Sunday Message (1st service) - Pastor Trent Cargill (May 31, 2026) | Life Bible Church

Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We

want to thank you for joining us today, and we

hope you find today's sermon impacting as you

listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk.

To find service times and watch messages online,

see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,

enjoy this week's message. So today we are going

to talk a little bit about Pentecost. And so

if you're taking notes, the title of my message

this morning is Holy Days and Holy Spirit. And

for some of you, you might be thinking, holy

days, that seems a little weird. But we actually

do have times and days where we as a Christian

church, we want to remember. There's a biblical

principle that's called the principle of remembering.

And it means to set up a memorial. It means to

think about and to contemplate and to remember

something with intent so that each and every

new generation can actually live out the experiences

of God from remembering what God did in a previous

generation. Now, my wording is very specific.

I didn't just say that they would remember so

that it would just be an idea in their minds,

but it would be something that they could actually

live today. over and over and over again, that

they would live out the experiences of what took

place. That's why the book of Deuteronomy, the

book of remembrance, is so important because

it was about a new generation remembering what

God did in Egypt and took them through the wilderness.

so that they would experience their own encounter

with God that was similar to what took place,

but was at an even greater level than what God

did before. This is what we want. We want to

remember. Because if we don't remember, then

what we will try to do is something that is brand

new, rather than something that's actually old

and tested and proven. We want, trust me, I want

old school. I want old school. I should have

been born in the 80s. I love 80s music. I love,

and I'm not going to tell you the things that

I listen to, but I'm telling you right now. I

should have been born then. The movies, are you

kidding me? Action movies were at their best

in the 80s. They're cheesy. They're corny. Yes,

but can you get better than, get down, get to

the chopper. Can you get any better than that?

You never see anybody reload a single gun. They

all have infinite ammo. People are ripped beyond

belief. Before superhero movies, there was just

dudes who were Marines. Like, that's just what

they were. Before Captain America, there was

Rambo. Just a guy in the jungle. So we remember.

We remember the things that God has done because

we want to not try and make something new that

what God does, but actually build on what he's

already building. And experience something that's

similar. Just as the Israelites had to cross

over a body of water, they crossed over the Jordan

as the Israelites before crossed over the Red

Sea. There is immense amount of times throughout

scripture where God does something that points

us back. To something God's done before. But

he does it in a way that's unique to this generation.

That builds upon the previous generation. That

also sets up a platform for future generations.

Because God is generational. He loves to reach

the generations. And so what I want us to do

is. I want us to operate in this principle of

remembering. Because when we remember. This is

not something just dedicated to the communion

table. But this is something we actually should

do for multiple aspects of Christianity. We need

to remember that there was a day called Pentecost.

Now, for many of us, there's tons of different,

even just holy days or sacred times within the

scriptures and that we remember it that is within

church history as well. But one of the things

we probably know best, the holidays, of course,

is, you know, Resurrection Sunday. That's probably

the most prominent one that we celebrate. And

then we have Christmas. Okay, those are really

big. And of course, you don't get presents on

Pentecost Sunday. I think that might help. That

might help a little bit for us to remember. We

bust out some presents for people. But one of

the things that I want to talk about this morning

is the idea that when we think about Pentecost,

it often kind of gets overlooked. because of,

you know, like Easter, Resurrection Sunday, you

got Good Friday, you have Christmas Eve, you

have Christmas, you have Thanksgiving, you know,

these holy days. That was a joke, by the way.

It's a holy day in my house because I get to

eat and it is not a sin of gluttony. So, because

we're giving so much thanks, I'm just so thankful.

But there is a, grander theme within the feasts

of the Old Testament. And when we read the feasts

of the Old Testament as Protestant Christians

today, when we think about, okay, those feasts

are good and great, but we don't really need

to practice that. Yeah, I'm not saying we practice

Judaism, but what we have to practice is the

remembering of those holy days as Christ being

the fulfillment of those days. So I hope to kind

of shed some light on exactly the significance

of this. And so let's take a quick moment to

look at the scripture here in Luke 24, 27. This

is really important for us. Whenever you read

the Old Testament, you need to understand that

when Jesus spoke, and any time when the Bible

says in the scriptures, in the New Testament,

do you know what scriptures he's talking about?

The Old Testament. So that whole nonsense that...

hullabaloo about how the Old Testament, we don't

need it. Yeah, it's the same Bible that Jesus

used. So we should probably use it too. But we

read it in light of the new covenant, right?

We don't interpret it to try to exactly copy.

You have to have discernment and wisdom to understand

how to interpret it. So read the Old Testament

how Jesus did. So that's what we have to do.

We have to read the Old Testament how Jesus did.

But look at the scripture here that says, and

beginning with Moses, And all of the prophets,

he interpreted to them, he being Jesus, this

is when they were on the road together, when

the disciples had no idea who Jesus was. Jesus

in his resurrected body and the perfect teacher

that he is, he begins with Moses. And what does

that mean? The first five books of the Bible

were written by Moses. So he's referring to,

he starts with the first five books of the Bible.

Then he jumps beyond the history and goes to

the prophets. And then I'm sure he goes into

the rest of it because he says the beginning

with these two things. He interpreted to them

in all the scriptures. So he gets through all

of the Old Testament on a walk. I mean, you think

45 minutes of preaching is long. The things concerning

who? Himself. Jesus preaches of himself. This

is the goal of every preacher. is to preach like

Jesus did, which is to preach about Jesus. And

then in Colossians chapter two, verse 16 through

17, it says here, therefore let no one pass judgment

on you in questions of food or drink or with

regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

But this is the important thing you need to see.

These are a shadow of the things to come. What

is he referring to in the first half of this

scripture? He's referring to the feast. He's

referring to these special days in the Old Testament.

And then look at what the apostle Paul does.

He says, but listen, these things are a shadow,

which means it is something like a sign. It is

to be a figure or a type. It looks like the real

thing, but isn't quite there yet. But this is

what he says. He says, so what is the real thing?

The substance, the matter of it, the weightiness

of it, the fullness of it belongs to who? Christ.

So this is what we're discussing today. We're

discussing Jesus in the times of the holidays

that we see in the Old Testament, but not just

Christ, but the one whom the Son and the Father

sent, the Holy Spirit himself. The Holy Spirit

is so crucial, especially if you're a Christian,

because if you're a Christian, you believe in

the doctrine of the Trinity. which is if you

don't know, then that's a big uh -oh, that you

need to understand that we believe in the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit that are co -equal

together of one essence but three distinct persons.

We understand that the Holy Spirit is just as

much God as Jesus, and Jesus is just as much

God as the Father. We are not worshiping. We

are not. Thinking of, we are not declaring or

reading about a different God in the Old Testament

than the New. The Bible says that I am the same

yesterday, today, and forever. Which means he's

not going to be a different God when he comes

and judges the whole world. He's going to be

the same God that saved the woman caught in adultery.

The same God that brought the flood is the same

God who was the one who died on the cross for

you and I. This is the same God. They're not

distinct. They are distinct, but they're not

completely separate. They're not two different

people. They're the same nature. So let's really

quickly talk about Passover. When you think about

Passover, of course, you think about Easter.

You think about Jesus dying on the cross. Why?

Because it signifies the lamb that was sacrificed

in the Old Testament when they were the last

plague. On Egypt, where the death angel is sent

to kill all the firstborns. What ends up happening

is, this is a plague that is not just going to

affect the Egyptians, but also the Israelites.

But God gives a solution to save them from this.

And he says, you have to slay a lamb that is

spotless, that is without blemish, and has to

be... slain in their blood is put over their

doorpost. Jesus Christ is the lamb that was slain

that we no longer have to experience eternal

death because of the blood of Jesus that is over

us so that when the angel of death comes, it

passes over every house with the blood of Jesus

on it. That's why it's called Passover. Because

death passed over them. Just as with us, death

will pass over us because Jesus defeated death.

So then we continue on to see that. Jesus takes

this idea that from that moment of not just the

Passover of death and being saved from death,

but now an exodus from slavery, that Christ didn't

just save them from death. He caused them to

leave the nation of Egypt, to be set apart, to

go and worship God and to go into the promised

land of Canaan. For you and I. We are now exodus,

delivered, set free from sin and the slave master

of sin, according to Romans, and brought into

now, underneath, into sonship, adopted as sons

and daughters into the family of God. And so

we're brought exodus from the sin of slavery,

the slavery of sin, and brought into the, what

is our promised land today? The presence of God.

The presence of Jesus is our Canaan. And then

this is the other aspect is we have in 1 Corinthians

5, 7. This is my New Testament scripture to prove

to you that Jesus represents that Passover lamb.

It says, cleanse out the old leaven that you

may be a new lump. As you really are unleavened

for Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.

Jesus is our Passover lamb. He's the one that

makes Passover for us. Not only that, but we

also have to remember that Jesus is the fulfillment

of Passover. Jesus transitioned this understanding

and brings us into a new light. Then we also

have, in the New Testament, that the Passover

equates to the cross of Jesus. Jesus dying on

the cross and his resurrection. Then we have

to go to the Feast of Tabernacles. Does anybody

know what the Feast of Tabernacles is? You can

raise your hand. Yeah, pretty much all the people

that go to Pastor Brad's Revelation class do.

Why is that significant? Because the Feast of

Tabernacles is actually the last feast out of

all the feasts, and it represents to us now the

fulfillment of the end times. In other words,

when Jesus returns, do you know in John 1, 1,

when it says in the beginning was the word, right?

And the word was with God and the word was God.

And later in that chapter, it says, and the word

dwelt among us. That word dwelt in the Greek

is actually the word tabernacle. That Jesus came

and tabernacled among us. It means he dwells

with us, he lives with us. And so the word himself,

being Jesus, came and tabernacled. Now, he tabernacled

for a while, but then there will be a fulfillment

of tabernacles when Jesus returns and now we

are brought into. fellowship without any space

between us, without any hindrance of selfishness

or sin, but we will be perfected and we will

be brought into restoration, resurrected to the

fullness of salvation and the maturity into Christ,

and we will be in perfect unity with God. That's

going to be a really good day. That is what tabernacles

are supposed to represent. When we understand

that it is the final feast that celebrates God's

goodness and provision at the end of the year.

So at the end of the year, it's looking back

going, God, look at what you've done. Look at

what you're doing. And then he goes to say that

in the book of Revelation, that after this battle

against this woman of Babylon, censoring some

things there, the woman of Babylon, the dragon

and the forces of evil have been defeated. Christ

will fully seal his victory. Jesus is victorious.

Amen. But we still live in a world that has yet

to know he's won. So when he comes back, there

will be no questions about whether Jesus won

or not. His victory will be fully sealed for

all eternity and fully witnessed and fully realized

when he comes back. That means that every form

of sorrow, of pain will vanish and we will be

in perfect unity with God under his perfect kingship

with the creation redeemed and restored to a

greater state than before. We will be, as what

the Bible says, a new creation. Jesus will form

a new heavens and a new earth. And it will be

greater than what we have now. It will be greater

than what it was before the fall. Today, I want

to look at Pentecost. So we understand, okay,

Passover, tabernacles, yes, really important.

And when we think about Pentecost, sometimes

it can get overshadowed. But Pentecost, in between

all of this, is actually, just as significant

as the others. When we think about Jesus dying

on the cross, we don't really think and equate

Acts chapter two at Pentecost as almost equal

to the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus

Christ. But actually, it is. Did you know without

Pentecost, we wouldn't have the church? Without

Pentecost, The ministry of Jesus Christ could

not continue. Christianity would have ended there.

But we need the Holy Spirit. We need Pentecost

to take place. But before we can even get to

Acts 2 or even Jesus' teachings on the Holy Spirit

in the book of John, I'm going to try and preach

and teach as Jesus did. We're going to start

With Moses and the books of Moses. So let's go

back to Genesis chapter 11. We're gonna see something

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

here that is contrast, but very significant to

our understanding of the day of Pentecost, which

is the Tower of Babel. So let's read this together.

Genesis 11, let's read these nine verses. Now

the whole earth had one language in the same

words. And as people migrated from the east,

they found a plain in the land of Shinar and

settled there. And they said to one another,

come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.

And they had brick for stone and budamin for

mortar. And they said, come, let us build ourselves

a city and a tower, significant, with its top

in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves,

lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole

earth. And the Lord came down to see the city

and the tower, which the children of man had

built. And the Lord said, behold, they are one

people and they have all one language. And this

is only the beginning of what they will do. Nothing

that they propose to do will now be impossible

for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse

their language. so that they may not understand

one another's speech. So the Lord dispersed them

from there over the whole face of all the earth,

and they left off building the city. Therefore,

its name was called Babel, because the Lord confused

the language of all the earth, and from there

the Lord dispersed them over the face of all

the earth. Couple quick observations. First thing

is, They came from the east and they settled

in the east. When you think about east, it actually

is a subtle note that they are going to move

away from God. Here's why we know that. Because

when God pushed Adam and Eve out of the Garden

of Eden, he pushed them east. When Cain was driven

away from God's presence, he went east. In Genesis

4, chapter 6. So going east represents a journey

away from God. So when the people gather in the

land of Shinar, which is in the east, the author

tells us that what is about to happen is gonna

make humanity move further away from God. Then

we, of course, we have the name of the tower

itself. Which if you read your whole Bible, you

can see a connection between the name Babel and

another city that's very prevalent called Babylon.

And in Babylon and Babel, they represent everything

that is in opposition to God. And the deification

of self -will. Why do I say deification of self

-will? It means to make myself God. To say, I

don't want Yahweh. I don't want the God of Adam

and Eve. I don't want that God. I want my own

God of my own making. And my God is gonna look

more like me than me looking like him. So I'm

gonna make a God that has my will inscribed in

its DNA. It's gonna be built up and comprised

of my desires, my emotions, my wants. and all

the things that make me happy, and then I'm going

to give my life to it. It is opposite of God.

It symbolizes a consistent symbol representing

evil power and self -glorification. The city

of Babylon, even in the time of when Daniel was

there, you see that there was this battle of

the self -glorification of Babylon itself as

a nation. And even the king of Babylon glorifying

himself as if he was a god. So this points together,

Babel, Babylon, and then Babylon in the New Testament

is used as a type or a shadow of the... what

represents the kingdom of evil and the kingdom

of darkness, Satan's kingdom, where Satan is

a king that he calls himself God of this nation,

Babylon. So Babel from Genesis 11 to Revelation

18, right before Jesus comes and kicks his butt

forever, that's what it represents. But then

you also have to look at this. Did you know in

the first couple of chapters of Genesis, there

are four falls? Some of you are going, four falls.

What do you mean by that? I thought there was

just one fall. There's actually four. The first

one is the fall in heaven, which is when Lucifer

falls before creation. Then there's the fall

of Adam and Eve in the garden. Then there's the

fall of the sons of God, which is in Genesis

chapter six, that fall and then mate with the

daughters of men. Then there is number four,

which is the one we're gonna talk about. the

fall of the nations, Babel. Pentecost is way

more than just individual experience with the

Holy Spirit. Pentecost reaches far beyond just

us. It represents the actual reaching and pouring

out on, what does Joel the prophet say? That

the Holy Spirit pours out on just those who are

here, just those who are charismatic enough,

just those who are willing to do cartwheels.

No, this is about the Holy Spirit pouring out

on all flesh. Because the Holy Spirit, in the

Old Testament, you've got to understand context.

We have it so good because of Jesus. But in the

time of Babel, a time of immense evil and wickedness,

in time of immense separation from God, there

was a need that God had to step in and intervene

because in the midst of this prime evil and declaring

independence from God, one after another, God

gives them a chance. He gives chance after chance

after chance. Will you do life? Will you live

according to my ways and live with me? Each time

when it came to the heavens and the angels, there

were some that said, we want independence from

God. When it came to humanity, those made in

the image of God, we want to be independent from

God. When it came to the sons of God and the

fallen angels that came, there was both humanity

and the spiritual saying, we want independence

from God. There is now the nations. at the Tower

of Babel. Let's say we want independence from

God. So what has to happen? Well, in this fall,

we see what were they building? Because this

is really important for us to understand. They

weren't just building a single tower. They were

building a city. The Bible says that they were

building a city, which means they're trying to

build a civilization, a government. A way of

how to do community without God. We want to build

something that, listen, it's all going to be

love. We're all going to get along. See, in the

time of Noah, there was chaos in all of their

sin. There was no nations. There was no people

that were all together. But after the flood,

their fall becomes worse because their wickedness

is now organized. organized chaos is still chaos.

It is still sin. As beautiful, and Babylon and

the Hanging Gardens is one of the wonders of

the world. As beautiful as it was, it was still

a civilization and a community, a family, a gathering

of people and a system of how government should

work and hierarchy and servanthood and all of

those things. It represented all of that without

God. But not only that, they were building a

civilization and they were building a tower,

which whoop -dee -doo, a tower, so what? But

to you and I, a tower is just a skyscraper, a

really tall building. It doesn't mean much. It's

just more floors for more things. But in the

time of Babel, a tower, and through most of ancient

history, a tower was a religious building. It

represented a temple. dedicated to a God. This

Tower of Babel, actually, it was man -centered

and not God -centered. It was a temple focused

on making a name for myself. They said so. Let

us make a name for ourselves. Which is why is

it so important that Jesus is the name above

every name? Because it's in our sin nature to

make a name for ourselves. I love reading about

these... The people in church history that say,

I want no reputation of my own name, but let

the only name said of my life be Jesus Christ.

That is what it means to say no to a self -idolatrous

building and organization dedicated to my will

and my things and having a life that says, though

my name be not known to the world, let my name

be known only to God and to his name that is

above every other name, the name that is Jesus

Christ. name be known. So we have to see that

this is something where they are trying to build

a temple dedicated to themselves and to their

own gods. This is a bless me God, but I'm going

to do what I want to do. I want you to imagine

a teenager who lives in your home, who eats all

your food, who They eat all your food. They use

all your stuff without asking. They're going

to drive your car. They're going to leave it

on empty, not fill it up. They're going to do

all these things. And some of you, you don't

have to imagine that hard. But you have this

person in your life that then you say, hey, I

want you to take out the trash. And they say,

no, I don't have to do what you tell me to do.

If I ever said that to my dad, I would not exist

today. but that is a mentality that says, give

me all the blessing and benefits of living in

your house, but I don't wanna do anything that

you tell me to do. That is what the Tower of

Babel represents. Let me live life my way and

bless me, but I'm not gonna live according to

your instruction. So they were building something

that was reaching the heavens. Notice this, in

the scripture it says, we wanna build something

that, The top reaches the heavens, which represents

the spiritual. Now, of course, in our day and

age, listen, just because they were ancient doesn't

mean they were dumb. They had science back then.

They had certain understanding. They don't have

as much understanding as we do now. But just

because they were ancient doesn't mean they're

stupid. I mean, we still don't know how they

built the pyramids. But what we look at is this

understanding that when they say, let's reach

the heavens, which to you and I is like the upper

atmosphere of the sky. Back then it represented

the spiritual realm. So whether they thought

they were actually going into the spirit realm

or not, their intention was they wanted to change

the things in the spirit, regardless. So what

we have to understand is that they were not just

trying to build a civilization on earth. They

wanted one that connected them with the things

of the spirit. So we have to understand that

here, now, in this moment, they're going, let

us not just change how earth works, we're gonna

change how the spirit works. Just think about

that, that wicked people have an understanding

of spiritual things. People in the world have

an understanding of spiritual things and they

know how much they can affect the things in the

spirit. I know that the enlightenment made us

super scientific. And we follow a lot of the

observational, you know, evaluations of science.

But there are a lot of people, especially today,

that are returning back to a form of spirituality.

Studies show that people are more open in the

United States to a conversation about spiritual

things than ever before. But what they don't

want is the church involved. Because why is that

significant? If your civilization and your temples

are built according to God, then that means the

things of the Spirit have to be done according

to God. So they don't want anything that is actually

governmental on earth. They just want to have

an effect in the spiritual awakening or spiritual

enlightenment. This is why we need the Holy Spirit.

This is why Pentecost is so important. So what

we have to see here is that in this place of

heaven, They wanted to get to the heavens and

mold God to look like them. That's one of the

greatest lies in humanity. Jesus said, God said,

let us make man in our image. And man responds,

we're gonna make God in our image, right? That's

a big problem, big uh -oh. But I want you to

understand this. Notice the differences between

the tabernacle of Moses and David and even the

temple of Solomon. How different they are than

this temple of Babel or tower of Babel. Man was

trying to reach God vertically. God set up his

temple to meet God moving forward. We have the

hill of the Lord, of course, but once you get

to the place of God's presence, it's not up anymore.

It's forward. We run. Towards God. But humanity

without Jesus is always striving to go up. So

what does God do? Listen, I love how the scriptures

depict God. God looked down. Almost as if he

was at the barbecue and something kept, what's

going on down there? Michael, look at this. They're

doing it again. Michael, again? Yeah, again.

Man, I can't wait for the book of John to come

out and then they'll really see. No, I know,

I know. But look at this. They're building this

tower. See, God was not intimidated. He wasn't

even surprised. I know my little joke kind of

depicts him as, trust me, I'm not going to depict

God close, okay? It's just something to kind

of give you this idea that God was not threatened

at all. He's not intimidated. No matter if every

nation on earth gathers together to come against

God, God is not shaken up in the slightest. In

the book of Psalms, it says, though the nations

rage, God laughs. He just laughs and says, this

is hilarious. This is better than Noah's stand

-up. I love this. You know Noah's stand -up wasn't

good because he couldn't draw very many crowds.

That wasn't a burn on Noah. That was just...

It's just a stupid joke. It's so dumb. Here's

the thing that, what did God give the credit

to for their ability to accomplish the impossible?

Their communication. They have one language.

They're unified. And it says here, left unchecked.

This is God's way of thinking about this. He

says, He says, left unchecked, their unified

language would only make it easier for evil to

proliferate on the earth. He says that behold,

they are one people and they have all one language.

So they're one people. What makes them one people?

The one language. Tells you how important communication

is. And this is the only beginning of what they

will do. And nothing that they propose to do

will now be impossible for them. So come, let

us go down there and confuse their language.

Let's mess up their day. So what does God do?

Now, here's the thing. The last time people were

this wicked, God sent a flood and just destroyed

them and started over. But what does God do?

God says, listen, I made a covenant with Noah

that I wouldn't do that again. So here's what

I'm gonna do. I'm going to disperse them through

dividing their languages now. Because what was

God's plan? One of the main rules of humanity,

one of the main missions of humanity, fill the

earth and to subdue it. They knew that it was

God's will for them to go into the earth. That's

why they said, let's build this civilization

in this tower because if we don't, we will disperse.

They felt the drawing and the moving of God for

them to spread out upon the whole earth. So God

has to intervene and cause them to go out into

the whole earth a different way. Not in the way

that God intended because now you have whole

peoples represented that all wanted to make their

own gods. That's why we have so many different

nations with all different gods that all kind

of sound the same. It's because of Babel. It's

because they were really after one God, the God

made in the image of man, which is demonic thinking,

because Jesus says that the way you think to

Peter when he rebukes them, your manly thinking

is the thinking of the devil. So he equates it

with satanic thinking, and so the same thing

occurs here. This idea to self -glorify and self

-deify my will is demonic thinking. So we have

this, now going out into all the nations, But

all these nations are wicked. So God says, okay,

I got them to do what I wanted them to do. I

dispersed them. They're filling the whole earth,

but now they're wicked. And how am I going to

redeem them? He's going to do it through a way

that he repeats multiple times in the scriptures.

If I can't get the whole package, I'm going to

get one guy. The whole earth was wicked and their

thoughts continually, their intent continually

on evil. But what was the one man who was faithful

to God? Noah. The whole earth was bad, so God

brings out one man. Now, in light of the Tower

of Babel from Genesis 11 to Genesis 12, the author

Moses takes some time and skips ahead in the

story to now bring up a man called Abram. In

Genesis 12, verse one through three, it says,

now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country

and your kindred and your, what is he saying?

Get out. It's time to move out. Because you're

in a house of moon worshipers. A God that is

connected to where you guys came from. And you're

gonna get out of there. Why? Because you gotta

move into a way of thinking that is, look at

what he says, that I will go to a land that I

will show you and I will make you a great nation.

If I can't save all the nations, I'm gonna bring

out one man who is going to be the conduit to

save all the nations. That in one man, there

is a nation. A nation that is dedicated unto

God. And a nation through whom the other nations

will come to know me. Look at what he says. And

I will bless you. And I will make your name great.

So understand, it's not you who makes your name

great. It is God. You gotta understand, all this

work, all this toil, all this breaking your back,

sweat on your brow to make something of your

life, but one word from God is who will make

you great. One promise of God. And this is what

he says. He says that I will, so that you will

be a blessing. He makes you blessed so that you

will be a what? That's so good. I will bless

those who bless you and him who dishonors you

I will curse and in you all the families of the

earth shall be what? So God never intended to

go through one man. His intent was always the

nations. I want the nations. I want the whole

earth. The Bible says the earth is the Lord's

and the fullness thereof. The nations. This is

why we are so involved in missions. This is why

we go beyond the four walls of just this church

in Harrisburg. It's because God desires the nations.

And if you think, man, I'm just one person. So

is Abram. So is Noah. So is Jesus. Because this

is prophetic, that one day, remember, this is

all a type and a shadow of who? The Messiah,

the one that the whole story of Scripture is

all about, the person who is above every other,

the one who is the God -man himself, Jesus, the

Christ, the Son of the living God, the Son of

man, the Son of David, who was lifted high, who

humbled himself to the point and was obedient

to the point of his death on a cross, and then

was exalted and given glory and all authority

from the Father. This is who he's referring to.

That it wasn't just the nation of Israel. It

was a nation that would come from one man, Jesus.

Because if you read your Bible, you see that

the nation of Israel, which is the nation that

God would raise up to be his chosen people, the

sons of Abraham. But according to Romans, now

those who have called Jesus Christ their Lord

and Savior have been adopted and grafted in to

be now sons of Abraham. So we're not just talking

about the Jewish people. We're talking about

what God's nation is today, which is the church.

Which is his temple and his city that he builds

here on the earth. That is in direct connection

to the heavens, but not through a tower, through

the Holy Spirit. That's why the Bible says he

is our strong. He is our temple and he is the

one in whom we find refuge in. Where did David

go when he was seeking to be delivered from the

persecution from Saul? I love the story how he

would run to the temple of God. So Abraham enters

the scene. The rebellion of humanity at Babel

brought confusion, but. but Abram in his obedience

brought clarity. The rebellion of humanity at

Babel brought confusion. But the obedience of

Abram brought clarity. So the redemptive story

continues because what is God doing? What is

the overarching story of the Bible? It's that

God redeems his people and his creation. What

is he doing? He's redeeming them. Okay, Satan

falls. We're gonna save everything through Adam

and Eve, okay? Adam and Eve fell. We're gonna

save everything through the descendants. We're

gonna save everything through them. Then, okay,

these fallen angels are all, you know, hitting

on these girls and having kids that are really

weird. And then we have now the Tower of Babel.

Okay, we're gonna reach all the nations. We're

gonna redeem the nations. Okay, they're all wicked.

They're all doing this Tower of Babel. Okay,

now they all messed up. Who are we gonna go to?

We're gonna go to Abram. And the story continues

and continues. God redeeming his people over

and over and over and over and over and over

again. God never intended to pick just one nation.

God intended the whole nations to be brought

to him. Now let's go to a different passage in

Leviticus 23, 15 through 18. Don't fall asleep

on me just yet. Just watch what God does. Listen,

it says here. This is the Feast of Pentecost.

This is why we're going to this passage. This

is the Pentecost in the Old Testament. So all

of that was just build up to now, the actual

thing we're going to talk about. So if I talk

fast, good luck. You shall count seven full weeks

from the day after the Sabbath, from the day

that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering.

You shall count 50 days. Everybody say 50 days.

Now everybody say 50 days. Is? Pentecost. So

we see here 50 days. The word Pentecost, which

is actually a Greek word translated into the

Septuagint, which the Septuagint is the translation

of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, which is the

Bible that the disciples and Jesus would have

read in the New Testament. So we understand that

the Septuagint is this word, and there was a

Hebrew word that escapes my mind right now, but

it's the word Pentecost, and that's the word

we're going to go with. Represents the word 50.

50 days. That's why when we look, 50 days after

what? Passover. Now let's put on a New Testament

lens. Holy Spirit fell when? 50 days after Jesus.

After Passover. God doesn't do things on accident.

Now listen to this. This is beautiful. It says

here, you shall bring from your dwelling places

two loaves of bread to be waved. Waved as in...

There was things called wave offerings in the

Old Testament. Okay, so there were things that

were burned. There were things that were waved.

They were waved and burned. They were, you know.

So there was a lot of different ways to offer

things to the Lord. And it says, made of two

-tenths of an ephah. They shall be a fine flour.

They shall be baked with leaven. A first fruits

to the Lord. And you shall present with the bread

seven lambs, a year old without blemish, and

one bull from the herd and two rams. There shall

be a burnt offering to the Lord with their grain

offering and their drink offering, a food offering

with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Pentecost

is attached to first fruits. When we see that

this seven weeks later or 50 days later after

Passover, there's this time of Pentecost. Later

in Jewish tradition, those two loaves would represent

a time of thanksgiving for the two. that the

Ten Commandments were written upon. It was a

thanking God for his word and for his law. That's

what Judaism turned it into. It turned it into

a thanksgiving of law. But when we read it in

its original context here in Leviticus 23, it

is a thanksgiving connected to first fruits.

And to recognize that God was Lord over the nation

that they were going to become. The nation that

they were and in the land that they were going

to inherit. Then it says also that the first

fruit offering was something that was given as

a way to say, you are in control and I trust

you with my daily provisions. To you and me,

two loaves of bread is like, you know, whatever.

But in a day where you had to make your own bread,

you had to go through a whole different process

and all these kinds of things to get the wheat.

doesn't stick around in one place is hard to

get. So what they were giving was something that

says this, because that could represent two families.

And it did. When Pentecost occurred, because

Pentecost is connected to first fruits now, what

happens is it's at the end of first fruits. We

see that God was not just thinking about His

nation of Israel. But the two loaves as a typology

of what was going to occur in the new covenant

at Pentecost was the unification of two people

groups. Remember, there were the Jews and the

Gentiles. There was no different sects of Gentiles.

No, you are either a Jew or you're a Gentile.

Everybody else, Gentile. But if you're a Jew,

you're on the end. You're good. But God, remember,

his intention was never to leave it at one nation.

His intention was never to leave it up to just

one man. He wanted the whole nation to be brought

together so that now it would no longer be two

separate loaves. What is, in the New Testament,

the body of Christ described as? And what is

the church also described as? The body of Christ.

In other words, that in the body of Christ, in

the bread of Christ, there is no longer two sets

of bread. There is now one set in the name of

Jesus. Now no longer Jew, no Gentile. No longer

slave, nor free. No longer male or female. But

now have all been brought together into the body

of Christ. What happened there? When did that

happen? That happened at Pentecost. Because the

day of Pentecost, was a mandatory attendance

day. Can you imagine if we started to implement

that today? Just saying. Mandatory. Like, unless

you were dying. Not, I'm dying. No, like, actually,

I have this cannonball wound. I don't know if

I'm gonna make it to Pentecost. If you can still

talk to me, you can come to Pentecost. Let's

go. Listen, if Mary can get around pregnant,

nine months pregnant on a donkey, you can come

along. Come on, suck it up. So this is a mandatory

day. Now remember, Israel, the history of Israel

is they've been conquered multiple times, multiple

times, multiple times. And so they were very

dispersed throughout the nations. There were

actually several nations that the nation of Israel

was embedded into. So on a day like Pentecost,

when you have people, Jews that were all speaking

different languages, that were in different cultures,

different nations, all coming now on the day

of Pentecost. And as they were praying, whether

they were in a room that was within the temple

or just outside of it, there were in really public

view that when the Holy Spirit fell, that now

they came out speaking in what? Different languages.

They were speaking in tongues according to Acts

2. So let's just go to Acts 2 really quick. I

gotta end it here. It says here, in Acts 2, verse

Acts 2:1

1. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were

all together in one place. Genesis 11. But this

is different. They weren't there to make a name

for themselves. They were there awaiting on a

promise given to them by Jesus. You need to wait

for the comforter, the paraclete, the advocate,

the one who is your friend, the one who is your

teacher. Wait for him. If my ministry is going

to continue through you, you need him. The ministry

of Jesus did not end at his resurrection and

ascension. It actually continued at the day of

Pentecost. Think about that. Jesus still ministers

today. It's just through the Holy Spirit. Every

time you experience the presence of Jesus, it's

because the Holy Spirit's allowing you to. He's

the way that you are able to actually converse

and connect with heaven. He is the tower, then

the temple, that allows you to be in unison with

the Father. It's the Holy Spirit! And so on that

day of Pentecost, this was not just a time to

shout, and to do a bunch of cartwheels around

the sanctuary. This was a day where God was saying

that this is where I will now redeem every nation,

every tribe, and every tongue under the power

of the Holy Spirit into Jesus Christ. So what

happens? Jesus falls. Or the Holy Spirit falls.

And now we see God in heaven saying, I love it

when a plan comes together. Because God, even

in the days of Tower of Babel, he saw Pentecost.

And he knew that one day, Holy Spirit, just hold

your horses. your time is gonna come. Because

in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was only

able to operate within a limit parameter upon

individuals. Remember, if the nations can't be

saved, God will go to one person. The Holy Spirit

was on one person at a time, kings, prophets,

or priests. But now you have Pentecost, which

now opens the, and the Holy Spirit goes, yes,

I've been waiting for this day that I could be

poured out on all flesh. And be. In my people

and they would be in me. This is Jesus' teaching

of the indwelling and abiding presence of God.

That this is his prayer. The Lord's prayer wasn't

just to the disciples. That's the disciples'

prayer. The prayer of Jesus was in John in 17

and 16 where he says, I pray that they would

be unified with you and I as I'm unified with

you. That is the hope and the prayer of Jesus.

That is the completion of the redemptive story.

And he's not just talking about the Jewish people.

He's talking about every nation that the Holy

Spirit would come and now would bring every nation.

Jesus' death on the cross tore the veil and it

is the Holy Spirit who brings every nation behind

that veil. Isn't it interesting how the way God

divided the people of Babel was through a way

of communication? And the way God unifies every

nation is through what? What was the first manifestation

of the Holy Spirit through the believer? Speaking

a form of communication. The gift of speaking

in tongues is not a Pentecostal thing. It's a

Christian thing. That the Holy Spirit himself

is using as the redemptive aspect of now there

is no longer a language barrier, but now a language

that we all get to share in through the Holy

Spirit. I love it when a plan comes together.

I need to read this really quickly. Because I

think this is really important.