirit enables a person to keep the law of God. It is God's spirit that enables us to obey Him, but it is a choice also, we have to choose to desire to obey God and God will fulfill His works in us.

It's interesting that the churches of this world fail to tell the truth. False religion fails to tell the truth. Instead they teach, basically, that we're under grace and that the law is done away, which is just insane stuff when you read the Bible. They say that the law is no longer required. They believe that grace enables us to disobey God, that we are free from the law of God. Well, we can see clearly from scriptures, which we've already looked at, that that's not the case.

1 John 3:1 - Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that's about a calling. He's bestowed His love on us; the fact that He called us... that we should be called children of God: so we're called, first of all, and once we repent, are baptized and receive God's spirit we can then be called children of God because we're begotten sons. We are children of God if God's spirit dwells in us, we are begotten sons of God. Now, that is a great understanding to have, that we can walk knowing that we are begotten sons of God and that we have God's mind, an aspect of it, dwelling in us. ...therefore the world does not know us, because they can't, because it did not know Him. The churches of the world and the world do not know God. They do not recognize God in Christ therefore they do not recognize God in us. So when they can't see that Jesus Christ had the Word of God dwelling in Him, how can they recognize us? They can't, it's impossible, because they reject God and God's law therefore they will reject us, they cannot recognize us.

Verse 2 - Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be: but we know, we see now that when He is revealed, the return of Jesus Christ, we shall be like Him; so we will have His character, we will be glorified on the Day of Pentecost - for the 144,000 - others in the future...for we shall see Him as He is, spirit! So we're to remember what Christ said, "If you have seen Me," if you've seen Jesus Christ and the way He lived, the way He thought, the way He acted, "you have seen the Father." Because it was God in Him that was doing the works.

We are to conform to the image of His Son Jesus Christ, and the only way that we can do that is to allow God and God's spirit to live and dwell in us. Christ lived a sinless life, which is what we should strive to do. We should strive to live a sinless life. We've got to fight against ourselves by the power of God's spirit.

Verse 3 - And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Verse 4 - Whoever commits/practices sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. So sin is the transgression of the law, and if there is no law, well, therefore you can't sin. The law reveals what sin is. To answer our question, "What is sin?" Sin is when we break the spiritual intent of God's law being the 10 Commandments and it's intent and when we break the Sabbath and Holy Days.

Verse 5 -And you know that He was manifest to take away our sins; by being our Passover sacrifice, and Christ paid the penalty for our sins, and in Him there is no sin. So we can also see what the penalty of sin is.

Romans 6:23, and I'll just refer to it – The wages/payment of sin is death, which is a second death, but the gift of God is eternal life/life everlasting in Jesus Christ our Lord. So we are not to practice sin, brethren, but by the power of the holy spirit we're to strive against ourselves and overcome ourselves.

If you'd like to turn to Matthew 5:10; and here we're going to look at the way Jesus Christ discussed the law - Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Well, brethren, if we are persecuted because of righteousness' sake...well, God in us makes us righteous, so if we're persecuted, if we're vilified because of the way we live, which is God's way of life, we are promised the Kingdom of God because of it, because we're suffering for Christ.

Verse 11 - Blessed are you, when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. So if we suffer for Christ's sake... Now, there is an area here which we need to be careful. Often we bring things upon ourselves because of our own human stupidity, so we're not suffering for righteousness sake, we're often suffering because we act silly or we act based on a carnal thinking. Here it's referring to when we're persecuted or we suffer because of righteousness, because of the way we live, because of our obedience to the 10 Commandments, for the obedience to God, obedience to the Sabbath and Holy Days. If we suffer because of that, if we're persecuted because of that, for the sake of God, we should rejoice, and God says we're blessed because of it, because we're suffering for His sake, we're suffering for Christ's sake because of His way of life; we're suffering because of His way of life, because we're living it.

Verse 12 - Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven: and we covered that in a previous sermon. The promise, our reward, is reserved in heaven, and at a certain point in time, for some, 144,000 the reward will be given and they will dwell on the earth. Well, it's no different for those that live into the Millennium, there is a reward that is reserved for them in heaven but it's going to be given to them on this earth. ...for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. So we can see the history of mankind, it has always persecuted God's way of life, God's apostles, God's prophets...and God's people have always been persecuted; if it's for righteousness sake, because it was, it was God in them doing the works.

Verse 13 - You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost its flavor, wherein shall it be salted? It is therefore henceforth no good, it's good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot/under foot of men. So the salt that we have is God in us, and if we lose God, if we lose God's spirit what good are we to anybody, because we'll only be living out what we think is best in our own eyes, what we think is right and wrong. But if we have salt, which we have God's spirit living and dwelling within us, we are of value to God and also of value to mankind.

Verse 14 - You are the light of the world. So we should be able to be seen by the light, the truth, the word of God living and dwelling in us. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Well, it's about the Church. If we're living righteously we won't be hidden, we're going to be persecuted, we're going to be mocked because people will identify we're different.

Verse 15 - Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house. So brethren, we should be a light by the way we live, we should be noted for the way we live, and it should be obvious to those around us that we're different, we should be a light to others in the sense they may not understand what we live but our righteousness in the sense of God living and dwelling in us, our love, our concern, our mercy towards others should be obvious. Our lack of gossip towards others, our lack of ill will towards others should shine out to others and they should be able to see something of God in us.

Verse 16 - Let your light so shine before men that they see your good works, which is God in us, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Now, that'll happen in time, it won't happen now because they can't see God in us. But one day when they're called they'll be able to give glory to God for what He achieved in us – the potter and the clay, the potter molding the clay, and they'll be able to give glory to God and say, "Wow! Isn't that incredible! Now I know why they were the way they were, because it was God the Father working in them doing the works." It's an exciting time ahead of us! When those people are called to see the good works of God in others it's going to be exciting!

Verse 17 -Think not that I have come to destroy the law, in other words, get rid of it or abolish it, or the prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill, to complete, to live it! So God is simply saying through Jesus Christ here that Christ came not to do away with the law – it's the opposite – He came to magnify it, to live it...and that's what Jesus Christ did, He lived the spiritual intent of the law.

Verse 18 - For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till it is all fulfilled. So it's not going to change, it's impossible. The law, the spiritual intent of the law, the Sabbath and Holy Days cannot change, Jesus Christ didn't come to change it, and He's saying, "Well, heaven and earth are going to pass away..." Well, have a look around, has it passed away? Has heaven and earth passed away? No, therefore not one aspect of the law can change. Nothing about the spiritual intent of the law can change, it's impossible, and it won't change while man exists.

Verse 19 - Whoever therefore shall break one of the least of the commandments, and shall teach men so, which is what the world teaches, he shall be called least in the Kingdom of heaven: so God's government will look at it as if they have no value because of it, they will not be seen as having God dwelling in them. ...but whoever shall do and teach them, so to do the law we're going to have to have God's spirit, and to teach God's law, the spiritual intent of the law the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven. So at some point in time - because you're talking about a future period here - that one day they'll be called great because God lived in them and they obeyed the law. So in the future God's law will pour out from His Church from the Government of God and it will be taught, and those that teach it will be called great because they're teaching God's law in the Millennium, in the hundred years.

Verse 20 - For I say unto you, That except your righteousness, so your own personal righteousness, which is self-inflicted, of course, by pride, shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, which were filled with pride; you shall in no case enter the Kingdom of heaven. You cannot enter God's Kingdom, you cannot enter Elohim unless you have no longer man's righteousness, which is the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees – self-righteousness. You can't have self-righteousness and get into the Kingdom of God, because God can't reward you with a promise because of your own arrogance and pride. He says unless your righteousness exceeds – because it's God's righteousness. God has to live and dwell in us to make us righteous! Then God can give us the Kingdom of God, we can have life everlasting.

Verse 21 - You have heard that it is said by them of old time, You shall not kill; well, that's the law, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of judgment: Yes, the judgment is death. But I say to you, That whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whoever shall say to his brother, Fool/Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whoever shall say, You fool, shall be in danger of the gehenna fire. So this is talking about an attitude, brethren. We have to be very careful that we don't judge and condemn and pull others down, because when we destroy others character by gossip or pull others down we actually are showing anger or hate or ill will or murder towards them and the result will be we're in danger of gehenna fire, we're in danger of eternal death.

Verse 23 - Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, if you come before God and you remember that your brother has something against/or you have something against your brother, (verse 24) leave there your gift before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. So what God is saying there is that you can't come before His mercy seat and ask for mercy if you're not showing or extending mercy to your brother, someone else. You've got to be reconciled to your brother, to members of the Body of Christ and those in the world. We should be reconciled to them, coming to unity with them – and in the world it's more difficult but you can still come to a point of peace or agreement with them where you hold no ill will to them. If they still hold ill will to you it's not your problem, but if you have ill will towards them it's a problem in the world, and any members of the Body of Christ. We're to reconcile, then we're to come before God, because God will then forgive us because we have forgiven others.

Verse 25 -  Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; so do it quickly, don't leave it unresolved. Resolve it! ...lest at any time your adversary deliver you to the judge and the judge deliver you to an officer and you be cast into prison. Talking physically. But spiritually we can be held captive by our attitude; so we're to repent and to change and make sure we are in a state of repentance when we come to God.

Verse 26 - Verily I say unto you, you shall by no means come out hence till you have paid the outermost farthing. So in other words, there is a time you've got to pay the penalty...you've got to pay the penalty. Well, the way that we can do it is to reconcile and repent and hold no ill will to anyone else.

Verse 27 - You have heard it said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery: But I say unto you that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart/in his mind. So we know, brethren, that it's about the spiritual intent of the law. Now, that applies to all 10 Commandments, and maybe in a future sermon we will go down that path and look at the spiritual intent of the law. But the purpose of this sermon was to view Pentecost, the Day of Pentecost, the glorious return of Jesus Christ. And He will reap from the earth 144,000; it is a time of harvest. Those 144,000 will come from the Old and New Testament. It is a time when the law was given. We know that Pentecost was also about the time when God poured out His spirit to enable mankind to keep God's law, because without God's spirit you cannot keep God's law.

So that will wind up this sermon series, brethren, and I'd just like to refer back to Isaiah 2 because it is important. Because at the end of the Day of Pentecost, on the end of the Day of the Lord when God pours out His wrath on mankind and Satan and his demons are locked up – which is symbolic, of course, and covered in the Day of Atonement, which is the removal of Satan and his demons from influencing mankind for 1,000 years. One thousand years of peace, where there will be one Church, there will be one doctrine, one truth, there will be unity within mankind because of God pouring out His spirit – because out of Zion, that's where the law will be taught, that's where truth will be taught, and it will be lived by the power of God's spirit.

So we can see in Isaiah 2 that the law will flow out from Mount Zion from Jerusalem and people will be required to come up and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And if in their rebellion they will not over time God will deal with them, just like it is now with the law. We are required to keep God's law and Holy Days, and mankind will be required in the Millennium and the hundred years to do likewise.

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