#1028 Pentecost, Part 3

1028 Pentecost, Part 3 Transcription

You know Moses is a great name in the Bible. And you know he was a great man of God. And yet at one point in his life, he needed some advice. Do you know who he went to to get to that advice? He went to his father-in-law Jethro. And the particular problem that Moses was facing at that portion in his life was he was getting burned out. He had too much to do.

So, the good advice that his father-in-law gave him was this: seek yourself out men. Take captains of tens, 50s, and hundreds, and set them over the people and let them help you judge. All the hard hard things they can bring to you. But the other things, get some help.

And that's how a son-in-law can interact with a father-in-law who is a good to father-in-law and godly father-in-law. That's what I was thinking of when you were sharing that story, Miss Tina.

So we're going to look briefly at little more in Pentecost. And we're going to continue in chapter 1 of the book of Acts. By way of review, we saw last week that they were assembled together and that Jesus commanded them to wait at Jerusalem; don't depart, so they could receive the promise of the father.

We then looked into the Word of God, we saw that it held a hidden truth, a deeper truth, with the words "assembled together". And we saw that that meant that they were salted together. That they actually had a meal together and I gave you some of the background behind that. I had mentioned that Friberg's Lexicon comes right out and it says it that he ate salt with them.

Then I gave you some of the other translations of Acts 1:4. Where it instead of saying "and being assembled together", The Douay-Rheims version says "they came and they ate together." I shared with you the Peshitta, the text from Murdock's translation of 1852. It says "And when they had eaten bread together…" What was coming was so important that Jesus did not only command them to wait for the promise of the father, but he accentuated the point by sealing it with a covenant meal containing salt.

You see, if you grew up in the East you would understand the significance of salt. You would understand that. From a youth, you would be taught the value of salt. You would know what it meant, because ever since you were little, you were taught about salt. You were taught not to take it lightly. You were taught how important was. You were taught that this is something solemn.

There are certain things in life that you don't go back on and salt was one of them. When you ate salt with someone. Salt indicated integrity. It indicated honesty. Salt was indicative of righteousness and truthfulness. Salt was also included in other sacred ceremonies and formal observances.

There is much to be learned in the Bible regarding salt. For instance, you'll remember that Jesus Christ was swaddled as a child.

Luke 2:1-3 ¹And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. ²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) ³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

In Luke chapter 2. You can beginning in verse one talking about the birth of Jesus Christ. It says, "… that all the world should be taxed." Or, more accurately, that all the world should be registered. And they wanted to register them so then they could tax them. They don't want to miss anybody. See, where do you think our IRS gets all this stuff? They read it from the Bible. Same crooks back then.

Everybody went his home city. So if you were born in Lancaster and you were living in Conshohocken you had to go back to Lancaster to get registered because that's where you were born. It was your city. That's what that means.

Luke 2:4-6 ⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) ⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. ⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And Joseph (this is Mary's husband) went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea… To be taxed (or registered) with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child…" They were in their espousal period of time. Being his espoused wife (I'll explain that to you another time.)

Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

She had her baby and wrapped him in swaddling clothes. In the East, a child of the King or of a prince when they are born, those children are still salted and swaddled to this day. They would take a tiny bit the salt and they would rub it on the baby. And what that would indicate was that his parents, the child's parents, that they intended to teach the child to be truthful. And then once they did that, they would take and wrap the baby in swaddling clothes.

Now, swaddling clothes were fine linen strips. And what they would do is they would take the baby's body and they would make his arm straight, or her arm straight (so in this case, Jesus) and his leg straight. And they would wrap these swaddling clothes around the limbs of the body of the child.

The arms and legs are made straight like a ramrod and this is a sign to God that the parents would rear this child to be straightforward; to be free from crookedness. That the child would mean what it said and say what it means: to be an honest child.

The child then would be left in this position from between 15 minutes to two hours. During that period of time, the mommy and daddy would meditate and they would make their vows to God that they're going to be faithful to the Word; that they are honoring God. And the baby that they have been given to God.

By God's grace they are promising to raise it the right way. And they would pray and they would honor God that way. They would make their vows concerning the sacred trust that was given to them when they received the child. That was the ceremony that was performed on Jesus at the time of his birth.

See? It was a little bit of salt; and sometimes they would take the salt and they would put it in water and they would just wash the baby a little with just a pinch of salt. But salt was included. If you don't understand salt and what it means in the East to be salted, you'll miss it.

Now, when I was growing up in the church, see, I was taught that they wrapped him in swaddling clothes - but these swaddling clothes were rags. And the reason why they wrapped them in rags is because Joseph and Mary were poor. That's what I was taught in the church.

So they just had a lamb and a manger and they had to wrap him in these pieces of cloth because they were poor and they didn't have anything. That's not true. Unless you understand the Orientalism and the mind of the East and the way the Eastern mind works and thinks; you miss the great truths of being salted and swaddled.

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Well, we know that the angel told Mary that her child was to be called the son of God. This is why Mary used swaddling clothes. Because her child was royalty. Her child was the son of God.

In India, even to this day, some of the wealthiest people of India who sent to Paris for exquisite layettes for their children will still practice this ancient custom of swaddling that child when it's born. And they can afford anything they want. But it's a tradition; it's an ancient practice. And they understand what it means. See?

Now after the announcement of the birth has been made to the world that the King is been born, or a child of a King's been born or a child of the Prince has been born. The tradition then is that the people who would hear that announcement would come. And they would bring gifts and present gifts to the parents. See?

Coconuts were rare and sometimes people would bring coconuts and present them to them. This is why the Magi came from the East. They heard that the King had been born. They were following up on the second part of the tradition of being salted and swaddled.

See, once the King was born it was traditional; it was customary for you to go pay respect to that King. So they came from the East, understanding this Orientalism, and they presented those gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the child's family. See? It's all tied up in the Orientalism of the covenant of salt; of what salt is indicative of. An Eastern mind knows this, but here, they don't. So they make up stories such as they were poor and they just wrapped him in rags.

Well, Jesus had a covenant meal with his apostles before he ascended in Acts chapter 1. And what was coming was so important that Jesus not only commanded them to wait for the promise of the father; but to emphasize the point he sealed it by having a covenant meal containing salt. And no one would ever break a covenant of salt. It was just unheard of.

It was the lowest of the low that would do such a thing. For in doing so, the penalty was death. This is one of the reasons, one of the main reasons, why Judas killed himself. Judas killed himself because he broke the covenant of salt that he had partaken of with the Lord Jesus Christ. In the condemnation of what he actually did when it became a reality to him. He could not deal with it and he knew what he needed to do.

Matthew 26:21-25 ²¹And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. ²²And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? ²³And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. ²⁴The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. ²⁵Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

In Matthew 26:21, Jesus reveals a betrayer in their midst. That's something that a leader always has to be aware of. This guy was an apostle, he was one of the 12. And yet it was one of the 12 who turned his back on him and betrayed him. But Jesus didn't lose his mind. You know what Jesus did? Jesus stuck to his ministry and kept moving forward. Do you understand?

And if you are going to stand for God, people are going to betray you. People are going to talk about you. People going to walk away. But don't let that bother you. Don't let that bother you. You stand to your ministry and you keep walking for God. If it happened to Jesus, there's good chance it's going to happen to you.

Well, in verse 22 they were very sad and concerned. See, they were eating a meal together. There was salt in that meal. As a matter fact, they institute the holy Communion that night. How much more solemn of a night could you get? And Judas went out and betrayed him.

Do you know why? Because the Bible says this: "Satan entered Judas, and he went out and he betrayed him." Because he didn't control his mind, he let the devil in. If you open the door, the devil will come in.

2 Chronicles 13:5 Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

Salt was also used concerning regal matters. David and his sons had a covenant of salt with God. That's really interesting. Because we read that verse and all we think one thing, but no. He's talking about the kingdom. And it's talking about how the kingdom was given to David. and it's talking about the kingdom that was not only given to David, but it was given to David's sons by a covenant of salt.

And unless you understand the kingdom and what the kingdom's about, you going to miss it. This kingdom was talked about. This kingdom was prophesied. And the King of the kingdom who was called the Christ, the anointed one.

Christ wasn't Jesus' last name. Christ meant "the anointed one". When you said the word "Christ" back then, they associated that word with the prophesied King who was coming to rule the kingdom promised to Israel. That's what the word "Christ" resonated in peoples' minds who understood the Bible.

But just like the covenant of salt, you take the word "Christ" and import it over into the West and the Western theologians do a great job at covering it up with muck; planting a seed on it and say "isn't that wonderful?" And they hide the meaning.

"Christ" meant the anointed one. The one who would sit on the throne of David. The one who would be the ruler of the kingdom The one who would set Israel free. The one who would free the people. The one who would take the tyranny of Rome away; the scourge of Rome away. He was the king. He was the Savior. He was the anointed one. He was the one that God would send to deliver Israel. That's who Christ was.

Jesus just happened to be that Christ. See? And that kingdom, the kingdom of Israel was given to David and his sons for ever by a covenant of salt.

Luke 1:26-28 ²⁶And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, ²⁷o a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

When the angel says, "Hail, thou are highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." it's a greeting. It's not a prayer. It's a greeting. "How are you doing? You're so and so. I want you to know that you're blessed." And somebody takes it and makes it a prayer!

Luke 1:29-33 ²⁹And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. ³⁰And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. ³¹And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. ³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: ³³And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

You see, Mary understood what the angel was saying. For all of these years it had been prophesied that God was coming back and he was going to visit Israel; that God will not abandon the kingdom. That it would go on forever and ever, and ever. And one day God was going to send someone called "the anointed one, the Christ", and it would be this Christ. This is the guy who's going to be the king and he's going to restore the kingdom. And he's going to sit on the throne of his father David.

When Mary heard that, see the virgin birth was bad enough. That had never happened to anybody, right? But it wasn't just the virgin birth. The angel said, "by the way this kid you going to have? He's going to be the Messiah." That's how big it was. As if she didn't faint here at the virgin birth part, right? We're going to add this part to it. The whole world's going to hang on this guy because he's the one that is been promised for thousands of years. You young lady are going to bear that child.

Phew. How would you like to be Mary? "I've got to go…" Where are you going to go from an angel? You can't hide from an angel. But see? Unless you understand the scope of the Word and the kingdom and what's going on here. He will be great, he'll be called the son of the highest. The Lord God will give unto him the throne of his father David. Okay well… No! This is the one.

This is what the angel saying, "Mary. Remember all those prophecies? You guys pray for the consolation of Israel, for the hope for the redemption of Israel. He's the one. And you're going to be his mommy." That's how big it is and she knew it. She understood it. Jesus was the promised one. The king who would rule the kingdom. He was one all of Israel waited for. He was the one that all of Israel looked to as their blessed hope. They understood and they greatly anticipated this future kingdom. They knew that the prophets of old had spoken that there will be a time that the God and father of Abraham, the God and father of Moses would send his son to rule the kingdom.

Okay, nobody knows when the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back. And let me take you into a just an atom of time. If you are out about your business and you know the Bible and you start to see the dead rise. In that atom of time, what you are you going to think? Oh poop, it's coming! Right? That was Mary. I'm trying to get you to understand how she felt.

All the children born before all the women that came and went. The angel saying. "Guess what, it's time, It's time! That's how exciting it was for her." See? Maybe this came into her mind.

Isaiah 9:6-7 ⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ⁷Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

"The mighty God" in the King James is "the mighty one" in the Septuagint. "The everlasting father" is more accurately "the father of the age to come". There's a coming age. There's a coming period of time that he's going to introduce. That's why he is called "the father of the age to come".

"…there shall be no end upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom…" See it? He's going to order it. He is going to establish it and with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever and the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Mary knew this. She know that there was a mighty one coming. She knew that when this guy got here, he was going to sit on the throne of David; He was going to establish it. She knew that he was going to rule with justice and judgment for ever and ever. She know that he was going to redeem Israel. She knew it.

That's what it meant when the angel said, "he's going to sit on the throne of his father David. Do you understand? That's what it meant. She understood it.

Jeremiah 23:5-6 ⁵Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. ⁶In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness

The prophet Jeremiah said that there's going to be someone who is raised up unto David. And he is going to be a righteous branch. And he's going to reign and prosper. He's going to be the king. Who sits on the throne of David? A king. A king! And he shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Judah is finally going to be saved. Israel's finally going to dwell safely. We're going to be relieved from the oppression of the Roman tyranny. No longer are they going to beat us, mock us, rape our women, steal our children. He is the one who is going to set us free. That's what the angel was saying.

That's what he was saying. That's why it was a big deal to Mary. Now that's she's pregnant, now that's a big deal. But then, to top that off, it's the Messiah, by the way. The one that the Scriptures have been talking about for thousands of years. Listen up, that's who it is, Mary. You're going to be the mommy. You're going to be tasked with raising this child.

"I can't do this." Try to be the mother of Jesus! "Stop, don't tell me that junk. I can't do this." Try to be Jesus' mommy. Could she do it? Sure, she did it. Right? Do you know why? God helped her. You know, next time you to see a kid, imagine this. Try to experience immaculate conception and on top of that be the mommy of Jesus. So, "I cant do it" doesn't fit very well, does it?

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

This is a prophecy that when the King would come he would come to them in this fashion. This was prophesied in Zachariah long time ago,

Matthew 21:5-7 ⁵Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. ⁶And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, ⁷And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

Zachariah said, "Rejoice greatly, O (what?) Zion." See it? "Tell ye the daughter of Sion," (Matthew 21:5) This is the fulfillment of the prophecy. See, it just wasn't that Jesus rode in on the donkey. It was, "This is how the Lord's anointed, the Lord's Christ christos would come. And this is one of the ways you would recognize that he is the chosen one: the king of the coming kingdom. It was to identify the King. It was to identify the promised one.

Mark 11:7-10 ⁷And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. ⁸And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. ⁹And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: ¹⁰Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

The crowd cried, "saying, Hosanna; (now listen) Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." What did those people recognize? They recognized that this guy sitting on this donkey was the one who was prophesied of and was the one who comes in the name of the Lord. They got it. They understood. This is the Christ. This is the anointed one. The one for thousands of years, we've been waiting for.

Verse 10, "… Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord;" They knew about the kingdom. They knew who Jesus Christ was. You talk to people in the church today, they think "Christ" is his last name. They don't have a clue.

Matthew 12:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

"And all the people were amazed…" You know why they were amazed? Read the rest of the verse. This is why they were amazed. Who was given the kingdom by a covenant of salt to the sons of David? This is the guy. They knew that he was the son of David. That phrase is equal to the Messiah the coming one the anointed one. They knew it and they recognized it.

And you know what they did? They were amazed. They were amazed. They had their minds blown, for you musicians. They were amazed.

Luke 22:28-30 ²⁸Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. ²⁹And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; ³⁰That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus was talking to his disciples. "Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations." Not everybody left. Not everybody abandoned him. Some did, but some got the picture. Some understood, and some were faithful and they stood with him.

"You are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint…" The word "appoint" is a bad translation. It's the word "covenant". "I covenant unto you a (what?) kingdom, as my Father hath (again, "covenant" is the word not "appointed") covenanted unto me a kingdom. He was telling them that "I'm making a covenant with you. And I covenant to you a kingdom, just the way my father covenants to me a kingdom.

How did he covenant to him the kingdom? Through a covenant of salt. That's how he did it. Now watch it. "That you may eat and drink at my table and in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel." When are they going to do that? In the coming kingdom. It was promised to them - not only promised, it was a covenant unto them.

Look at what these apostles have the look forward to sitting at the table of the Lord Jesus Christ at the head table be Jesus and the apostles hanging out. And then they're going to sit in judgment over the 12 tribes of Israel. That's something good to look forward to.

Acts 1:4-6 ⁴And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. ⁵For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. ⁶When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Look at Acts chapter 1:4 please. You didn't know there was that much in this verse, did you? In verse 6, they came together and they asked him, saying, Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Why did they ask him that question?

Jeremiah 23:5-6 ⁵Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. ⁶In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.

Is this the time? Is this what we've read about in the prophecies? Is these are things that you have taught us those 40 days that you were with us, teaching us the things concerning the kingdom of God? Is it really now Lord? Is it at this time that we're going to walk into this period? This age? This administration?

It's the most logical, anticipated question. You could possibly ask. It wasn't a dumb foolish question. They finally wonder, is this the return? You're walking down. You're seeing the dead. Is this finally it that we've been waiting for? This was the hope of Israel!

They've been looking forward to this all their life. They wanted to get out of Rome. They wanted to get out of the oppression. They finally said, "Is this the time you're going to return it, the kingdom? It's a good question, isn't it. It's a smart question. It's an exciting question.

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Is this the time that we're going to govern over the earth? Is this the time that there's going to be no end of peace? That everything's going to be good? That the Lamb and the lion are going to lie down together and eat straw; that the child's going be able to put his hand in the adder's den and not get hurt. Is this the time you talked about Lord? Is this the time? Is this the time we're going to reign?

They were excited. They wanted to know. Is this the time you going to establish the earth with judgment and justice from henceforth for ever and ever. Is this the time that you're going appoint unto us the covenant that you talked about; that we can sit in the kingdom and have dinner with you and rule with you?

It was a good question, wasn't it? They were excited, weren't they? What better time; what better place to be at? This could actually be in anticipation. It could be like our hope; that we're going to finally realize it. We've been learning about it all our life; looking forward to what our life. We see the dead get up and say "Wow, is the time?"

And do you know what God said? "Nope. It's not for you to know times or the seasons which the father placed in his own hands." What could be better? What could be more important? What could be bigger than having the kingdom and the King right there ruling. God had something up his sleeve.

As great as that was; as wonderful as that is, and will be… You know what? He said "No, not yet. I got a little something else I gotta do before we get to that point." And that entailed waiting for the promise of the father. And in order for them to carry out what they needed to do when they got the promise of the father, they had to be endued with power from on high, so they could go forth and function and minister.

That's what we're approaching: Pentecost! But you see how big Pentecost is? You see how big the gift is? In everything they were waiting for in the kingdom to be realized is to be restored. They were ready, and the father said "not yet. Got something else I've got to do. That was just the appetizer. Is that great? But that should make you think and be blessed and understand just how valuable you are and how big the promise of the father is - whatever it is - which we will find out what came on the day of Pentecost. Amen

ÿ