INTRO. There are two events of the Jewish calendar that are key events for Christians: the Passover and Pentecost. I want to talk to you about those two events and what they mean for us today. I want to tell you about both events and why they are important to use.
PASSOVER
Exodus 12:1 (NKJV) Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. 12 ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.
1. A PICTURE FORECAST
Many events, feasts and even people are pictures or illustrations of the Messiah or Jesus Christ. In a theological term they are called “types.”
When the Israelites followed God’s instruction to kill a lamb without spot or blemish, that is a picture of Jesus, our Passover Lamb. Perfect and without spot or blemish to pay our sin debt.
The death of the animals in Genesis to provide coverings for Adam and Eve point to the death of Jesus on Calvary to be a covering for our sin.
The story of Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah.
The picture of Ruth and Boaz. Boaz is the kinsman redeemer. Jesus Christ is our kinsman Redeemer.
2. A PROPHECY FULFILLED
The passage we read in John is the fulfillment of all the types or pictures in the OT! The greatest proof that the Bible is the Word of God is fulfilled prophecy.
3. A PROMISED FUTURE
The Passover is not just a picture forecast and a prophecy fulfilled, it is a promised future. The night Jesus was betrayed, He did two things that were to be a continual reminder of the promised future we will one day have because of Him: 1) He washed the disciples feet (Jn. 13) and 2) He instituted the observance of the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s act of taking on the role of a servant to wash the feet of the disciples is a reminder to us of how we are to serve each other until He comes.
The giving of the bread and the cup, the Lord’s Supper or Communion, is a reminder of His sacrifice for us on the Cross. Notice what Jesus said to the disciples about this in:
Mark 14:23 (NKJV) Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Whenever Jesus spoke about His death, He usually looked beyond it. He used words like (I tell you the truth; cf. 3:28) He vowed that He would not (“certainly not any more”; cf. 13:2) drink again of the fruit of the vine, in a festive way until that day in the future when He will drink it anew.
Write this down, because I don’t have time to talk to you about it this morning. When the Jews observed the Passover, The Hallel (praise) Psalms were sung or chanted antiphonally—the first two (Ps. 113–114) before the meal, the remaining four (Ps. 115–118) after it to conclude the evening observance. Such verses as Psalm 118:6–7, 17–18, 22–24 gain added significance on Jesus’ lips just before His suffering and death.
One of these days, we’ll gather together for a party with Jesus! Notice these words in:
Revelation 19:7 (NKJV) Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
PENTECOST
Leviticus does not give the name of this festival, which actually has 3 different names (two in the OT and one in the NT):
1) The feast of harvest or The Harvest Festival: Ex. 23:16.
2) The feast of weeks or Shavuot (refers to the 7 weeks or 49 days from the end of Passover to Pentecost: Ex. 34:22; Num. 28:26; and Deut. 16:9–10. It later came to commemorate the giving of the Law to Moses on Sinai.
3) Pentecost (that is, “the 50th day” in Greek; see v. 16). This was used because the festival in question was celebrated 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. See Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8.
The Harvest festival, coming 7 weeks or about 50 days after the beginning of the barley harvest (at the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread), coincided with the final harvesting of the wheat crop.
1. THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF BELIEVERS
How was Pentecost an encouragement to believers? Notice what Jesus had told the disciples to do:
Acts 1:4 (NKJV) And being assembled together with them, 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;
He told them to go to Jerusalem and wait. How many of you like to wait…on anything? We don’t like waiting…but sometimes it is necessary, as we’ve found out with this Covid-19 stuff. But, you’ll notice, in Acts 2 that’s when the Holy Spirit came.
They were all in one accord (that Honda model must have been much bigger back then!) They heard a sound like wind that filled the house. They saw divided tongues of fire that sat on each of them. And they began to speak in languages they had not studied.
Only 3 times did people speak in tongues (languages): Acts 2 - Pentecost, 10 - Cornelius and 19 – left over disciples of John. Now the HS comes when you get saved. The baptism of the HS is the act of God that puts the believer into the body of Christ.
Romans 8:9 (NKJV) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
Some try to teach that you get saved, then you get sanctified and then you get spirit filled. Separate works of grace.
2. THE EMPOWERMENT OF BELIEVERS
Why was the Holy Spirit given? To empower believers to serve the Lord and live for Him. Look at what Jesus told them before He went to the cross:
John 14:16 (NKJV) And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
John 14:26 (NKJV) But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
Mark 13:11 (NKJV) But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
The disciples did not want Jesus to leave. They felt as though they were lost without Him. (The truth is, we ARE lost without Jesus). But look at what He told them:
John 16:7 (NKJV) Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
Now look at what the Lord said just before His ascension:
Acts 1:8 (NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
3. THE ENGAGEMENT OF BELIEVERS
When I say “engagement” here, I’m NOT talking about the time before the marriage, but rather what we are to do as believers. We are to engage our culture with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to be witnesses everywhere. Jerusalem (hometown), Judea (neighboring state), Samaria (people you don’t even like) and the END or the uttermost part of the earth. We’re to engage the culture.
Okay, Pastor H, how do we do that now? We have all this social distancing stuff going on. Things aren’t normal right now! How can we engage the folks around us and be a blessing and a testimony for Jesus?
Adapted from an article by Josh Daffern
Four weeks ago, the coronavirus brought panic to the world! All of us have done two things we have not done before: 1) Shelter in Place, and 2) Social distancing. We understand the reason behind it. We want to stop the spread of this deadly virus as soon as we can.
At the same time, as believers, we are called to “make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). The question is how do we do this?
The truth is we have a tremendous opportunity to share the gospel with others. Think about it: in times of need, people reach out for hope and help wherever they can find it.
Josh Daffern give 6 powerful and practical ways you can share your faith during this pandemic? Since the word “corona” is on everyone’s minds, Daffern gives us this acrostic:
C – Check on someone who is at risk or living alone. Call someone or stop by where they live (maintain a healthy physical distance). Just a call to check on someone helps them know that they are valuable—to you and to the Lord. That will give you a powerful platform to share your faith.
O – Offer to do something to help them out. Don’t just call, offer to help. Do they need help getting supplies? Is there something around the house that needs fixing? Do they need help with childcare? When you meet the needs of those around you, you show the love of Jesus in a tangible way.
R – Respect the way they’re processing the fear. Everyone handles a crisis in different ways. Some might laugh it off, while others will be one step removed from treating this like the zombie apocalypse. You don’t know their past experiences with tragedy and who they know that’s personally affected. Respect that.
O – Organize something social to do. The quarantine has caused some of us to isolate from everybody. But as God said from the very beginning: it is not good for us to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Take the initiative and bring people together, even if that’s simply online. People want human interaction. Be the person that models that in your neighborhood.
N – Network online church resources. With technology we have a bunch of online church resources. There is Gospel music out there that will warm your heart, lift your spirit to the Lord and give you hope. Turn the news off for a while! You don’t need another report of how many casualties we have. Be intentional to spread the word! Be positive!
A – Ask if (and how) you can pray for somebody. People are afraid, so offer to pray for them. You’d be surprised of how many hard-hearted people will let you pray for them in a crisis. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been with people who’ve just lost a loved one or to whom I’ve made a death notification, who will just melt when you pray for them. If you’re at their work…be brief. Don’t preach a 30-minute sermon. Offer to pray for them and see where it goes!
Matthew 5:13 (NKJV) “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heave
