There is a principle in the Bible that God is not revealing His Plan of salvation to all men at the same time. Jesus spoke so that the crowds could not grasp the riches of His words.
Matthew 13:
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
The Bible is written so that the world is blinded to its meaning. But the Bible is open to us:
Psalm 111:
10 The reverence of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endures forever.
Let me introduce two words we will see repeatedly today:
First the Hebrew word: ‘Tamiym’ pronounced taw meem, it
means entire, perfect, complete, whole, upright, sound, with integrity, full age, or without spot or blemish.
And the second word for today is the Greek word Teleios pronounced tell-ee-os, and it corresponds to the Hebrew word tamiym which means entire, perfect, complete, whole, upright, sound, integrity, full age, or without spot or blemish.
God teaches His people through types, antitypes, patterns, examples, fashions, allegories, symbolism, themes and metaphors so that the world will not be able to understand God’s hand in things.
How unfathomable are His ways – past our finding out!
Romans 11:
32 For God hath concluded them [the entire world] all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
1 Corinthians 10:
11 Now all these things happened [unto ancient Israel] for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Examples are one of the main ways God reveals His Plan of Salvation to the Church brethren. God gave the blue-print plans for the pattern of the Temple of God to King David to give to His son, Solomon. Those construction blue-print plans were for the physical Temple on earth that exactly mirrored God’s spiritual Temple in heaven.
1 Chronicles 28:
10 Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee [Solomon] to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.
11 Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,
12 And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit [of the LORD], of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:
19 All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
The Holy Temple was a replica of God’s throne in heaven with everything—even the Holy of Holies representing God’s throne room.
2 Chronicles 8:
16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.
Exodus 25:
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
9 According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee in the mount.
The New Testament uses the word, “fashion.”
Acts 7:
44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
Paul makes known to the brethren that the Holy things on earth are direct types or pictures of the heavenly:
Hebrews 8:
1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest [Jesus Christ], who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Paul speaks of the spiritual heavenly tabernacle and Temple.
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things [not the very thing itself but a type], as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.
Hebrews 9:
23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Jesus is not sitting in a physical temple in Jerusalem…
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures [types] of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
God created the stars so that we can measure years.
God created the moon so that we can measure months.
God created the sun so that we can measure days.
But God gave us the week so that we could see His Plan of Salvation.
Seven days in a week—the entire world recognizes the seven day week that finds no basis in nature. The week has God stamp of seven days of creation on it.
Genesis 1:
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. [Of the week as we shall see.]
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day ...
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
On the seventh day God gave man the first part of His Spiritual creation – the Sabbath day – which the world rejects out of hand.
Genesis 2:
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
God chose the number seven to be a sign of His mark of perfection and completion. When God uses seven in an equation—it indicates a conclusion and completeness.
As we go through the sermon today be on watch for words like perfection, completion, conclusion, and completeness.
We are taught to count to Pentecost. That count consists of the time that we have been allotted to come out of sin, changing from our old walk to our new walk with Christ.
Pentecost is also called the “feast of weeks” because it is a harvest of firstfruits that took 7 weeks to complete.
How are we to interpret the biblical types and patterns that are so elusive to the world? What we are looking at is an instruction that tells Church brethren to measure their spiritual development as they mature toward perfection and completeness.
Leviticus 23:
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
That verse points directly to Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Lev 23 has been referring to Jesus Christ up to this point—but now in Lev 23:15 the theme changes to us—the Church of God brethren.
Leviticus 23:
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the Wave Sheaf offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete:
“Complete” is the Hebrew word ‘Tamiym. ‘Tamiym’ is like the word perfection. What is God showing to His Church brethren?
Verse 15 is jam-packed with “hidden” symbolism and typology.
The Wave Sheaf representing Jesus’ successfully completed life’s mission and acceptance by His Father in heaven.
That is the starting point of the count to Pentecost—that is Day one.
Today for us in our count is Day 42.
Seven Sabbaths shall be complete…
Sevenweeks of days shall be complete…
We saw that God created the week to be a type of His entire plan of salvation for mankind—and now we find seven times that type.
Seven sevens is God’s stamp of perfection.
God is telling us that this period of time – this 49 days leading up to Pentecost has great meaning to the Church brethren.
Read and understand verse 15 to say that the Church of God brethren are to be complete—having gone on to perfection by the end of the 49th day.
Leviticus 23:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Number fifty days—that is where the word “Pentecost” comes from.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves
These two wave loaves represent us—the Church brethren—being perfected in expectation of Day 50—to be presented to the Father as Jesus was. The entire church from its conception has been given time to become ready, time to be prepared, time to be complete and ready to be raised up on “Day 50.” The word “complete” used here is used in a couple of other places in the Bible, and often represents Jesus Christ.
This is a picture of Jesus’ sinless life.
Exodus 12:
5 Your lamb shall be “without blemish”, there’s the same exact word ‘Tamiym.’
‘Tamiym’ means entire, perfect, complete, whole, upright, sound, integrity, full age, or without spot or blemish.
Here are some other examples of Tamiym for your notes:
Numbers 19:
2 This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke.
That same exact word tamiym is used twice in this verse as “without spot” and “no blemish.”
Both these verses Exodus 12:5 and Numbers 19:2, the word tamiym is a Messianic Prophecy—a prophetic reference to Jesus Christ.
Genesis 17:
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Deuteronomy 18:
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
Deuteronomy 32:
4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
2 Samuel 22:
31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
These wave loaves represent us – the Church brethren! The 7X7 = 49 days from Christ’s Wave Sheaf to the day of Pentecost the 50th day. Going on to perfection – the seventh doctrine of Jesus Christ.
This forty-nine/fifty day period is the part of God’s Plan that has to do with the time period of the Church of God. From the time of the Wave Sheaf to the time of the wave loaves we see the development and perfecting of the Church brethren.
Matthew 16:
18 And I say also unto thee, That …I will build my church;
What kind of people did Jesus have in mind when He said: I will build my church—my called out ones? We are a people that Christ is bringing to perfection.
Ephesians 5:
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
The birthday or ground breaking day of the Church group that Jesus would build began on the Day of Pentecost, when The Holy Spirit of God came in like a “Rushing Mighty Wind, and it filled all the house where the disciples were sitting” (Acts 2:2).
Philippians 1:
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work [building His Church brethren up] in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
On Pentecost, which will arrive here in Little Rock a week from today at 8:20 pm – as “Day 50” begins, 49 days will be completed. The Church brethren must be perfected for acceptance—as Jesus was accepted by God the Father on the Wave Sheaf day.
On day 50, the flour was baked into two “Wave Loaves” and raised up to be accepted by the Father, and glorified (Leviticus 23:20).
We must be a “completed” stone house as Peter puts it: Now this house that Jesus is building is a spiritual house, but to better understand the spiritual, we have to look at the physical type.
1 Peter 2:
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone [Jesus Christ], disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
Now the theme in these verses shifts to us again:
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Let’s turn in our Bibles to 1 Kings 6 and take a look at how the physical Temple was made, because it shows exactly how the spiritual Temple is being made.
I was in the prefabrication structural steel business. We built prefabricated pieces of steel buildings off-site… to be assembled easily on site. That is the way the Temple of Solomon was constructed—and that off-site process has a meaning for us.
1 Kings 6:
7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither.
Those stones are us brethren, and notice what it says: the stones were made ready “before” they were brought “thither.”
We too must be perfected off-site before day 49—or we cannot become a part of the completed Temple of Day 50. We are not going into the Kingdom of God until we are perfected and complete.
The planning stage for the Temple /House was completed before the foundations of the world. When Solomon’s temple was being built, the stones (which represent us) were cut, ground and polished, chiseled, shaped and completed, down at the quarry. All the preparation for each and every stone was totally finished, totally completed at the quarry—not on the Temple mount but remotely.
God is going to bring His church to completion through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has a blue print of His Church brethren—what they are to become:
The completion of the building of the house of God is of utmost importance to us brethren, because we are part of that house that Jesus is building, and His project is about to be fulfilled. And for it to be complete, we have to do our part; we have to be complete ourselves.
Time is growing short. The church harvest is coming to an end brethren.
The majority of the church or “Firstfruits,” have already been harvested in bygone years and are in their graves waiting for the fulfillment of the day of Pentecost – when they will be raised up.
How about us? Are we ready for harvest? Are we “Complete,” “Perfected,” “Unblemished,” “Unspotted,” and “Pure?” Are we ready to be raised up on day 50?
Being pure, being complete, being up right brethren, is a requirement, and a requirement that has to be achieved now, during our physical lives according to God’s Plan. And it’s a good requirement, because once we meet it, once we are complete, we will be given the gift of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
This count up to Pentecost is important for us brethren; it pictures the completion of the building of the church of God. And anyone with the hope of being raised up on the last day is busy doing something that is of utmost importance to all of us brethren.
1 John 3:
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure.
On day 42, today, of the count to Pentecost, we need to stop and take a good look at the blue prints, because the blueprints not only tell us when the building of the church of God began, but the blue prints also tells when the building of the church of God, will be completed. And most important of all brethren, the blueprints also tell us exactly what the church of God will be like at its completion.
The Church is only the firstfruits of God’s Work and not the end of God's plan of salvation. Are we as spiritually complete and perfected as we can possibly be for the resurrection?
Anyone who assumes that they have attained to the perfect measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ underestimates the supreme perfection of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [‘teleios’] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The Greek word teleios corresponds to the Hebrew word tamiym which means entire, perfect, complete, whole, upright, sound, integrity, full age, or without spot or blemish.
John 17:
23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
What degree of excellence must the Church brethren achieve in order to be ready? The lack of concern and respect for all of our brothers and sisters in the scattered church groups shows that we have a good way to go before our Christian journey is complete.
The Laodicean era reveals that for the most part, the Church of God is not yet prepared. After years of Christian living sermons explaining how we must let our light shine, the fruit of our lives is hardly distinguishable from those in the world. We are not living according to the rules of the Kingdom as we should be. If we were, we would be, “A light to the world,” which we certainly are not.
Matthew 5:
14 Ye are the light of the world…
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
What does God expect of us when He says for us to go on to perfection? Isn't it impossible for humans to become perfect in the flesh? What then does God mean? In Luke 8:14 God tells us to bring forth fruit unto perfection. The problem occurs when people decide not to work toward being perfect, because after all, it is an unobtainable goal.
The answer is that true Christians are striving to attain unto perfection— the mature and complete spiritualcharacter that we see only in Jesus Christ. Christians who are persevering to be in the resurrection possess a sense of resolve, determination, and persistence for becoming Godlike.
James 1:
4 Let patience / perseverance have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
The word patience has a connotation of passively waiting. But God expects us to be more proactive than that! We are to go on to perfection and completion with an active, dogged determination and firm resolve to do God's Will in our lives. We are to endure and persevere to perfection!
Hebrews 5:
14 Strong meat [spiritual food] belongs to them that are of full age [‘teleios’], even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Paul is speaking here of the deeper spiritual aspects of maturity and completeness of a Christian’s life. Just before this in Hebrews 5:9, Paul had been speaking of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 5:
9 And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.
Then, Paul spoke of the Church brethren going on to perfection.
Hebrews 6:
1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;
Matthew 5:
48 Become ye therefore perfect [teleios], even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect [teleios].
Colossians 1:
28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
James 3:
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
Some brethren are reluctant—even fearful to take a stand for true Christianity. John addresses that situation.
1 John 4:
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.
The time period between the Wave Sheaf to the time of the wave loaves also represents the entire history of all the Church eras of God’s people. This word “complete” sums up the condition of the entire church at the return of Jesus Christ of the church at Ephesus to the church at Laodicea. (All 7 eras.)
The church age is 2,000 years old now. And there have been other first fruits who were called before us who had to make the same changes in their lives of going on to perfection during their spiritual week of walking this earth from the time of their calling to the time of their death.
Brethren, these are very dangerous days. Notice that all the Church eras have produced something spiritually profitable—except for this age in which we live! That is why it is imperative that we repent—Revelation 3:19—and become perfect.
Revelation 2:
1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write;
3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write;
9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)
12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write;
13 I know thy works,... and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith,
18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write;
19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
Revelation 3:
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write;...I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments;
7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write;
8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
10 ... thou hast kept the word of my patience,
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Each Church era had their “week” to come out of sin and put on righteousness. Will Laodicea repent?
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"Without Spot or Blemish" |
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