The Pivotal Day in the
Plan of God

Dear Brethren,

Pentecost is the central day in the three seasons of God’s Holy Days, and it is the Pivotal Day in the Plan of God.  God gave the children of Israel His Law on the day of Pentecost.  Pentecost shows that through the workings of God’s Holy Spirit we will become like God.

1John 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.  

When God gave us His Holy Days, He gave us a framework of how His Plan for mankind would be worked out over the course of history.  Each of those Holy Days in Leviticus 23 have an actual fulfillment at a specific time. 

In the Old Testament, Pentecost was known by various names:  The Feast of weeks, Firstfruits, and the Feast of Harvest.  Unlike the fixed dates of the other Feast Days, Pentecost is to be counted:

Leviticus 23:15-16 You shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete:  Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days.

Except for a few, those people of the Old Testament did not receive God’s Holy Spirit.  The meaning of Pentecost was fulfilled when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit (John 16:7) – establishing the Church – and making each recipient a Child of God.

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, [the fulfillment of the day according to God’s Plan] they were all with one accord in one place.

Pentecost also pictures the harvest of spiritual sons and daughters into the Family of God, thus fulfilling the Plan of God to make man in His image: 

Genesis 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

God sent His Spirit at Pentecost and raised up the New Testament Church of God brethren.  For the first time, in a great and magnificent way, God poured out His Spirit on many people.  It was not only the 120 of Acts 1:15, but on the 3,000, and on the 5,000 as well.  And, then down through the centuries many others have been called by God.  Individually, the Holy Spirit came to each one of those people in attendance.  It was just like for Church members today – when we were baptized and hands were laid on us – God’s Spirit came to us individually (Acts 2:4).

God’s Spirit works differently in each person.  We are told in 1Corinthians 12, that we are all given individual gifts.  Here is where we Church brethren must be very cautious not to think of ourselves as being better than others.  Certainly we are extremely special as Children of God – but that in no way makes us superior to others – quite the opposite – we are servants to all (1Corinthians 9:19).  All too often in God’s Church we have had an incorrect concept, thinking that because we are called by God – that makes us superior – and we are better than the people in the world.  That thinking is a dangerous rational.

God has a serious care and concern for all others.  We find that God is generous, caring and compassionate, and it gives us good insight into the thoughts and the depth of God.  God is concerned for the weak, and He is concerned for the needy.

Leviticus 23:22  When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reap, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.

The Feast of Pentecost is a harvest feast, and it ultimately points to the harvest of those who have God’s Holy Spirit.  The harvest that we are looking for is having our incredible human potential fulfilled, being in the Family and Kingdom of God.

We cannot keep God’s Law without His Spirit.  God’s Law shows how God is.  We are to be like Him.  We find in the New Testament that God is writing His Law in our hearts.  His Law is to be a natural part of us, and we will naturally love His Law.  Our human nature begins to change toward becoming spiritual in nature.  That is the way it works for those who are being led by God’s Holy Spirit
(1John 5:2-3).

Hebrews 8:10  This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

Your brother in Christ,

Warren M. Zehrung
 

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Today's Sermon:  "The Pivotal Day in the Plan of God"  

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