[Darris McNeely] On the morning of Pentecost 31 AD, what do you think was going through the minds of the assembled disciples in Jerusalem? We know in Acts chapter 2, when we turn there and look at the story alluded to in the sermonette here this morning, that they were gathered together. And of course, one of the most dramatic scenes in all the Bible occurred with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the gathered disciples, and the speaking in tongues, and a mighty rushing wind that we find it hard to imagine what it was like, because it's not part of our custom to try to pray that down today like some other denominations and religious forms do. We take that for the story that it is, and the gift of tongues, and the speaking of tongues that the Scriptures talk about but we don't see that as what we need to be doing in practice or in faith, but it is a dramatic story.

But on the morning that those disciples were gathered there, before it happened, you have to imagine that they had no idea that, that would be what would take place. They had not been a part of anything like that before. They'd likely not seen it. And had they seen anything near that type of an ecstatic demonstration, it might have been in a form by someone doing something by their form of religion that they didn't identify with. And perhaps like you and I would today, we might look at it as a little bit odd. And so they didn't really think about that, and yet all of a sudden it came upon them. But on that morning as they gathered, made their preparations, put on their clothes, walked to the location where they all were gathered, and they were about 120 disciples as chapter 1 of Acts tells us, they no doubt had a lot on their mind. They had been told to be there, to wait in Jerusalem until that day.

But on that 50th day, from the morning after Christ's resurrection, a lot had happened. The last holy day season, the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread had seen the death of Jesus Christ, and then three days later He was resurrected and He had appeared to them. Of course, on the day that He died there had been an earthquake, the sun had turned to dark at midday, people had come out of their graves and it had set Jerusalem all abuzz. And the tomb was empty, and the disciples had seen Jesus, and the authorities were beside themselves trying to figure it out, looked for the body. They thought that the body had been ferretted away by the disciples, someone had stolen it. It wasn't there and so a lot had happened in that 50-day period that brought them to that morning of Pentecost.

They had a lot of fear. They were alone. About 10 days earlier, Christ had finally ascended for the final time and they were left alone. And there was fear of the unknown, of what was going to take place, fear of the future. They had come up against the two most powerful authorities of their day in their world. Number one was the Roman Empire. It was the Roman soldiers that had carried out the death of Christ and had sealed the tomb and a Roman guard had been placed there. The Roman Empire was not anything to fool around with. It was a mighty, powerful machine, the most powerful that the world in that day had ever seen. Though the emperor, a man named Tiberius, had been holed up on an island called Capri or Capri for a number of years in absentia, the empire was running quite well on its own. It had been organized quite well and in that remote backwater of Judea, the Roman government kept things in order.

The second power that they'd run up against was that of the Jewish authorities. The Jewish authorities—the Sanhedrin, the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees—that authority was intact in Jerusalem, running the temple, running the religious side of the culture and the social life of Judea under the Roman cap, and it too was a very, very powerful force you didn't run up against. The disciples had seen what would happen because Christ was arrested and had come before the high priest. And it was the high priest and those people who had engineered His death, and they knew the power that they did have.

And this small group of people who had signed on to what they thought was a remarkable, gifted rabbi, and followed Him around and soon learned that they had fallen into something quite different than anything they could have ever imagined, as they witnessed miracles of loaves and fishes, and people being brought back to life, and dramatic healings. And over a three and a half year period they had had their lives transformed and then they'd watched Him die. And then they had seen that He was resurrected.

And so they had become a part of something that again, they were still trying to understand. This was just three and a half years, and in really a few weeks, seven weeks and a day of intense thought, emotion, that they had to grapple with and deal with as they came into the presence of one another on the morning of Pentecost. What was on their mind? You know, before we ever get to that rushing wind that came in, it's good to think about this question, because it has a direct application to you and I today. As we came here this morning, to services, and as we gathered here this morning ourselves, there is a very important lesson for us to learn as well.

But let's go back, let's look at a few of these scriptures in a little bit more detail and see exactly what had been taking place among the disciples during this period of time, that brought them to that morning of Pentecost. If you go back to Matthew chapter 28, chapter 28 and verse 16, let's just read a few of the accounts of that period following the resurrection, that the Gospel accounts tell us and there's more there. We sometimes just kind of tail off when we get to the end of one of the Gospels and we know the events, Christ was crucified, Christ was risen, and we don't look at some of the details there. There's a lot of information in the details that we are given in chapter 28 verse 16. It says, "The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. And when they saw Him they worshiped him. But some doubted." There was doubt. Doubt, some of them doubt, what did they doubt? Did they doubt themselves? Did they doubt what they were seeing? Did they doubt that it was real? What was the doubt that was nagging away at them even as they saw Him, and even worshiped Him, knowing that they... as they did know that He had died, and yet there was doubt?

We often think a miracle would be just what we need. The elixir, the antidote to our faith, to every one of our problems, if we could see a miracle; and we like signs, but miracles, well, they're a little harder to come up with. We all have signs, we take certain things as signs. “Well, that's a sign that I should go here, take this job, do this or do that.” But miracles, well, that just takes a little bit more work, but they were here in the midst of a very large miracle. It goes on, "Jesus came and He spoke to them saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, make disciples of nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded, and lo, I am with you, always, even to the end of the age.'" And yet some doubted.

Back in Mark's account, chapter 16 of Mark, we see that the same thing lingered among the wide group of people there. Mark chapter 16, verse 9, now, "When He rose early on the first day of the week," speaking of Christ's resurrection. "He appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept." And so she was the first to see the empty tomb and have that appearance, and she goes and tells them. “When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.” An eyewitness account, there was a lack of belief that put them in the situation here that they did not understand and didn't believe that had actually happened.

It goes on, verse 12, "After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country." That's the famous road to Emmaus experienced from the book of Luke, "and they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either." They didn't believe that He had risen, they didn't believe that they had been seen, that He had been seen, and therefore, then they would not believe these eyewitnesses. Their disbelief would extend not only to the idea that the dead could come back to life, as He did, but then they doubted the truth of these witnesses. They looked upon them then as liars, charlatans, or fools, maybe a bit delusional.

And you can begin to imagine how this dynamic begins to... must have been being set up within the disciples, because when you begin to doubt one another, you begin to lose trust. The bonds of trust among the disciples were beginning to be frayed. Not completely unraveled, but the doubt and the disbelief has an impact. Think about that among our own relationships with each other. If we begin to look at one another as less than trustworthy, then that has other consequences in relationships, and that's taking place among the disciples here at this moment.

In verse 14, it says, "Then later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table and He rebuked them, rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen." So Jesus had to rebuke them. We, again, don't necessarily always pause and think about this, in these hours and days following Christ's resurrection. That He had to rebuke them and teach them. Show them otherwise what had been done, rebuke their unbelief, as it goes along here. And again, He gives, through Mark's account here, He gives the same commission to go. Let's go into Luke's account. Luke chapter 24.

And let's look at it beginning in verse 36, this is after His resurrection, "As they said these things," this is the two that He had appeared to on the road to Emmaus, "Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, 'Peace to you.' But they were terrified, and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit." Again, nothing like this had been a part of their frame of reference before. Again, what they thought that they were becoming a part of was a movement that was noble, that was good, there had been many movements of other Messiah-type figures at this period of time in Judea. The gospels and the book of Acts tell us that would-be zealots and messiahs had come and gone. And yet, they had not been able to completely separate the fact that now what they were part of was the real, the real thing, because Christ had died. Even though they had seen miracles, again, another indication to us always to remember that miracles are important, miracles can be faith-builders, but miracles by themselves will not do it all. But they were frightened and they thought that they had seen a spirit.

The world of the 1st century was very much tied into an awareness that there was a spirit world, and a lot different than even we today, we see a spirit world today in media and entertainment form. And not for the reality that the 1st century world would have known and experienced, that other dimension. They saw it in different ways and understood it completely different from anything from our frame of reference and they were ascribing, would have been ascribing then even to Jesus something that was not of God, which in itself can be a problem. Because they were seeing Christ risen and they saw Him in a bodily form, but then they were attributing something different to that. They understood their problem, in verse 38, "He said to them, 'Why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts?'" He understood that, and again, He is just laying it out that they were troubled and there was doubt. "’Behold,’ He said, ‘My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’" So it was a bodily appearance that He made completely to them, and He showed them His hands and His feet.

Verse 41, "But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, 'Have you any food?'" So there was still this not fully developed confidence and faith in what had happened, and so He goes even further and asks for some food. They gave him a piece of broiled fish and honey comb, He takes it and he sits down and eats in their presence. And then going on here, in verse 44, "He said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms concerning Me.' And He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures."

So He begins to teach them from the Scriptures that they might understand, and that they might comprehend what He was and how He had fulfilled everything that they would have understood to one degree, and then even more they had begun to develop a fuller understanding of the prophecies of Isaiah, or Joel, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, the statements about the Messiah. But all of this in the midst of a troubled, terrified, frightened mindset that they were having to work through, during these days between the resurrection and Pentecost. And so Christ gives them teaching and He gives them understanding.

What we are seeing here is again, the power of the Word of God. Though a miracle had taken place in front of them, that still wasn't enough to remove the doubt and fear. But as Christ begins to give them the teaching from the Scriptures, of how He had fulfilled literally, in every way, the scriptures about the Messiah. This then begins to be the anchor and the soil into which they can anchor a life of faith that they were to have and to develop. It is rooted in the Word of God. This is what He does as He moves them through the Law of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets, and opening their understanding. "And He said to them, 'Thus it is written, thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and the remissions of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and you are witnesses of these things. Behold I send the promise of My Father upon you, but tarry—or wait—in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.'"

And so Luke's account gives us a very specific instruction, how He told them, “You wait in Jerusalem and then you will receive the power from on high.” And that is what they were doing as they waited for that period of time to come about. They were looking for power from on high. That power would come in the form of the Holy Spirit. And that power would be what would begin to banish the fear, the troubling, doubt, that they had, coupled with the Word of God that they were to have. Now, when we turn over to Acts chapter 1, and we look at, kind of summing up of this as it is. First few verses of Acts chapter 1, beginning in verse 3, Luke in his prologue to the account as he writes to this man named Theophilus, “about all that had been done by Jesus until the day in which He was taken up through the Holy Spirit and had given commandments to the apostles, whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.”

So Luke gives us an explicit reference point that this went on. These accounts of like what we have read in the gospels and others for a 40-day period. John has another set of accounts, and then he kind of ends and he leaves it wide open. At the end of John, you remember, John says, there were so many other things that He did in his life and no doubt probably part of that 40-day period that it would take volumes to teach it, and to record it during this period. We just get a few snippets from the gospel accounts, at least, of this 40-day period. And then it came to an end, it came to a close. But it was a very intense period of time of Jesus appearing to them both in Galilee and Jerusalem, teaching them from the Scriptures, appearing to them in larger groups, perhaps even, more smaller groups, and in some of the ways they're talking like He did to Peter, on the Sea of Galilee, having meals with them. And speaking about the deep things of the Kingdom of God to prepare them for what they were to take part in, and what they were to be a part of. And so Luke's account brings this together. And then there came a time, in verse 4, where they were assembled together with Him and He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, "You have heard from Me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

So there is going to be a gap. “Not many days,” we would look at it roughly 10 days from that 40-day period. They were with Him and they asked Him in verse 6, "Lord, will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" They had a very “life is now, living in the present” mindset that this was all going to happen in their lifetime, which is something that pertains to every group of people from that time forward, that looking for the appearance of the Kingdom, the return of Christ. Every generation of God's people have done that. We are no exception today, as we wait and look for the time when the Kingdom will be restored. He went on to show that, "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." This is the threefold commission that is given to this group of disciples where they are to be witnesses of Him in the city of Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria—the wider region of the country, look at it as kind of the wider counties of the country of Israel at the time—and then ultimately, to the end of the earth, to take the Gospel and to be a witness of God, to do this.

Consider this question, with what we have just read: how could people filled with doubt, even a measure of unbelief, fear, general fear, intense fear, heightened fear, abject fear—fear takes many different forms and guises; sometimes we can control our fear, sometimes it overcomes us and we're just shaking in our boots—how could a people dealing with all of these emotions during this 50-day period of time be expected to do what Jesus told them here in verse 8, they would do, when they have problems figuring it all out at that particular moment? It goes on, "When He had spoken these things," in verse 9, "they watched and He was taken up in a cloud, received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up," and this is through the account here in Luke, then, would be the final bodily appearance of Jesus to them. And He leaves them on the Mount of Olives, which is a very, very significant geographic feature there on the east of Jerusalem across from the city, and through the Kidron Valley and up on this Mount called Olives.

Zechariah's prophecy in chapter 14 shows that Christ will, on that day, set foot on the Mount of Olives. And so it was very key that His final ascension would be from this mountain. And they're seeing that, and it's the final time. "And they looked steadfastly in toward heaven," verse 10, "as He went up, and behold two men stood by them in white apparel." Apparently, two angelic figures appeared to them as the disciples were kind of watching Christ go. It's always fun to try to imagine how this happened. I have my own Star Trekkian-type of way to imagine how Jesus ascended. I kind of think that He kind of, you know, elevated, and rose, and they saw Him, and they saw Him and the clouds, and the clouds, and then all of a sudden just like that, [snaps fingers] He was gone, kind of like in a "Star Trek" just a flash of light. That's how I imagine it and He was home, He was back at, He was at the third heaven. I don't think it was an intergalactic tour that He was on to get to the third heaven. He was just [snaps fingers] gone, He was there.

But they saw Him for a period of time, and that's how I like to imagine it. “But then two angels appeared and they said to them,” in verse 11, "’Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? The same Jesus who's been taken up will come in a like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." I like that phrase. “Why are you standing around gazing?” They were kind of like this, and like this. Maybe they had their hands in their pockets kind of like this, thinking, "Wow, that was neat. What do we do now? Where do we go from here? What happens?"

You ever been in that type of situation where you don't know what to do next? When I was 15 years old, I got on a bus from my little hometown of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I was going to get on a Greyhound bus. And those days you didn't fear getting on a Greyhound bus, and you could go all over the country on a very cheap pass. And I was going to go out to California, my first trip to California, visit my brother for about three weeks. But I had to go to St. Louis about 100 miles north of my hometown and pick up what they called an express bus, that would go through the larger cities. And this express bus took Route 66 out of St. Louis all the way to Los Angeles, my first time to get on that fabled highway, Route 66. When I got off the bus from my hometown, I was in this large room, this large terminal, it was as larger, even larger than this room here, which for me, from my small town was a pretty big thing to walk into, and I did, first time I had ever traveled.

And I didn't know how to make a connection. I didn't know how to read a board to tell me these things. I remember taking my little bag and walking over and kind of looking around, and sitting down on a bench. And I sat, and I sat, and I thought somebody will come along and tell me what to do. Somebody will tap me on the shoulder and tell me what to do next, but you know what? As I was sitting there gazing around, nobody came. Then I finally figured out, "Oh, I got to do this myself. I've got to find out where that next bus leaves, and what time." And so I made a certain few inquiries, I got on the bus, didn't miss it. But that was a life lesson that I had to learn. I was standing there gazing, not quite knowing what to do.

The disciples stood gazing, and they didn't know what to do. From this point, they had only 10 days. What did they do during that 10 days? As you read on in Acts chapter 1, one of the main things they did was to choose a successor to Judas. But by doing so, when you read the account, you understand that they knew the Scripture, and they applied Scripture to their choice and their decision to replace Judas. It's an interesting way that they did. And it brings it down to the end of the chapter. And they chose Matthias by casting lots. I happen to think that they, no doubt during this period of time, as the days go on they talked and they read. They might have fidgeted a bit and wondered, "Well, should we go fishing?" “No, He said wait ‘till, wait in Jerusalem,” and so they were there and they continued.

And then the 50th day came, the morning of Pentecost, and they were gathered together. And what happened? They didn't know. They came together, in verse 1 of chapter 2, "On the day of Pentecost when it was fully come, they were with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, and it appeared to them, divided tongues as of fire. And one set upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." And this dramatic miracle took place, of wind, and fire, and language, and hearing, and people took notice.

And in the room of the house where they were gathered, it obviously became a little bit too small for all that took place, because as these other people take note of it, you get the impression they moved out into a more public location in Jerusalem. Some say that they wound up in the temple precincts; could very well be. Jerusalem was swelled with pilgrims, at this point in time, and this added to the drama of the moment. I wonder if more people came to Jerusalem for Pentecost in that year because of what had happened 50 days earlier, plus three, and they had heard about that. Maybe a few more decided to go to Jerusalem on Pentecost to see what was going on, and the town was bursting at the seams, and from all these nations that we're told about here and areas. And then this dramatic miracle takes place, festive occasion. Far more people than they could have ever imagined and Peter gets up and gives the sermon of his life. Bold, “Men and brethren,” he begins to explain what's happened. That they're not drunk, that this is of God. And Peter thence begins to quote Scripture. He quotes Joel, he quotes Psalms and he gives interpretations upon those scriptures, here in chapter 1, no one had ever heard of before. That's a little-understood part of what was taking place.

Peter was quoting Scripture and applying it to something that had happened and that is Jesus, His death and His resurrection. And there wasn't a Jew in Jerusalem, not a rabbi, not a priest who'd ever understood Joel or the Psalms in that way, nor would they have ever dreamed of applying it to what had happened just weeks earlier, with the arrest, crucifixion, and death of this Man called Jesus of Nazareth. And yet Peter does, and he gives a bold sermon. It's an informed sermon. It's an encouraging sermon, it's very pointed and direct, that includes a dramatic call to repentance. In verse 38, after everyone has calmed down, they realize they’ve been involved and they were responsible for the death of Jesus. "What do we do?" Peter says, "Repent, believe, be baptized, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." And they did, and “thousands were added to the Church that day.” Every minister's dream, to give one sermon and thousands of people get baptized and join the Church in one day, every minister's fantasy.

When you look and you understand what was taking place, here are people who've been terrified, they had been doubtful, unbelieving to one degree or the other during this previous 50-day period. Now all of a sudden, as Peter steps forward, and of course, you know the story of Peter. He was the one who was the leader of that doubt and fear and terrified approach, because he denied Christ three times, and he had to be pointedly taught by Jesus. He had a lot to come back, he was at the back of the pack. He had a long way to come to be the one to stand up and to give the sermon on this day, but he did it. And all the others came right in and were a part of it with him. These were not terrified, doubtful people.

When you read what Peter said about these prophecies from Joel and the Psalms—trust me, folks, Peter's sermon would not have passed doctrinal review by the Jewish doctrinal committee of that day. We have a very involved, and very good, and a very detailed review process at many different levels of our writings, of our speaking in the United Church of God today. Everybody who gets up and gives a sermon in a congregation, that sermon before it's ever posted on a website, has been reviewed or at least approved by individuals within the congregation. Articles that are published in our magazine or scripting for our television programs goes through a very, very thorough review process. That's been the hallmark of our feature.

The Jewish authorities of their day had a very thorough doctrinal review process and Peter's would not have passed, which is why they ran smack in trouble with the Jewish leadership from this point forward because they were applying new meaning to old Scriptures that no Jew had ever heard before. And it just caused them to proverbially tear their clothes and rush at them and ultimately to the point of Stephen and they stoned him. And therein, lies a key to the understanding of what had taken place with these individuals here. We get on to verse 40, the wrap-up: "With many other words, he testified and exhorted them saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation,’ that those who were, who gladly received his word were baptized; about 3,000 souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers."

A church begins to develop. A fellowship, a community, prayer, sharing food together, much like we do today. "And fear came upon every soul," and this was a different type of fear. This was a healthy fear of respect and awe and wonder at now what had happened. Now, it was all beginning to come together. "And all who believed were together and they had all things in common. They sold their possessions, they divided among them, they shared among those who had need. And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

Verses 40 to 47 is a summary of one of the most remarkable periods of the church experience. It is the ideal to which every subsequent church period has wished to be able to emulate, including ours today. A period of unity, one accord, fellowship, love for one another, treating people as equals, not in a completely socialistic manner that we understand from our modern context of socialism, or the welfare type of society. This was something that was spiritual in nature, that bound them together and they prayed, they studied the Scripture, and they praised God, it says, and because of that, their example caused them to have favor with people and others were drawn to their example at that time.

It is a remarkable period of church history, because right here we have a vision being fulfilled that Jesus Christ has for His Church. And that is of people led by the Holy Spirit, knit together, everyone providing that which they can toward a community of faith, power, and love, sharing, looking out after one another and caring for one another. That is the vision that Jesus has for His Church as articulated by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:16, and they had it at this moment. And it is also the mission of the Church, we see right here, it has begun. What we read about back in Matthew 28:19 of the gospel being taken to the world. And more specifically for this group that they would be witnesses of Jesus in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth being fulfilled.

The vision of the Church was coming together and the mission of the Church was being accomplished. And because both were working together, the mission and the vision, there was a remarkable picture being described here by Luke, of the Church at peace. And what was the key to that? We've just read it. Two things we can summarize to show what was the key to bring about this scene that we see here at the end of chapter 2 in Acts. A Church that was grounded in the Word of God. Jesus began to teach them, we read, from the Law of Moses, from the prophets, the Scriptures about Him, to explain to them what had happened. He spent days and days, and weeks and weeks doing that, bringing new dimension of understanding to the Scriptures that they had never had.

And then even when we see in the days after Jesus' final ascension, a roughly 10-day period, when they came to make a decision to replace Judas, they read Scripture, they applied it properly, God blessed the decision. And you have to understand that and realize that, that's what they were doing during that period of time as well. So that when they came to that morning of Pentecost and this mighty event takes place, they were ready then to move into the experience provided, and that extra dimension of power that the Spirit of God would give them and did give to them, and Peter takes the lead to give the sermon of his life. And this dramatic miracle, but beyond that, 3,000 people being added to the Church, and then a community being developed.

And so two things create this vision and this mission. The Word of God. If we can borrow a phrase that we've used over the last two years, two phrases, they labored in the Word and they lived in the Word. The ministry has had those two themes for the past two conferences. Labor in the Word, meaning to read the Word, and to learn it, and to soak it in and drink it in; and to live the Word, this past year. So the Word of God is what Jesus took and explained, it is what the Church went to, to explain what was happening, and then, it is the Spirit of God. This is the dimension that was given on Pentecost, and what this day is all about for those of us who are the firstfruits.

That is how the mission of the Church is done and that is how then that vision of a community, of a Church, of a people who are rooted in the Word of God, who actually do care for one another, is accomplished; by no other means, by no other means. It is the Word of God and it is the Spirit of God that did it for them, and will do it for you and for I today as we live our lives, as we go about our lives. The Church was given favor, we're told, as they demonstrated these fruits and others were added. People need to see that Spirit within us. They need to see within us, Jesus Christ. In Colossians chapter 1, Colossians 1:27, Paul writes, "To them, God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Christ in you, the hope of glory. That is what caused people to see something in those disciples and to want to be a part of it. That is what caused them to banish their fear, trouble, doubt, and unbelief: Christ in them through the Holy Spirit. In Revelation chapter 14, we are given an image of the firstfruits, called the 144,000 in this part of the Revelation. "Standing with the Lamb on the Mount of Olives," in Revelation 14:1, "144,000 with the Father's name written on their foreheads. And a voice from heaven like many waters, and the voice of thunder, and the sound of harpers playing their harps, they sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who are not defiled with women,” they are virgins, spiritual virgins. “These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God."

A firstfruit is one who follows Christ. And it is Christ in us that is that hope of glory. All the gods of doubt—and I say gods with a little g, because doubt, and guilt, and fear can really separate us from God—the gods of doubt, and fear, and unbelief have all been shredded by Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:15, tells us that He disarmed the powers with His death. That's what He did. People should see God in us. You remember what Ruth said to Naomi when Naomi, in the book of Ruth, had lost her husband and children, and these two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, tried to follow her away from Moab, and Orpah decided to leave. But she said, "Go ahead Ruth, you go home too," and Ruth says, "Your God will be my God, wherever you go, I will go." Because Ruth saw in Naomi, God, an example that she wanted to be a part of. People should see God in the firstfruits. People should see that in us.

So it's something for us to examine in our own way, see how much of that is being demonstrated in our life. We have to live as well, knowing that there is a God, and to live our life that every day counts. And to live with the reality that there is a God who judges, who sees, and who knows. That Numbers 32 and verse 23, is correct. Our sins will find us out. And God will expose sin, ours to ourselves, sometimes to others. And we must live knowing that way. If we can make that decision and live with that reality that there is a God who lives, and before Him we stand every single day of our life and every major decision, every small decision of character, and the decisions that we make in the privacy of our own mind, and in our own actions that not everyone knows about, not even our mate, all are in accordance with righteousness and a desire for righteousness.

That's an important trait for a firstfruit, for a firstfruit to have in their life, and in their approach to life. We can internalize that and think that through. We are going to be taking giant steps toward creating that kind of Church that we read about here in the book of Acts, that has been imbued with the power of the Holy Spirit, and changes are being made. In 2 Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter writes, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you and the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped corruption that is in the world through lust." As we have received the gift of God's Spirit, as those on that first day of Pentecost received the gift of the Holy Spirit were brought into the Church, they became, and so are we, partakers of the divine nature. And it is in that, we reach the real nexus, the real critical point of our life before God, where we recognize that, with the Holy Spirit, we are taking on the very nature of God, the divine nature.

That's what this day is all about as a firstfruit. That's what the gift of the Holy Spirit is for us. That's how we live the Word, that's how we drink in the Word, and it changes our life and it banishes the fear, gives us confidence in who we are and what we are to do. And allows us to then grow, because the next few verses here of 2 Peter speaks to a process of spiritual empowerment and growth and development. "Also for this very reason, giving all diligence into your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,” the divine nature. All of these qualities are to the divine nature, “to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Christ did not leave His disciples as orphans. He said He wouldn't and He didn't, even though there was a moment in time when they thought that they were orphaned, as they stood gazing up and looking and wondering, "What do we do next. What's the next step?" They weren't orphans, and we are not either in our life. If we can learn to take on the divine nature and drink that in, in our lives, then we can banish doubt, uncertainty, and fear, unbelief, that will creep in at various times as we go through our lives, and stages in the developments of life. Trials hit us that will shake our faith, test our faith. It's God's Spirit that is the only thing that we can have to overcome those fears, because really, it's all the Church of God has ever had. And as we've seen, even when they were confronted with the miracle of Christ's resurrection, and they recognized that they still had to deal with the hostility of the world around them, in a kind of a two-pronged government called the Roman Empire and the Jewish society, plus their own human nature, and themselves. They were going up against a lot, just as we go up against our world today, and ourselves, and what Satan might throw at us.

So if I can come back to the question that I asked, what was going through their mind on that morning of Pentecost? Well, the real answer is for you and I, the same things that are going through your mind right now, and my mind. As I got up this morning, prepared to come over here, go through the day, same things that will be in my mind tomorrow, and next Thursday, and a month from today. The same things were going through their minds that go through our minds. Life, that a doubt every once in a while creeps in, sometimes an unbelief, fear, bonds of trust might be tested. And when those come in, how do we process them? How do we handle them? We will handle them by the Word of God and the Spirit of God.

And if those are the weapons of our warfare, then we can handle them. We can deal with them. And we can be about the work that we see that the Church did then and has always done, of taking the message of salvation and of repentance to life, to people who need that message. And we can have the power to believe that, and to grow together and develop together as a bride of Christ, and accomplish His work and His purpose and His will. We give ourselves to that devotion, to that devoted study and the process of taking on the nature of God. We're no different than them. We can take on that nature and we can live. We can accomplish the work of God, and we can then be the firstfruits who follow the Lamb and who know their God and do mighty deeds and mighty exploits.

As we prepare for the Kingdom of God Seminars next week it is important to review some of our fundamental beliefs not only to solidify our own faith but also to be able to be Ambassadors for Christ as it tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:20. The gospel that Christ preached is truly Good News to a troubled world. This world is in need of hope and understanding and that is what we can offer through these seminars. Anyone who hears the seminars will immediately see that the Gospel we preach is unique from the churches in this world. The average person in the world today is not filled with optimism about the future. Rising unemployment, wars around the world, the breakdown of the family, all underscore the sorry state of today’s world. The churches of this world have a message of personal salvation to those few that follow a path that no one seems to be able to agree on. If the Churches of today have the right message then it’s hard to understand how few people adhere to it. If the message that is preached today is all there is then one can easily become skeptical of religion as a whole. Only 2 of 7 people in the world claim to be Christian and many of them are Christian in name only.

Is it any wonder how people have lost faith in the religious community. We have an opportunity to offer something Unique in the Christian world because there is something missing in the gospel message as preached in the worlds churches. The sermon today is based on a Bible study Mr. Walker wrote for the Ministerial News Journal called: The Missing Dimension of the Gospel as Preached by Mainstream Christianity On our seal for the United Church of God the mission of the church is stated “Preaching the Gospel, Preparing a people”. If we are to fulfill that commission we need to understand what the Gospel is and be able to share that information to those who seek an answer. Today we are going to discuss the missing dimension of the Gospel that has caused so many to not only miss the real hope in the Gospel message but have even caused some people to turn away from God. It seems extraordinary, doesn’t it? Well here is one example I can site. (Story: Former Boss and the stress of a Dad who was in Hell)

So what is missing from the Gospel message as preached in churches around the world? Why would some lose hope when hearing it, and why would others turn from it? You might say the problem is in the inclusiveness of the message. Now some would object, “Inclusiveness?” Jesus sacrifice was for all people. NIV 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, So how could some feel this Gospel leaves some out? The heart of the Gospel message as told by so many churches in the world today is to come to Christ before it is too late. For some, seeing some of their loved ones that have died without Christ they don’t look forward to the prospect of saving only themselves. Where is the hope in that? This is partly why so many missionaries travel to the ends of the earth trying to reach everyone so the largest number of people could have a chance at salvation. Here the heart of what’s missing from the Gospel message as preached around the world today, Hope. People want to believe in something good and all-encompassing but the message given in so many churches focus on saving one person at a time and as people look at their neighbors and countrymen the prospects of any large scale salvation seem bleak at best.

Of course, there are a couple other approaches that try to widen the playing field so that it appears that God is winning much more over to His side. The first are those that lower the Bar for salvation. They say you only need to confess Jesus is Lord and you’re in. Of course, sympathetic people would look to that approach and say, “What about all of the Non-Christians out there?” If 5 out of 7 people today are going to perish then God is certainly not doing well is He? The second alternative is that God is compassionate and is not concerned about the legal requirements to salvation but rather, if you have a good heart then God will save you. The question I would ask is how to you explain scriptures like: Romans 3:23-24 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, KJV Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3:16 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

So this is where so many people of this world are left. If the scripture is right then so few have a chance and if the scripture is wrong, then how can anything be right. So what’s the answer? I often tell people when discussing spiritual matters that although there are many things in this world we don’t yet understand, when it is known to us we are going to do the V-8 bop on the forehead and say, “So that’s it”. The mysteries of God do not take a physicist to unlock or else Paul would never have written in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29: 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. So is this just so God can punish those who are haughty? Those that think too much of themselves, or is this so that everyone can have a chance.

At work, we use a system of building a prototype computer. Instead of loading 75 different pieces of software on 1400 computers, we load that software on only one and use it to copy to the other computers. We use the least of the computers in the fleet to do this so that we know that every computer will work with the new configuration. I Corinthians is describing that process. The world has been blinded by the Satan, the god of this world, and it takes God to open their Eyes. That is what we have an opportunity to participate in. Understanding the Missing Dimension in the Gospel message is understanding that hope is alive for all those that have lived and died without the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ. So what is missing from the Gospel message as preached in the world’s Christian churches? In Mark 1:1 you find a phrase used only once in our bibles. Mark 1:1 NKJ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You can find the phrase Gospel of Christ another 10 times but this phrase only once. In looking up this passage in Expositors Bible Commentary I found this statement of the meaning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Expositor's Bible Commentary The word "gospel" comes from the old English "godspel" ("good news") and translates accurately the Greek euangelion [Strongs #2098 {yoo-ang-ghel'-ee-on} . The Greek word originally meant the reward for bringing good news but later came to mean the Good News itself. In the NT the Good News is that God has provided salvation for all men through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For Mark to convey this Good News, he has created a new literary genre—"gospel." "Mark's book has come to be called a Gospel because it contains the Gospel—the announcement of the Christian good news" So what is this Christian Good News? Here Expositors sums up this Good News to be the Salvation offered to mankind through Jesus Christ. The fact that the first 4 books of the New Testament are called Gospels and contain the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as our savior it would be understandable for the mainstream Christian to only focus on personal salvation as the Gospel message. But growing up in the Church of God I was more likely to hear this scripture in Matthew 24:14 to describe the Gospel Message Matthew 24:14 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. So which is it?

Let’s start in 1 Corinthians 15: Listen to what Paul is telling the Corinthians 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 NKJ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you -- unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, … 1. The Gospel –brought them in 2. Saved them, if they hold fast 3. Message that Christ died for them and was buried and raised the 3rd Day. So is that all there is to the Gospel? Well let’s look back at verse 3 again. The word first could refer either to first in time order, meaning that Christ’s death and resurrection is the first major event in God’s plan to save mankind, or it could mean that his death and resurrection is first in importance in the gospel message. But regardless of which meaning is intended, the very mention of the word first indicates that there is more to the gospel message than the death and resurrection of Christ, important though that is.

At the time of Christ we see a change in the communication between God and mankind. Up until the first century, God’s people relied on the Law and prophets to guide them through life. NKJ Luke 16:16 "The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. We see that there was a new promise to guide Gods people in the New Testament. The NLT puts is this way. NLT Luke 16:16 "Until John the Baptist began to preach, the laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and eager multitudes are forcing their way in. It’s important to understand this in trying to understand what the Gospel meant to the world of the first Century. Up until the time of Christ you had the Nation of God on earth in a number of Forms. First of all the Kingdom period were God’s presence dwelt in the Temple in Jerusalem. Later this nation split and eventually fell into captivity but they were, in their minds, God’s chosen people who were supposed to live by the Law and the prophets. That is what was preached in the synagogues and that is what people focused on.

Today many Christians believe the Law has been nailed to the cross and the focus is on the Gospel, as they see it, a message of personal salvation that needs to be proselyted or else most will suffer the fires of Hell. But Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to bring a Gospel about a reconciliation of mankind back to God in a way that the Law and Prophets could not. When Christ came he brought Good News to a troubled world. This Good News contains real hope for mankind. This gospel message needs to contain all of the solutions to man’s problems for it to truly be from God. If it only holds answers to those who have become “real” Christians, then how does the gospel give hope to the majority of humans that don’t qualify? We live in a global age and although most people spend too much time thinking inward they do understand that there are 7 Billion people out there and a solution that only works for a small subset of the population is by any definition a failure. God is not a failure so we should not look at His plan as a failure. God’s plan will be a success and all of the pain and suffering in this world will make sense and people will understand why it has been a mystery to so many from the time that Adam and Eve rejected the tree of life as Romans 16 tells us.

Romans 16:25-26 25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith – 1. Grace and Salvation is part of the Gospel Message NKJ Galatians 1:6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him the father who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, Acts 20:24 24 "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Romans 1:15-16 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. So the story of Christ and his incredible life on earth and the things that He suffered for us are definitely part of the Gospel message. But that’s not all. 2. The Kingdom of God completes the story Understanding of the Kingdom of God is crucial in knowing how all of the people who never knew Jesus Christ will have an opportunity for salvation. Now Critics would argue that the Gospel of Christ is mentioned 11 times whereas the Gospel of the Kingdom is only mentioned 4. But how do you ignore these four passages. Matthew 4:23 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Matthew 9:35 35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matthew 24:14 14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Mark 1:14-15 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." It is clear that the Kingdom of God is part of the Gospel, but this does not tell the whole story because this is by no means the only place that the Kingdom of God is mentioned. The expression “kingdom of God” appears 68 times in the NT (53 in the gospels). The phrase “kingdom of heaven” occurs 32 times (all but 2 in Matthew). Twenty NT passages conveying parables Jesus taught contain wording similar to “The kingdom of Heaven [or the kingdom of God] is like...” Let’s go through a number of scriptures showing how important the Kingdom of God was to the Gospel message.

Luke 4:43: “but He said to them, ‘I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.’” Luke 8:1: “Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings [same Greek word elsewhere as ‘gospel’] of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him…” Luke 9:6-11 6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. 7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, 8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. 9 Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?" So he sought to see Him. 10 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.

Acts 1:3: “to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Acts 8:12 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Acts 19:8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. Acts 14:21-22 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." Acts 20:25 25 "And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Acts 28:23 23 So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. So here we do not see that the Gospel replaced the Law and the prophets, but rather gave new meaning to what was up till that time a mystery that was prophesied right in the scriptures.

Acts 28:30-31 30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him. Paul spoke often about the Kingdom of God and about Jesus Christ as he preached. The Knowledge of the Kingdom of God is contained in the Holy Days we observe every year. The return of Jesus Christ is foretold in the Feast of Trumpets. The Day of Atonement pictures the removal of Satan as the king of this earth so that he does not interfere in the lives of those here. Christ return to rule on this earth is pictured in the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day pictures a time when Salvation will be offered to everyone who never had the opportunity in this Life. That is what the Kingdom of God adds to the Gospel message and why it is the missing dimension in the Gospel heard in most churches today. When we look at the Gospel message of Salvation as preached in the world’s churches, what is plain to us is that the Christians of the this world can only focus on the hope that they can comprehend. The world does not know that God is sending His Son to this Earth to overthrow the Kingdoms of this world. They believe they are leaving this world to be with God.

The Jews of the first century did, as did the Christians, but as time went on the Jewish influence was demonized and the Christian Church turned its back on their understanding of God’s ultimate plan for mankind. Without the Holy days they stood no chance of understanding the whole plan of God. It’s like turning on a movie into the middle and trying to figure out what is going on. What they can see is Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. What they can’t see is a plan for those that never knew Christ at all. The Return of Christ has not been the focus of many churches because long ago there was a belief that the Kingdom had come to the world already. What did the apostolic church teach? The apostles and ministers of the apostolic church preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, the same gospel Jesus preached during His earthly ministry. Sadly, much of traditional Christianity has lost this fundamental aspect of the gospel message. An article titled “Days of the Martyrs” that was posted online by US News & World Report, April 16, 2001, explains how the message of the kingdom of God disappeared from the gospel preached by mainstream Christianity.

Here are some excerpts from that article: “It started simply enough, according to the Gospels, with the life of Jesus of Nazareth. During a brief career as an itinerant teacher… he preached the coming of God’s kingdom and performed extraordinary deeds. Many who followed him believed he was God’s ‘anointed one’: the long-awaited messiah presaged in the Hebrew Scriptures. Summarize the Fall of Jerusalem twice and the vilification of the Jewish desire for Kingdom “Yet while the church would flourish and prosper under its new status, it would also face new conflicts. Its theology would continue to change, even to the point, some argue, of abandoning traditional themes…. Preaching of ‘the coming Kingdom of God’ fell into neglect; the new idea… was that with Constantine and his successors, the plan of God has been fulfilled” We understand that God has a plan for all of mankind, not just the small number of Christians that have been called in this age. We know that the Kingdom of God is the missing dimension that this world so badly needs to hear.

Let’s get excited about the chance to participate in this process, to be used by God to help someone come to a better understanding of Gods Plan. Let’s study the fundamentals so we are ready to help those we might come across. One final verse that puts the whole gospel message together with the sacrifice of Jesus to His Second coming to this earth, let’s read Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9:27-28 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.