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So we turn again to the book of Leviticus in chapter twenty three and reading at verse nine. Leviticus chapter twenty three verse nine. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When you be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruit of your harvest unto the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you.
On the morrow after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it, and you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf, and he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savor. And the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hen. And you shall eat neither bread nor parched corn nor green ears, until the sell same day that you have brought an offering unto you. It shall be statured forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
And it shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheep for the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be complete. Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days. And you'll offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals. They shall be of fine flour. They shall be baking with leaven. They are the first fruits unto the Lord. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs, though blemish of the first year, and one young bullock and two rams. These shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord with their meat offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire of sweet savor unto the Lord.
And then he shall sacrifice one of the kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the Lord with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day that it may be an holy convocation unto you. Ye shall do no servile work therein. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. We observed last evening that the feast of the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, they have been fulfilled in the sacrifice of Christ and its effect upon the lives of men and women.
According to First Corinthians chapter five, for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We'll commence this evening by considering the Feast of Firstfruits, and we shall discover that the Feast of Firstfruits was fulfilled in Christ's resurrection. The apostle makes that clear in First Corinthians chapter fifteen: but every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ at his coming. Now, the first matter that we must observe is this, that now we have a new revelation, the second such in this chapter.
A new revelation is given for the Feast of Firstfruits, and this revelation covers not only the Feast of Firstfruits, but the next feast, the Feast of Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks. When I refer to this new revelation, I refer to the language of verse nine, and Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying. We observed on our first evening that each time this expression occurs in the book of Leviticus, the Lord spake unto Moses, it indicates a new revelation. Thus, the first revelation in the chapter covers the Passover and the unleavened Bread.
The second revelation covers the Feast of First Fruits and the Feast of Pentecost. We learn that first, that in the first revelation, that the call of holiness, Unleavened Bread, cannot be separated from the sacrifice of Christ. They're bound together in one revelation and brought together, as we saw last evening, frequently in the New Testament. We learn from the second revelation that the formation of the church on the day of Pentecost cannot be separated from the resurrection of Christ, the feast of firstfruits.
There then is the connection. The second matter is this, the feast of first fruits we learned from verse ten, um was to be celebrated in the land. Verse ten says, speak unto the children of Israel and say to them, when you become into the land which I give unto you and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest. Whereas the Passover and the unleavened bread was connected with their journeyings, particularly in the wilderness. The first fruits that speaks of Christ's resurrection takes one, in fact, out of the wilderness and into the land.
And then the third matter is just this. Verses ten and eleven, we discover this sheep of first fruits had to be brought to the priest, that he might wave it before Jehovah. It had to be brought to the priest, and the priest waved it before Jehovah. Thus, in the sheaf of firstfruits, we have something that, first of all, was all for God, brought to the priest, and the priest waved it before Jehovah, indicating that the first thought in this is something that was all for God. And of course, this was particularly true in Christ's resurrection.
You may recall that in the New Testament, the resurrection of Christ is associated with the power of God and the glory of the Father. Ephesians chapter one, Paul says, that you might know what is the exceeding greatness of God's power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Romans chapter six, that, that Christ has been raised by the glory of the Father. Ephesians one, the power of God. Romans chapter six, the glory of the Father. What then is the connection? Simply this. The glory of the Father demanded his resurrection.
As long as that sacred body lay in that sepulcher, the glory of the Father was at stake. And the glory of the Father demanded that he must be raised. But if the glory of the Father demanded it, on the third day, the power of God performed it. We will not stay to speak of the expression of divine power, God's power, and the resurrection of God's Son, man did everything that he could to keep that sacred body in the sepulcher. There was that threefold cord that could have easily broken, the stone and the seal and the soldiers, but these meant nothing to the surpassing greatness of his power when God raised his Son from the dead.
Then, of course, the Apostle Peter makes it very clear that the resurrection of Christ was God's answer to his holy life. Why says Peter in Acts chapter two, as he quotes from Psalm um sixteen, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to seek corruption. Brethren, the resurrection of Christ was God's answer to that holy life. Furthermore, it was God's answer to what man did to his son. Why says Peter in Acts chapter two verses twenty three and twenty four, him be delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye, the nation of Israel, have taken, and by the wicked hands of the Gentiles, ye have crucified and slain him, whom God raised.
Again, says the Apostle Peter in Acts chapter four verse ten, whom ye crucified, whom God raised. Thus it was God's answer to what men did to the Savior. Just Peter, ye slew him, but God raised him. It was God's acceptance of his sacrifice. The Apostle Paul has that in mind when he says in Romans chapter five— Romans chapter four and verse twenty five, who was delivered on account of our offenses and was raised again on account of our justification.
His resurrection on account of our justification is an indisputable evidence of God's acceptance of the sacrifice of our Savior. Furthermore, Christ's resurrection is the divine assurance that all is not lost as far as this habitable earth is concerned. Why says the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter seventeen, verses thirty and thirty one, and the times of this ignorance God winked at, God overlooked, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the habit of the earth by that man whom he hath ordained, for oft he hath given assurance in this, that he hath raised him from the dead.
My dear brethren, God has given assurance that this habit of the life shall yet be administered in righteousness. By whom? By the man that he hath raised from the dead. Thus, the resurrection of Christ is God's assurance that all is not lost as far as the earth is concerned. Then the fourth matter we'd like to observe is this. Verse eleven says, he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you. Acceptance on the ground of sacrifice. Hold on to the language. He shall wave the sheaf over the Lord to be accepted for you.
That sheaf will be accepted for you. How the Israelite would rejoice in their acceptance in that sheep that was weighed before the Lord. Tonight, we rejoice in our acceptance. But what a difference. It's not Christ accepted for me, but I am accepted in him. And notice, not just accepted in Christ. Paul says accepted in the beloved. In the dearly beloved.
Tonight, our acceptance is in him. The dearly beloved, risen and exalted to the right hand of his Father. Then the fifth matter, verse eleven: On the morrow after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave the sheep before Jehovah. On the morrow after the Sabbath. But remember that on the Sabbath, that sacred body rested in the grave. But it wasn't, it wasn't left there. On the first day of the week, he arose. The morrow after the Sabbath.
Let me refer you to Mark chapter sixteen in this connection. We read these words, and when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome had brought sweet spices that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came under the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. What a Sabbath that must have been, while that sacred body rested in the sepulcher. The disciples were mourning and weeping.
What about Simon Peter? What a Sabbath that must have been for him. A day of grief. A day of remorse. A day of soul searching. As he turned over, no doubt in his mind, his denial of Jesus. And as for those dear women, they were patiently waiting for the Sabbath to pass, that they might visit the sepulcher. And when the Sabbath is passed, that's the language of Mark sixteen— The Sabbath was passed. The Sabbath that represented a former era of unfulfilled time and shadow that is now passed.
It is the first day of the week. A new era is commencing, and the sun has risen in the heavens. Mark tells us that. And these women, they're wending their way, carrying those precious spices to embalm that body. But while they were coming, Mark tells us, very early in the morning, things were happening in the sepulcher. It says Mark, very early Jesus rose from the dead. They were wending their way very early. And Mark says, at the same time, very early, Jesus rose from the dead.
And there in the sepulcher, Jesus stands up in the very place where his body had lain in death. And that tells us how that God, in fact, had sent from the courts of heaven a porter to open the sepulcher, to roll away the stone. What a privilege was given to that angel, that young man. He sees Jesus in an hour of glory, having triumphed over death, standing in that new sepulcher. The first day of the week, our Savior rose from the dead.
But notice verse ten speaks of the chief of first fruits. As we've seen, the apostle Paul speaks of Christ's resurrection twice in one Corinthians chapter fifteen. In verse ten he says, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. One Corinthians fifteen, he is the first fruits of them that slept. In Colossians chapter one verse eighteen, Paul speaks of Christ and resurrection as the firstborn from the dead. Why does Paul in that interesting verse in Colossians one, he is the head of the body, the church.
Who is the beginning, the beginning of the new creation, the firstborn from the dead. Now I should like to say just a little word on Christ the firstborn and Christ the first rose. Colossians one verse eighteen, the firstborn from the dead. But let us observe, first of all, that this is not a time term. Christ the firstborn from the dead. Nor is it indeed a time term in Colossians one verse fifteen when Paul says of the Savior, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
We know how Jehovah's Witnesses have seriously misinterpreted that statement and made the expression the firstborn of all creation to mean the first to be born, and they speak of our Savior, the Son of God, as being but Gabriel, the first of God's creation. My own Christian friend, let me point out this this evening. The word firstborn occurs some eight or nine times in the New Testament, and on only two occasions is it used as a time term. And the two occasions are these.
Luke chapter two, Mary brought forth her firstborn son, swallowed him, and laid him in a manger. There it is a time term. Another case is Hebrews chapter eleven, when the writer speaks in this wise in verse twenty eight, he that destroyed the firstborn in Egypt. There it is a time term. When Paul speaks of our Lord Jesus as the firstborn of all creation, not the first to be created, not in terms of time, but in terms of dignity, in terms of preeminence. What then does that mean? The firstborn of all creation.
Christian friend, it means this. When God's son became man, he stepped down into the ranks of creaturehood. But stepping down into the ranks of creaturehood, he must have the chief place, the first place, the primary place. And why? Says Paul, I'll tell you in the next verse. For in him, and through him, and for him, all things created. In him after the source, through him in terms of agency, and for him in terms of object. And when such and one, creation's creator became man, stepped down in rights of creaturehood, he must be given the first place.
But, says Paul, not only is the first born of all creation, he is the first born from the dead. Obviously, this again is not a time turn. For our Savior is not the first to be raised from the dead. Others had been raised from the dead before him. The widow's son, Jairus' daughter, Lazarus. But death claimed them all again. Raised before Christ, but death claimed them all again. But, says the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter six of our Lord Jesus, Romans six verse nine, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more.
Death hath no more dominion over him. Brethren, Christ is the first to be raised from the dead, never to die again. Hence, as Paul, he is the first born from the dead. But there is yet another reason why he is the firstborn from the dead. Something we're trying to forget. We remember that our Savior entered into death voluntarily. Calvin wasn't so much a life taken, it was a life given. It was a life voluntarily laid down. Of course, as far as human culpability is concerned, his life was taken.
Peter says that in Acts chapter two, a verse to which I've just referred. Ye have taken, and with your hands have crucified and slain. But in actuality, this was not so. Said our Savior in John chapter ten, no man taketh my life from me. And we need to remember that when the soldier pierced our Savior's side, our Savior was dead already. The act of the soldier never brought about our Savior's death. And I say this, though it is hypothetical.
Had our Savior not been dead, when the soldier did pierce his side, that act of the soldier could never have brought about his death. No man taketh my life from me. Brethren, he laid down his life voluntarily. You remember he said to John in Revelation chapter one, said, John, he laid his right hand upon me, and he said unto me, fear not. I am the first and the last. I am the living one, not who was dead as a fact, but who became dead voluntarily.
Thus, let us remember at the right moment and voluntarily, our Savior laid down his life. Brethren, if at the right moment and voluntarily he entered into death, at the right moment, and just as voluntarily, he himself rose from the dead, in that he is unique. That's an aspect of Christ's resurrection we're inclined to forget. Shall I remind you that the resurrection of Christ is attributed to God, is attributed to the Holy Spirit, and it is attributed to the Lord himself.
Says Peter in First Peter chapter one, who by him do believe in God that raised him from the dead. Chapter one, God raised him. Chapter three, who was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. He was quickened by the Spirit. But said our Savior in John chapter two? destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. John chapter ten: therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. I have authority to lay it down and have authority to take it again. Brethren, never let us forget that at the right moment, in his own power, he took his life again and raised the temple of his body.
Because of that, he alone has the right to the title, the first born from the dead. Men and women, they saw him risen from the dead. A woman was the first, in fact, to see him risen, but remember, no one saw him rise. A number saw him risen, but no one saw him rise. That body, wrapped in linen clothes, that had lain cold in death in that new tomb, emerged in life from the grave clothes, leaving those grave clothes lying in the tomb as if the body were still in.
You must never think, my dear brethren, that your savior unwound the napkin from his head and the grave clothes from his body and folded them neat and left them orderly and neatly in the tomb. He didn't do that. He came clean out of the grave clothes, left them lying in the tomb as if his body was still in there. That's the property of a resurrection body. You see, my dear brethren, had my Savior unwrapped the grave clothes and the napkin that was around his head and left them neatly and in order in the sepulcher, his enemies could have said, well, his disciples did that.
But how could they explain the grave clothes wrapped as they had been. The napkins wound as it had been. Lying as if the body was still in them. They couldn't explain that. He came clean out of the grave clothes as the body was still lying in them. The first born from the dead. Death could not hold its breath. Jesus, my Savior. He tore the bars away. Jesus, my Lord. How hast thou triumphed and triumphed in glory?
Battle death's forces rolled back everywhere. Can we refrain then from telling the story, Lord, thou victor, O death in the grave. Paul, he is the firstborn from the dead. But here in Obedience chapter twenty three, it's the first fruits, the sheep of first fruits of the harvest. Thus, before the Israelites gathered the harvest for his own use, this solitary sheep of first fruits had first of all to be waved before Jehovah. And the very day the priest was doing this, that first day of the week, Christ rose from the dead, and in his resurrection there was a sample, there was a foretaste of a future harvest.
And what is that future harvest? That first resurrection that will commence when the Lord Jesus comes again. Thus says Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter one and verse twenty, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleep. As surely as Christ is risen, the saints who sleep shall be raised. He is the sheep. They shall be the harvest. As surely the sheep of first fruits has been weighed before the Lord, that harvest will yet be brought in.
And he not only is the pledge, praise God, he is the prototype. One Corinthians fifteen verse twenty three, the apostle amplifies his teaching on the resurrection of Christ as the fulfillment of the shape of first fruits, and he writes with this: But every man in his an order, Christ the first fruit, afterward they were Christ at his coming. Here's a matter we find to forget, that there will be an order in this future harvest. Every man in his own order. The word order is a knowledge expression.
Every man in his own rank, in his own regimen. This future harvest is defined by the apostle in that verse as they that are Christ's. What an interesting statement. Brethren, that's the most comprehensive statement that Paul could have implied. They that are Christ's. All that belong to Christ. This future harvest is defined by the apostle in that verse as they that are Christ's. What an insight statement. Brethren, that's the most comprehensive statement that Paul could have implied. They that are Christ's, all that belong to Christ, shall share in that first resurrection.
One of these scriptures selected to support the teaching that the church will go through the tribulation is Revelation twenty and verse four. For John writes with this, and I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither received his mark upon their foreheads or on their hands. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection.
John says, I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment in terms of administration was given unto them. Who are these? Brethren, I believe these are the Old Testament and the New Testament saints. The four and twenty elders of Revelation chapter four were sitting on thrones in heaven there, connected with the worship of heaven. In chapter twenty, the sitting on thrones connected with the administration of the earth, the Old Testament and New Testament saints. Then says John, I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God.
Revelation chapter six verse nine identifies these as the martyrs of the first three and a half years of those tribulation days, that is, after the Lord has come. Then John goes on to say, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither received his mark upon their foreheads or on their hands. Revelation thirteen verse fifteen identifies these as the martyrs of the second half, the second three and a half years of those tribulation days. The martyrs of the tribulation, the great one, the martyrs of the time of Jacob's trouble. And says John, this is the first resurrection.
Ah, says those who teach the church will go through the tribulation. Is it not obvious? This is the martyrs of the tribulation and the great tribulation are to share in this first, first resurrection. Then that first resurrection cannot take place until the end of the seven years of tribulation. Well, of course, it might be obvious if we didn't have Revelation chapter twenty, verses four and five. and that's not the only scripture that deals with the subject. One Corinthians fifteen, Paul says, as he speaks of that first resurrection, Christ is the first rose.
Afterward, with the Christ that is coming, every man shall be raised in his own order, in his own rank, in his own regiment. My dear Christian friend, there's going to be an order in the first resurrection, and every man shall be raised in his own order, in his own like. That first resurrection will commence when our Lord comes for us. We will not terminate until he appears at the conclusion of the great tribulation to set up his kingdom. And during the rapture and his appearing, the first resurrection took place, and every man shall be raised in his own order, in his own rank, in his own regiment.
Let me say this. Paul says, they that are Christ shall be raised. All who belong to Christ, all are covered by the blood, shall be raised in their own order, in their own rank, in their own regiment. What then does that mean? This includes the Old Testament saints. After all, they are Christ's. God reckoned to the faith the volume of precious blood that was yet to be shed. Remember, none can be right with God apart from Calvary.
This includes the dead in Christ of this era of grace, who put their faith in the Savior whose blood was shed. And might I say more, this includes infants who have died, covered by the blood. They are Christ as well. I believe that with all my heart. I say more. This includes imbeciles who have died. I believe equally. Covered by the blood, and they belong to Christ as well.
It also includes the martyrs of the tribulation days. They too will be Christ. They too will be covered by the blood. God will reckon to their faith the volume of that precious blood. My dear brethren, what a harvest. Let me repeat. What a harvest. And that solid sheep of first fruit is the pledge of it, Christ risen from the dead. But not only the pledge, the prototype. One would have to take time to deal with this. Why, says Paul, as we bore in the image of the earth, so shall we in the image of the heavenly.
And it was in the details. He says, it is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. A body that shall never be weary, never know pain, disease, nor be subject to death. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. Every mark of dark dishonor through age and care and worry and disease and death are gone, and raised in glory, like unto his body of glory. It is sown in weakness. Few things speak so eloquent of their utter weakness like a corpse.
Unless the body is sown in the grave, but it is raised in power. We need not think, my dear brother, in terms of upturned swords and overturned tombstones when the saints are raised at Christ's coming. The bodies of the saints are raised in power. Christ's resurrection is the prototype, and we can clean out of the grave clothes, leaving them lying as if the body was still in them. And we acknowledge the stone wasn't rolled away to let him out of the tomb, to let the disciples in. And appeared in the midst of his arm, even though the doors were shut.
Saint shall rise in body of power. The top unmarked, the tombs untamed. He is the chief. They shall be the. It is so in the natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. Come out of the graves, body suited the expression of the spirit. Now, one could say much more, but time doesn't permit. We think now of the Feast of Pentecost, verses fifteen to twenty one. This, of course, is the fourth feast, and as we've seen, it is connected with the third, just as the second was connected with the first.
The first was the Passover, verse five: in the fourteenth day of the first month at even, it is the Lord's Passover. The second feast, unleavened bread, verse six: and in the fifteenth day of the same month, no break, is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord. Thus, these two feasts are connected, as we saw last evening, both in the Gospels and the Epistles in the New Testament. What about the feast of Pentecost? We have the third feast, we've just considered it, the first fruits, and the fourth feast, Pentecost, these are connected.
Verse fifteen says, I will count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheep of the wave offering, seventh Sabbath shall be complete. Thus the day of Pentecost that shall be counted from the waving of the sheep of firstfruits. Thus they're connected. If the firstfruits speaks of Christ in resurrection, Pentecost, as we're going to see, speaks of the church. In Leviticus chapter twenty three verse ten, Christ in resurrection is the chief of first fruits. In chapter two verse twelve, the apostle speaks of the oblation of first fruits.
That's the church. Christ is the chief. The church is the oblation of first fruits. We're kind of stated about that. Well, let me just observe this. Holy living is connected with the death of Christ, the Passover, and the feast of unleavened bread. The obverse seat secrets the death of Christ. What Christ has done for me is I lead a holy life. That we considered last evening. The church is connected not so much with the death of Christ as with the resurrection of Christ. This is intended to produce a heavenly life.
The death of Christ intended to produce a holy life. The resurrection of Christ intended to produce a heavenly life. Not so much because of what Christ has done for me, but because of what we are to Christ. I'll leave these for you to consider privately. You see, not a few Christians and Christian denominations, in their emphasis on personal fully living, which, as we saw last evening, is so very necessary. They fail to grasp the truth, the wonder of the truth of the church, collectively, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, what we are to Christ.
Brethren, let's be established in what Christ has done for us, so that we might be holy lives. But never let us forget what we are to God, what we are to Christ, to produce a heavenly life. Now this word Pentecost simply means the fiftieth part. It is derived from the instructions given in verse fifteen, where we read that it come from the day after they brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be complete, even until the morrow after the Sabbath shall ye mo- shall ye number fifty days.
They will have the one Pentecost from this expression, fifty days. Thus if on the very day the priest will be waving before the Lord the sheep of first fruits, our Lord rose from the dead on the very day, fifty days afterward, the new offering that speaks of the church was being waved before the Lord, and the church was being formed by the baptism in the Holy Spirit. You remember in Acts chapter one verse uh three, we're told that the Lord, after his passion, should have alive, being seen of his disciples forty days.
Then he was taken up into heaven, and ten days afterwards, we have the day of Pentecost, and that's when the church came into existence. Fifty days from the Lord's resurrection. Remember in Acts chapter one, the disciples said to the Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And I believe the Lord had explained to them that that sheep of first fruits had been fulfilled in his resurrection, and they were rejoicing in that. And being two Jews, they were counting the days. Seven Sabbaths. The day after the seventh Sabbath. And they said to the Lord, what's going to be the fulfillment of the Pentecost?
You've told that the first verse has been fulfilled in your resurrection. What's going to be the fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost? Can it be that those two way of laws speak of the house of Israel and the house of Judah? They're going to be united, and they're going to walk together. On that day, they will be offered a new meal offering. And what was this new meal offering? Leviticus Numbers speak- three speaks of it as a new meal offering. It had to be taken out of their habitations. Verse seventeen was comprised of 2 waveblows, called waveblows because they were before Jehovah for his acceptance.
Verse seventeen, they were to be of fine flower. Verse seventeen, remarkably, they had to be baked with leaven and were to be known as the first fruits under Jehovah. All of this very significant. Let us think first of the significance of a new meal offering. The offering that was waved before the Lord on the day of Pentecost is termed a new meal offering. On that day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, there was laid before the Lord, when the church was formed with the send of the Holy Spirit, this new meal offering.
But what is this new meal offering? In Leviticus chapter two, we have the meal offering that speaks of Christ, with which we're all familiar. In Leviticus chapter twenty three, on the day of Pentecost, we have the new meal offering that speaks of the church. The meal offering, chapter two. the new meal offering, chapter twenty three. I wonder what this means. My dear Christian friend, when our Lord was rejected and cruelly slain, it was intended by man that that would be the last of him, and all would be represented.
But how wrong the world was. For some fifty-odd odd days after that he was slain, there came into existence on the day of Pentecost the church, whose main reason for existing is to perpetuate the lovely features that have been so perfectly displayed in Christ. That's the new middle thing. The church, whose main reason for existence is to perpetuate those lovely features that were perfectly exemplified in Christ himself. Now let me explain what I mean.
Look, the beloved physician writes two of the New Testament books. He writes a gospel, and he writes the book of the Acts. In the gospel, he writes about the meal offering. In the book of the Acts, he writes about the new meal offering. Let me explain that further. Both in his gospel and the book of the Acts, Luke directs our attention to a body. In his gospel, he, more than other evangelists, speaks of that sacred body of our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Luke chapter two. In the book of the Acts, Luke writes of another body brought into existence by the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter two. It's interesting to notice that Luke chapter two um and the last verse is almost identical to Acts chapter two and the last verse of that chapter. Luke two verse fifty two says, and Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Acts two verse forty seven says of the church, they were praising God and having favor with all the people.
Luke chapter two, the meal offering. Acts chapter two, the meal offering. Let me remind you that in the opening verses of the book of the Acts, Luke says of the gospel he just written, the former treatise I have written, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. That the gospel that Luke wrote was just a beginning of what Jesus did and taught. And these were continued in the church in the book of the Acts. The meal offering and the new meal offering.
That could be developed further. But why two way of laws? It has been suggested that this refers to converted Jew and Gentile. But we must remember, my dear brethren, that grace has limited this distinction in the church. But in the church there is neither Jew nor Gentile. There is but one body and not two. Why then two wave laws? Two speaks of testimony. Leviticus chapter two, the unique new offering, Christ personally. Leviticus chapter twenty three, the new new offering, Christ in testimony.
Christ in testimony in the church. And I speak of the unique meal offering of Leviticus chapter two and how true. In chapter two, Jehovah gave strict instruction in verse eleven, New meal offering, which ye shall bring unto the Lord, unto Jehovah, shall be made with leaven. In Leviticus chapter twenty three, verse seventeen: these two loaves shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven. How interesting. In Christ there was, and there is no evil, no leaven. In the church there is. I reminded you last evening that the church hadn't been long formed in Acts chapter two When the leaven began to show itself in Acts chapter five when Anna Sophia lied unto the Holy Spirit.
In the new meal offering, though the leaven was present, its activity had been arrested. Verse seventeen: they shall be baking with leaven. Fire, heat causes leaven to become an inactive ingredient, reminding us of this truth that at Calvary, sin was judged. At Calvary, God condemned sin in the flesh. Last of the two weird laws, fine flour and leaven. What does it mean? Fine flour, says Paul in Galatians chapter two verse twenty.
Christ liveth in me. The fine flower. The leaven, Romans seven. Sin dwelleth in me. But have you noticed the difference? Christ lives, but sin dwells. Not intended to be active. Let us ever might be but remember the sinlessness, the impeccability of Christ. Sin wasn't present, sin wasn't active, sin was completely absent. Notice further, these two wave laws are spoken of in verse seventeen as the first fruits unto the Lord.
Christ in resurrection, the sheep of first fruits, as we've seen, a foretaste of a glorious harvest yet to be brought in during the first resurrection. The chapter is called the oblation of first fruits, as we've seen chapter two verse twelve. After the oblation of first fruits, you shall offer them unto Jehovah, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a savor. We can understand why they were not bought on the, burned on the altar. The existence of leaven prohibited this, but we ask the question, why the first fruits unto the Lord? Why are these two evils that speak of the church spoken of as the first fruits unto the Lord.
Brethren, let us remember, the church of this unique day is the first fruits of the new creation. Never forget that. The church of this unique day is the first fruits of the new creation. It is a sample of that great ingathering God shall yet receive from the earth. You remember how James puts it in his epistle, chapter one, verse eighteen? Of his own will begot he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creature. The church of this unique era affords God a foretaste of the great harvest when the world shall be populated by people that shall show forth his praises.
Please know that it was a new meal offering unto the Lord, the first fruit unto the Lord. It was way before the Lord. Here then is the first thought in the church, something for God, something for the heart of God, that is the church. There are incentives a little bit on the baptism of the Holy Spirit by which the church was formed in Acts chapter 2, but time doesn't permit. Let me just say this, my brother, my sister. The baptism in the Holy Spirit was an historic event. Never repeated. There are two ingredients for an historic event.
A time when and a place where. And with both of these ingredients in Acts chapter one, tarry ye at Jerusalem, the place. You were baptized in the Holy Spirit, not many at his hands, the time when. And Paul confirms it was an historic event when he says in First Corinthians chapter twelve, for in one spirit were you all baptized into one body. Now let me point this out. When Paul says, were you all baptized into one body, he employs what grammarians speak of as the aorist tense, the point tense.
Something is employed for an event that happened once and was complete in itself. The baptism of spirit is never viewed in the scriptures as an individual experience. Quite correct to speak of Jesus my Savior, but quite wrong to do as so many do today, speak of Jesus as my baptizer. It is always a collective experience in one's spirit where we all baptized into one body. Furthermore, quite wrong to think that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a second blessing.
The Bible only speaks of the second blessing in one occasion. Second Corinthians chapter one, where Paul says, he was minded to come to the saints of Corinth that they might receive a second benefit, a second blessing. Not the second blessing. What Paul is saying is just this. A second visit would have brought you a second blessing. A third visit, a third blessing. A fourth visit, a fourth blessing. Brethren, let's remember this. God doesn't dole out his blessings piecemeal. one, two, three, four. Every spiritual blessing was yours the moment you put your trust in Christ. Ephesians chapter one. The Enjoyment is quite another thing.
You'll search nowhere in the scripture, you'll search the scripture, and you'll find nowhere any instruction to pray for this baptism of the Holy Spirit, as some are doing today. The injunction of God's word is this, Ephesians chapter five, be filled with the Spirit. And the tense there is the present tense, be filled. Not something that happens once and for all and complete in itself, but something that must remain a constant charge to every child of God, be filled with the Spirit. And I point this out, my dear brethren. Be filled with the Spirit never means that God gives you more of the Spirit.
I can't receive more of the Spirit, nor can you receive more of the Spirit. John three, God gives not the Spirit by measure to any man. The moment you trusted Christ, you received the Holy Spirit as a person, and you cannot receive more of the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit means you've got to deal with those things in your life that hinder the Spirit of God from being in complete control. In that connection, let me say too, it's not really spiritual intelligence to pray for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit. That may start on you.
My dear brother, listen to this. In Acts chapter too the Lord poured out the Spirit. And he's never been withdrawn. And the Spirit is as much in the church and in you as ever he was. We cannot be given more of the Spirit. There cannot be fresh outpouring the Spirit. The great exercise of our hearts ought to be that we may be given more to the Spirit. And it's quite wrong to think that this baptism of the Spirit is an evidence of spirituality. Why, says Paul in one Corinthians chapter three to the saints of Corinth, I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, for ye get babes.
Corinth was perhaps the most carnal church of the New Testament. Yet Paul says, one comes to chapter, chapter 12, in one spirit were we all baptized into one body. Carnal, yet in the good of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And it's quite wrong to think that speaking in tongues is an evidence of this baptism in the Spirit. One can read chapter twelve again. They'd all been baptized in one spirit into one body. And the chapter Paul says, do you all speak in tongues? They didn't.
They'd all been baptized in the Spirit, but they didn't all speak in tongues. My young brother, my young sister, don't be swept off your course by the wind of charismatic teaching today. Many of the saints of God don't realize the implications of the