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Sabbath Service
Saturday, May 19, 2007
“Pentecost—Part 3”

Sabbath Service — Saturday, May 19, 2007
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CALL TO WORSHIP

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given you as well.” Righteousness is obedience to God’s Law. In the absence of obedience there is no righteousness. The unrighteous worship God in vain.

Praise and Worship

WORDS OF PRAISE

God Almighty is fair and just. He seeks the righteous and promises rewards, honor and eternal life to those who serve him according to his law.

INVITATION

Heavenly Father, meet me at the point of my understanding today. Open my eyes and my ears even further. Stretch me beyond my comfort zone and reveal new ways that I may truly serve you. Where there is cloudiness, blow the clouds away. Where there is dimness of vision, sharpen the focus and allow me to see. Where there is only a whisper, unstop my ears that I may hear clearly. Lead me to learn and know the true worship of you. Don’t leave me among the wicked and the unrighteous, but lift me up to the holy mountain of your truth. Through the power and majesty of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

OPENING HYMN #224                                           “Praise Him! Praise Him”

Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1915, alt.
Chester G. Allen, 19th cent.

Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy Name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:
Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song!

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song!

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever.
Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet, and Priest, and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
Power and glory unto the Lord belong.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song!

WORDS OF CONFESSION

May God Almighty grant me quietness and peace.
It is good to give thanks to you, O God.
To herald your love in the morning.
Let me confess in your presence my sins.

Holy and gracious God, I confess that I have sinned against you.
Some of my sin I know —
The thoughts and words or deeds of which I am ashamed —
But some is known only to you.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask forgiveness.
Deliver and restore me, Father Almighty.

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

By the mercy of God we are united with Jesus Christ,
And in Christ we are forgiven.
We rest now in peace
And rise in the morning to serve God. Amen.

READING FROM THE PSALMS

Psalm 97 (NRSV)
The Glory of God’s Reign

1 The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him,
and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the towns of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O God.
9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The LORD loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!

REFLECTION ON THE PSALM

This is another of the “enthronement psalms” that celebrate the sovereign rule of God. The first five verses portray God as divine king who arrives in a storm. This image emphasizes God’s reign as a cosmic reality. Yet, God’s reign is also rooted in the human community and calls for our response. Besides rejoicing and giving thanks for God’s sovereignty in the universe, we are also called to struggle against evil and to be righteous and just in human interactions. True worship is not just praising and rejoicing; it involves personal integrity and justice (see verses 2b, 6, 11-12). This theme is the heart of the Psalter and is also the core message of Jesus’ ministry.

Psalm 97 reminds us of Jesus’ incarnation into the world. He announced and participated in God’s new reality, faithfully pursuing justice and righteousness and opposing evil. This heralding of God’s reign landed Jesus on a cross, a cross that his disciples are also called to take up.

HYMN #24                                                “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”

Charles Wesley, 1747, alt.
John Zundel, 1870

Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down,
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling, All Thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion, Pure, unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation, Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit, Let us find the promised rest;
Take away the love of sinning; Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning, Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver, Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return, and never, nevermore Thy temples leave,
Thee we would be always blessing, Serve Thee as Thy hosts above;
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing, Glory in Thy perfect love.

Finish, then, Thy new creation; Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory, Till with Thee we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee, Lost in wonder, love and praise.

INVITATION TO PRAYER

God is Spirit, and those who worship God
must worship in spirit and in truth. Let us pray …

MOMENTS OF SILENCE

SILENT PERSONAL PRAYER

Preparing Our Minds for Learning

SEED THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION

When we come across scripture passages we do not fully understand, we may wish Jesus were present to explain them to us as he did to the first disciples. And yet, after he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven, he was no longer present in the same way to open their minds. Instead, he sent the Spirit to enlighten and guide them. This is a large measure of what the season we are studying is all about. How open are we to receiving the Spirit’s help in our understanding of the scriptures as we read and study?

One pianist has explained what has contributed to her reputation as an excellent accompanist. Soloists most often prefer this woman’s playing to any other musician. When asked if there was a secret to good accompanying, she said, “I always breathe with the singer. I sing along under my breath and I make sure my breathing matches that of the soloist. That way I know when the singer is likely to break a line or hold a note.”

Pentecost is God’s challenge to breathe in time with the divine spirit and purpose. It is an opportunity for us to match our spirit to the rhythm of the Holy Spirit and to allow it to breath through us, around us and to fill us. How willing are we to walk in step with God?

VOICES IN TIME
Words from past or present men and women of God.

“Do you want to be filled with a Spirit who, though he is like Jesus in his gentleness and love, will nevertheless demand to be Lord of your life? Are you willing to let your personality be taken over by another, even if that other be the Spirit of God himself? If the Spirit takes charge of your life he will expect unquestioning obedience in everything. He will not tolerate in you the self-sins even though they are permitted and excused by most Christians. . . . You will find the Spirit to be in sharp opposition to the easy ways of the world and of the mixed multitude within the precincts of religion. He will be jealous over you for good. He will not allow you to boast or swagger or show off. He will take the direction of your life away from you. He will reserve the right to test you, to discipline you, to chasten you for your soul’s sake. He may strip you of many of those borderline pleasures which other Christians enjoy but which are to you a source of refined evil. Through it all he will enfold you in a love so vast, so mighty, so all-embracing, so wondrous that your very losses will seem like gains and your small pains like pleasure.” —A. W. TOZER (1897–1963)

Lessons from Scripture

WORDS OF DEDICATION

Listen to the words of the scriptures: the mercy and the love of God are endless; God’s wrath is slow, and God’s love is eternal.

FIRST SCRIPTURE READING: Acts 16:16-34

REFLECTIONS ON THE SCRIPTURE

While in Philippi, Paul and Silas met an unnamed slave girl who “had a spirit of divination.” The Greek for this phrase means literally “a python spirit,” comes from the Greek story of Apollo’s killing a dragon at Delphi, and became a general term referring to all sorts of ventriloquism and soothsaying. Luke’s Gentile readers would have recognized that this girl was seen to have received powers from the serpent associated with the Delphic oracle and practiced a pagan faith.

Because she was able to divine the future, she brought her owners much wealth. She proclaimed that Paul and Silas were “slaves of the Most High God” (16:17) — a very different form of slavery than that into which she was bound. This may have been a prescient utterance. “Most High God” is a familiar Lukan title for God; see Luke 1:32, 35, 76; 6:35. It is also used in recognition of God by those possessed by a lesser spirit that required exorcism (see Luke 8:28-29). Paul, upset by the exploitation of this slave girl for the material gain of her owners, exorcised the spirit; and her powers of divination were silenced, thereby ruining their business.

Traditionally, interpreters point to the story as Luke’s indication that Jesus’ power had been continued in Paul just as it was in the twelve apostles (see Acts 3:1-26). Luke reports four main events in Paul’s activity in Philippi that demonstrate the presence and power of the Holy Spirit: the conversion of Lydia, this healing of the possessed slave girl, the conversion of the jailer (16:24-34), and Paul’s public vindication (16:35-40). In these episodes, it is clear that resistance is building against the thrust of Christian influence in Philippi, “a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony” (16:12).

Roman Resistance
Paul’s perceived attack on the livelihood of the girl’s owners caused quite a stir. Paul cast out the spirit from the girl; and, thus, she lost her soothsaying capability. Irate over this loss of her ability and its potential for earning them money, the owners dragged Paul and Silas before the local authorities and accused them of “advocating customs that [were] not lawful for … Romans.” It is unclear what customs they had violated—perhaps overtly proselytizing Roman citizens or somehow disturbing the Roman peace. This is Luke’s first recorded account of Roman resistance to the Christian movement.

A Prison Conversion
Paul and Silas were thrown in prison where a late-night earthquake shook open prison doors and loosened chains. But, thanks to Paul’s restraint, no one tried to escape. This incident implies God’s power over those who attempt to suppress the gospel. Its main purpose, however, was to set the stage for another conversion story. The jailer, expecting to be punished for losing his prisoners, instead heard the gospel. Washing his prisoners’ wounds as a sign of penitence, he was converted and baptized (16:26-34). He, like Lydia, demonstrated his faith by caring for Paul and Silas and confirmed the presence of the Spirit by rejoicing with his household at his new-found faith.

BLESSING ON GOD’S WORD

Eternal God, in the reading of the scripture, may your word be heard; in the meditations of my heart, may your word be known; and in the faithfulness of my life, may your word be shown. Amen.

SECOND SCRIPTURE READING: Revelation 21-22

REFLECTIONS ON THE SCRIPTURE

John’s vision of God’s future plan for the world comes to a magnificent close in Chapters 21 and 22 of Revelation. John saw a new earth and a new Jerusalem, where God would dwell among the people.

The Old Jerusalem
Around 1000 B.C., King David captured Jerusalem and made it the political and religious center of his reign. He planned also to build a temple, but was instructed by God to leave that project for his heir. Solomon built the Temple (as well as numerous shrines to foreign gods) and expanded the city’s international importance. However, as the city became more cosmopolitan and pagan, the symbolism of God’s reign was eroded.

After Solomon’s death in 922 B.C., the monarchy broke up and Israel was divided into two separate nations. The northern kingdom, called Israel, was conquered in 722 B.C. and the people carried off as captives to a foreign land. In 587 B.C., Babylonia invaded Judah, the southern kingdom, and plundered Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and exiled its rulers. In 538 B.C., King Cyrus of Persia, who had conquered Babylonia, allowed the Judahites to return to Judah. A few returned and rebuilt a much smaller Temple. Over the centuries, different factions struggled to control Jerusalem. Rome conquered it in 63 B.C. and ruled during Jesus’ life. In 70 A.D., Roman legions destroyed both the city and the second Temple, which had been extensively refurbished by Herod.

The New Jerusalem
Having lost faith in the ability of earthly leaders to unite them under God’s reign, the Jews looked to the future. From the third century B.C. on, prophets began to write visions of a transition from the present age to a glorious new age when God would reign on earth. Much of the apocalyptic literature, inspired by God himself, was written during this next 400-year period. Revelation, written in the late first century A.D., is the last of these visions prepared for future generations.

According to John’s vision in Revelation, the physical features of the New Jerusalem would be large, radiant, and made of pure gold and rare jewels (21:11-21). There would be no need for a temple because God would be totally present among the people. The river of the water of life would flow directly from the throne into the heart of the city, as a sign of its utter purity.

The tree of life, reminding us of the garden of paradise, would grow beside that river. God would serve as the city’s light, which would illuminate the path of all nations. The gates of the New Jerusalem would never be closed to the people, although nothing that was tainted by — and no one who colluded with Babylon (a symbol of all that is evil) would be able to enter the city. Heaven would be found on earth. People would share God’s character because they would share God’s name and see God’s face (be in his presence).

John’s vision ends at 22:7. The rest of Chapter 22 is a series of isolated sayings that have many parallels to the opening of Revelation. These closing verses function as an epilogue.

Reward or Rejection
One of the major conclusions of the vision of John is that when the new age arrives, some will be rewarded and others judged (22:12-15). People’s actions and commitments have a price. Those who “wash their robes” will be blessed; that is, those who have remained faithful and kept witnessing to the gospel despite persecution from “the beast” will be rewarded. They will have the right to the tree of life and will be welcomed into the New Jerusalem.

On the other hand, those who follow the ways of the beast will be rejected and denied entry into the heavenly city. For John at that time in history, the beast was Rome (the Empire, with its “dogs, sorcerers, fornicators,” and the like; see 22:15). For us today, it might be the “ways of the world” that permeate nearly all phases of life—individualism, materialism, greed, corporate crime, violence, racism, ageism, sexism, and destruction of the environment. It might be the hordes of peoples who today surround the Promised Land — people who foster complete hatred and destruction to God’s people all over the world.

Authentic Witness
As he closes the book of Revelation, John authenticates his vision. In verse 16, Jesus declares that he, the faithful witness, sent his angel to confirm the validity of all the things in John’s vision. Jesus also identifies himself as “the root and descendant of David” (emphasizing his messianic status) and as “the bright morning star.”

Invitation and Prayer
Through images of the Spirit and the bride, John invites his readers to hear, heed, and receive the water of life and to share in the redemption of the faithful. He reminds his readers that those who do not hear and heed will discover that God comes not as a redeemer, but as a judge.

Finally, John proclaims that all that he has seen and heard will transpire soon. The fitting response to this is “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (22:20). This is probably a translation of an ancient Aramaic Eucharistic formula (maranatha, or “Our Lord, come”) which is also found in 1 Corinthians 16:22. The closing phrase, “the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all,” offers universal blessing and affirmation at the end of a vision in which threat, division, and rejection have predominated. It is a promise to those with ears to hear and eyes to see, but for all others it furthers their blindness and deafness. Just as God has given them over to the fantasies of their reprobate minds, they are totally unable to see the truth even when it is right before their eyes.

BLESSING ON GOD’S WORD

Eternal God, in the reading of the scripture, may your word be heard; in the meditations of my heart, may your word be known; and in the faithfulness of my life, may your word be shown. Amen.

GOSPEL READING: John 17

REFLECTIONS ON THE SCRIPTURE

John 17 is the real “Lord’s Prayer” as opposed to the “Our Father” that is recited by professing Christianity worldwide. According to John’s account, at the end of his farewell meal and discourse with his followers, Jesus stopped speaking to them and began to pray to God. This passage in John is that final prayer. Some call it his “last will and testament” and others say it is his “High Priestly” prayer.

An Ancient Farewell
Ancient farewell speeches of dying persons usually concluded with prayer. However, this is not a typical farewell prayer. Jesus’ whole farewell discourse had been not only about his death but also about his resurrection and ascension (his “hour”). Thus this is a prayer of one who is about to give away his life willingly out of love for his followers, bringing his work for God to completion.

Overview of the Prayer
While the passage is often identified as Jesus’ “high priestly” prayer, we see that it is about intercession, not about sacrifice. Jesus first prayed for himself, his work, and his glorification (verses 1-5). For John, glorification meant revelation or disclosure. Jesus prayed that God would be revealed through him. Then he prayed for his “own”—those who believed and followed him (verses 6-19)—asking God to protect them as they remained “in the world” when he left it. When Jesus said he was not praying for the world (17:9), he did not mean earth or creation, but rather the enemies of God, those who did not accept, believe, and obey God. He entrusted believers to the caring, protective hands of God.

Jesus then prayed for future believers, that they would all be one, just as he and the Father were one—unified in purpose, community, and love. He prayed for believers’ mission in the world, asking that through the unity of all believers, the world would come to know that the Father had sent him and that God loved them (verses 20-23). Jesus was praying for the true believers and followers of every age, not just the immediate years following his death.

Finally, Jesus prayed that through love for him, for God, and for each other, believers would join him some day in God’s new age (verses 24-26). When he prayed for unity, Jesus was not praying for the ecumenical, organizational unity of all the different branches of the church as we know it among professing Christianity today. Rather, he prayed a vision of the future in which God’s unifying, reconciling love would reign in the Kingdom of God. It is toward the realization of that vision that we yearn and strive.

In this intimate prayer Jesus boldly holds God to his promises: You sent me, showing them that you love both me and them; now keep them safe, let them be one in their love for one another, and let them glimpse the glorious future offered in the coming realm.

Jesus’ final words before his “hour” are thus cast as an intimate prayer entrusting to God the future of the faith community. One has to wonder how the church’s understanding of itself and the conduct of its affairs would have been different if they had remembered that the whole community was in God’s hands, not their own.

BLESSING ON GOD’S WORD

Eternal God, in the reading of the scripture, may your word be heard; in the meditations of my heart, may your word be known; and in the faithfulness of my life, may your word be shown. Amen.

Benediction

CLOSING CANTICLE

Blessed be the Sovereign God of Israel,
Who has looked favorably on the people and redeemed them.
God has raised up a mighty savior for us
In the house of God’s servant David;
As God spoke through the mouth of the holy prophets from of old,
That we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
Thus God has shown the mercy
Promised to our ancestors,
And has remembered the holy covenant,
The oath that He swore to our ancestor Abraham,
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
Might serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

CLOSING HYMN #188                                         “Help Somebody Today”

Mrs. Frank A. Breck
Charles H. Gabriel, 1856-1932

Look all around you, find someone in need, Help somebody today!
Though it be little—a neighborly deed—Help somebody today!
Help somebody today,      somebody along life’s way;
                              today                                homeward way;
Let sorrow be ended, The friendless befriended,
O help somebody today!

Many are waiting a kind, loving word, Help somebody today!
Thou hast a message, O let it be heard, Help somebody today!
Help somebody today,      somebody along life’s way;
                              today                                 homeward way;
Let sorrow be ended, The friendless befriended,
O help somebody today!

Many have burdens too heavy to bear, Help somebody today!
Grief is the portion of some everywhere, Help somebody today!
Help somebody today,       somebody along life’s way;
                              today                                   homeward way;
Let sorrow be ended, The friendless befriended,
O help somebody today!

Some are discouraged and weary in heart, Help somebody today!
Someone the journey to heaven should start, Help somebody today!
Help somebody today,       somebody along life’s way;
                              today                                   homeward way;
Let sorrow be ended, The friendless befriended,
O help somebody today!

CLOSING WORDS

May the God of hope fill me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit I may abound in hope. Amen.

Pentecost — Part 3

Study material is based on the New King James Version or the New Revised Standard Version.

INSTRUCTIONS: Look up each reference given in answer to the questions below. Some like to write out the verses completely, while others prefer writing out the answers in their own words. Use the method that works best for you, but more will be gained from the lessons if you work with pencil and paper rather than just by reading alone.

God Calls the Few Today (continued from last week)

Today the keys that unlock the secrets of God’s Plan are available. Because of God’s mercy you don’t have to remain blinded, but now you can understand the deep things of God. These are truths that men have wanted to know for thousands of years!

Let’s look at one of the most important of Jesus’ parables, found in Matthew 13.

1. What happens to the “seed” of spiritual truth when it falls by the wayside? (Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23)

2. Notice especially verses 4 and 19. Did these people ever understand their part in God’s Master Plan? (verse 19).

COMMENT: These people hear the warning message of God but never comprehend the implications of what they hear. The message of God’s coming Kingdom and God’s Master Plan makes no impression on them and the wicked one snatches it away.

3. What happens to the seed as it falls on stony ground? (Matt. 13:5-6, 20-21)

4. Did these people originally begin on God’s plan happily? (verse 20)

5. But when the going became difficult, were they able by their own human power to continue? (verses 6 and 21)

COMMENT: These people gratefully receive Christ’s Passover sacrifice as payment for their past sins. They begin to try to obey God—unleavening their lives—but they don’t seek the help of his powerful Holy Spirit. Therefore they have no depth! Soon the spiritual life—a germ of strength—dies. They have failed to fulfill the purpose for which they have been born!

6. What of the seed as it falls among the thorns? (Matt. 13:7, 22)

7. Does this group bring forth fruit—obedience to God’s commands—or are they too busy with the selfish cares of this degenerating world? (verse 22)

8. Who is it then that God is ultimately concerned with? (Matt. 13:8, 23)

9. Do these people understand God’s Master Plan? Have they allowed God to work in their lives—helping them to overcome their human nature? Do they begin to grow spiritually—imbibing of God’s own character by submitting to his Holy Spirit, and obeying his commandments—until they become mature and fruit-bearing? (verse 23)

COMMENT: These people become a part of the harvest of firstfruits. All of the other seed of the parable never brought forth fruit of obedience in God’s harvest plan. God knows how much each of us can do in bringing forth good fruit in his Master Plan. By allowing God’s Spirit to work within us we will produce thirty, sixty or one hundred weight of good fruit—our changed lives.

10. Just how much does God expect us to do? (Luke 17:7-10)

11. Did the master of this servant give commands which were to be obeyed? (verses 7 and 8)

12. For merely obeying instructions, doing no more than was required of him, did the servant deserve thanks? (verse 9)

13. Doesn’t Jesus Christ say that when we have done only what is required of us in God’s plan and no more, we are still unprofitable? Does he expect us to do more than the minimum requirement of the Ten Commandments? To go above and beyond the call of our duties? (verse 10)

What it means to be the Firstfruits of God’s Plan!

Fifty days after Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was accepted in heaven, the Holy Spirit came according to the promises Jesus had made (Acts 2:1)

1. What was the special offering made on the Day of Pentecost in the Old Testament? What does the Bible say these loaves symbolized? (Lev. 23:17)

2. What are these firstfruits called in New Testament times? (James 1:18)

COMMENT: Notice there are two loaves, covering the two periods of the Old Testament and the New Testament church. These loaves represent the early and the late harvest, two separate events. The word “church” has been translated from the Greek word ecclesia which means the “called out ones.” Pentecost, or Firstfruits, pictures to us the first part of the spiritual harvest, the calling out of God’s true followers—a few people and a small first harvest. God is not dealing with the vast majority of the world today, but he has made these wonderful truths plain to the few that he is calling.

3. Does the Bible plainly state that converted Christians in this age are considered “firstfruits” in God’s plan? (James 1:18)

4. Is the term “firstfruits” applied to specific living Christians after the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost? (Romans 16:5)

COMMENT: After Christ was accepted as the Wave Sheaf, the general harvest of first fruits could begin. Still only a small harvest of people during this age is to be reaped at the second coming of Christ.

5. What are those who stand before Christ called at his second coming? How are they described? (Rev. 14:1-4)

6. Did they have to come out of the world and separate themselves from the God-rejecting majority of mankind? (verse 4)

7. What is the outstanding characteristic of those who are called the “firstfruits” of God’s people? (Rev. 14:12)

8. Are these “firstfruits” mentioned in the plan of resurrections? (1 Cor. 15:20-23; 1 Thess. 4:13-18)

COMMENT: First Jesus Christ, the Wave Sheaf, was resurrected, and became the first of the firstfruits of God’s Master Plan (Col. 1:18). After a period of time symbolized by the fifty day period ending with Pentecost, those who are Christ’s and have the Holy Spirit are to be resurrected as the completed first harvest in God’s plan.

9. Notice what Christ wants us to learn about the spiritual harvests in the parable in Matthew 13:24-30 and 37-43. What happens when Christ sows the seed of truth among the people of the earth? (verses 24-25, explained by verses 37-38)

10. How did Christ know the wheat, the good grain, from the tares, or worthless weeds? (verse 26). Although some people try to hide their wicked works, is the fruit of their disobedience easily recognizable to God? (verses 26, 38).

11. What is the final end of those who do not produce fruit of God’s Holy Spirit in their lives? (verses 30; 41-42)

12. What happens to those who produce righteousness, obedience and the other fruits of God’s Spirit? (verses 30, 41, 43)

13. When is the harvest? (verse 30 and 39)

COMMENT: The phrase “end of the world,” as found in the King James Version, should be translated “end of the age,” as the New King James and the Revised Standard Versions have done, indicating the final days of man’s rule over the earth and the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is the time of the harvest of firstfruits. The fifty-day period between the Wave-Sheaf offering and Pentecost symbolizes what has been going on since Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit in the first century. During this time God has been calling out an “elect” or chosen people as “firstfruits” of his Master Plan. These “firstfruits” will be reaped at the second coming of Jesus Christ—only a few short years from now.

14. Who is it who does the reaping of God’s firstfruit harvest? (verses 30 and 39; compare 1 Thess 4:16-17 and Matt. 24:31)

COMMENT: When Jesus Christ returns to this earth he will send forth his angels and gather those who are elect, chosen, the good grain, into his kingdom.

NEXT WEEK: PENTECOST — Part 4