[Darris McNeely] The story of Ruth is a beautiful story that we all know from Scripture set during this actual time of the early spring harvest at the ingathering in the village of Bethlehem and Israel during the time of the Judges. It's a story that we all know. I'm not going to be going through the entire story here today, but I think there's something that helps us to launch into a message and the meaning of the Day of Pentecost from that story, actually many themes but one that I want to get to today.

The story of Ruth is obviously set in the springtime of the Feast of the Firstfruits, a family that because of famine from Bethlehem went into the area of Moab, the family of Elimelech, and Naomi. And their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, as we know, married two daughters, two Moabite daughters, Orpah, not Oprah, but Orpah, and Ruth. All the men died, and three widows now were there. And two of them, Ruth and Naomi, make their way back to the village of Bethlehem. And there that beautiful story of the meeting with Boaz, the threshing floor. What will they do? How will they make their way into this new world that they have comes to a beautiful conclusion in the 4th chapter of the book of Ruth, which we will turn to. And to note, as we look at that story there and the gathering of a people in a very small village just a few miles south of the city of Jerusalem today, and a gathering to finish something and to make sure that the Word of God, the way of God is observed and kept in a village, in Bethlehem at a time of the Judges, which as we know, it was a time of great deal of national breakdown and lawlessness in the time of the Judges.

And here is a beautiful little vignette, a beautiful story of a family and other people who continue to do God's way. In fact, they are a people who know who they are and what they are to do. As they gathered in the gate of the city to make this decision to allow Boaz and Ruth to marry, you know the story, there's a near kinsmen, who has to be consulted. And given the opportunity to redeem Ruth, he passes. And in the ceremony, he gives off his sandal to Boaz and said, "You may have the right. You may marry her." And so, Boaz and Ruth marry. And it comes down to what we see in verse 11, where I wanted to focus here this morning on our message, as the people, the elders, Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, these families, this family gathered to preserve the name of a man who is dead, and to preserve a way and to hold high, really the way of God and the law of God. They come together.

And in verse 11, it says, "All the people who were at the gate," which was kind of like a courthouse. This was the courtroom. This was where the social affairs of the city, the village of Bethlehem were all settled. So they were gathered in this area, “the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, 'We are witnesses. We are witnesses.’" They saw what had been done. They all gave their assent. And they ensured that, not only the name of the family would endure, but that the way of God was to be held intact for the entire community, the entire village. And again, remarkable in that it was during a time of the Judges. When there were a lot of other villages in the area and in Israel, that were not paying any attention to the way of God. They were witnesses. They were evidence of what not only had happened but what would happen and they go on and give this beautiful blessing. “May you be like Rachel or like Leah.”

In other words, here's a Gentile, a Moabite woman, Ruth, being grafted into a family, an Israelite family in Bethlehem. And she is having a blessing put upon her that is to extend the house of Israel, “be like Rachel and be like Leah.” And of course, you know the story. Ruth becomes the ancestor of King David. And of course, then she becomes the ancestor of Jesus Christ. It's a beautiful story. It's a remarkable story. It is a vital story in many different ways of the law of God, the way of God, the freedom that allowed a Gentile Moabite woman to be included into, not only a family, but also a tribe, and a nation, and a people, and God, the family of God, ultimately. God's law is a law of spiritual freedom that offers that for all peoples at all times, and it always has. And these people in Israel knew who they were. They were the covenant people. They were Israelites. They had a special law and they knew what they had to do. And they obeyed that law and showed a remarkable insight at that time.

As I say, the story of Ruth is kind of an outlier in the story of the time of the Judges. It shows that even in a time of national breakdown, which the period of Judges was, God has the people. God has a work, a people who know who they are and know what they should do. Always, even at this time, did they have that. Now, we gather here on the Feast of Pentecost in 2020, the Feast of Firstfruits. We've already begun to talk about that message as Mr. Myers's offertory and Mr. Metzel's sermonette here. We're here on the Day of Pentecost, to bear witness, just like they did, at the time here in Bethlehem at the episode with Ruth. We're here to bear witness or evidence of God's enduring purpose to bring many sons to glory. We are witnesses of that. We are proof of that as firstfruits, evidence of what God has been doing all through these ages and continues to do, evidence of the spirit of liberty that joins us to God as sons of God. We are firstfruits and we are witnesses to this truth. And we in the United Church of God, know who we are and we know what we should do.

In Acts 1 and in Acts 2, we've already turned there and we read that but it's, again, a story that is central to this day because it shows the beginning of the Church on the Day of Pentecost. It shows the culmination of really 50 days of events and time, and that had happened since the morning after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and His acceptance as a wave sheaf offering. The disciples had been told to wait in Jerusalem in chapter 1 verse 8. Christ said to them, "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." And so they waited.

And after the point of 40 days, Christ ascended here in chapter 1 as we're told to heaven. Ten days later, chapter 2 verse 1, the disciples are all together. When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were with one accord in one place. And verse 2 of chapter 2 tells us that “suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And then they were… There appeared to them divided tongues, as a fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” And so began the Church of God. On the Day of Pentecost, the promise fulfilled that Christ had said would happen, "I will come to you,” He had told them on the night before His death, "I and My Father will be with you. You will not be left alone. You will not be orphans. I will send the Spirit." That Spirit now came, that power, that very life of the Father and of Jesus Christ now was available, not only to the disciples but ultimately as the book of Acts unfolds and shows to all peoples, Jew and Gentile, to all nations and the Gospel would go there.

And we see it as the story unfolds here in chapter 1 as Mr. Metzel was reading that, after they received the Holy Spirit, we see a changed group of people, these disciples, a man who had been fearful and doubtful in the time, the period after Christ's crucifixion, and even after His resurrection, we're now changed from men who were running for their lives to men who had confidence, and courage, and faith, who were willing to stand and to preach the truth, and to take that message to the end of the earth and during their time, and even willing to die for their Lord and their Savior. Peter, who had denied Christ three times, stands up and gives us this powerful sermon and later says in another remarkable passage, that “we must obey God, rather than men.” And so you see the transforming power of the Holy Spirit upon the people, these disciples on this day, in the temple area, and all that had happened, all that took place, these disciples on Pentecost knew who they were and they knew what they had to do. Just as the people back in Bethlehem, the time of Ruth, knew who they were and knew what they had to do.

Now, here's a question for us today in the United Church of God. In the year 2020, a remarkable year, which for many of you've been following some of the comments and some of the memes that I've seen as we kind of worked our way through these first five months of 2020, we kind of wish it had never happened. We wish we could go back to 2019. All right? One of my favorite memes that I've seen is the little scene from the movie Back to the Future, where Marty McFly is telling the professor, "Whatever you do, don't punch in 2020." I even haven't seen the movie and I understand what that means. But it's been a remarkable year. Now, what about us? The disciples knew what they had to do and who they were. The people in the village of Bethlehem at the time of Ruth knew who they were and what they had to do.

Do we know who we are and do we know what we have to do? What is the United Church of God? Who is the United Church of God? What are we to do? Are we an eccentric, odd little group with a strange set of beliefs, cobbled together out of the Old Testament and the New Testament, and a few other ideas from other religions and faiths kind of sprinkled in there, thrown in there and kind of, like, scraps of food and seed that birds would pick up on the ground? Is that who we are? That's what the Athenian philosophers asked of the apostle Paul on Mars Hill in Acts 17 because that's what they thought he was or are we the descendants of these disciples in Acts 2, who took the gospel to the ends of the earth? Are we the spiritual descendants of those in Bethlehem, who knew who they were, a covenant people? They knew what they had to do. They had to legislate even in the smallest of matters concerning a marriage and a family matter in a social court, according to the law of God. They knew what they had to do. Do we know who we are? Do we know what we have to do?

We are the descendants of those peoples. We are part of the true Church of God, the Body of Jesus Christ. Christ is the head of that Church and it is His Body. We in the United Church of God are a part of the true Church of God, the Body of Jesus Christ. We are among the firstfruits of God's plan of salvation, those who will be part of the first resurrection at Christ's appearance. We are to be kings and priests, our teachers and helpers, as Dr. Dunkle was saying yesterday here in his sermon. We are to be co-heirs with Jesus Christ of all things to reign with Him for 1,000 years after His return, as Revelation 20 tells us in advance of a greater harvest of people that are to come as the Scriptures and the Holy Day Plan of God tells us.

And we are in the United Church of God, we are to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. We are to make disciples and we are to care for those disciples that God calls. That's who we are. That's about as clear and succinct as I can put it and refine it down scripturally based on Scripture and based on our knowledge. That's who we are. And we are descendants, spiritually of these men and women in Acts 2 and back in Ruth 4. That's it. That is a clear statement. And as we gather on Pentecost here in 2020, in the most unusual set of circumstances in living memory, the meaning of this day, as firstfruits, gives us a very firm anchor, a compass check, if you will, that we must understand, we need to understand in our time, and to know what we should do, and to rehearse that on this Day of Pentecost because we too are witnesses.

We are witnesses as they were in that village in Bethlehem, in the sense that we are evidence. We are proof of God's unfolding enduring plan of salvation, called, and chosen, and faithful. We understand that. We teach that. We proclaim that. And our very existence on this Day of Pentecost, here now on this day, keeping this Holy Day, as well as all of the Festivals, and the Sabbath and the sacred time of God is testimony to that, is evidence of what God is to do. We are witnesses of that early first harvest of the plan of God. Let's turn back to Leviticus 23. And let’s, again, just look at the basic, one of, if you will, the kind of a cornerstone Scripture of this Holy Day plan. We know it well, but let's read it again, Leviticus 23. And let's begin in verse 15, read a few verses here, where it says that, "From the day after the Sabbath, the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: count off seven full weeks.” That is the Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread that follows, that this count begins, this counting of seven full weeks, which will be 49 days and then the instruction says “count off fifty days one more,” which this day is, that 50th day, from that day when the wave sheaf would have been brought the day after the Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

“Count to that fifty days to the day of the seventh Sabbath; and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.” And so, the instruction goes on, "Two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah, the finest flour baked with yeast as a wave offering of firstfruits." This was done in the spring of the year, the early spring, during the time of the days of unleavened bread. And it would mark the beginning of that early harvest. Again, what they were doing back in the time of Ruth that we read in the story there, that was that period of time. It was an early, smaller harvest of the land. And God goes on here to add to what was to be brought, in addition to the grain offering.

And then down in verse 20, "The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering together with the bread of the firstfruits.” And so it was waved or presented in the temple by a priest before the Lord. Now, this is the instruction, and while there was a temple and while there was a functioning priesthood, this was how it was done. It's interesting within the Jewish faith and community. After the fall of the temple in 70 AD, Pentecost as a Holy Day kind of faded off of their calendar, while they continue to evolve into a tradition that they call the cedar off of the Passover and continue to keep a Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement and Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets. And we see all still as high markers of Judaism today. You don't read about Pentecost. And in one part of that is because with no temple, with no functioning priesthood, among the Jews, this Festival kind of fell off, just fell by the wayside. All right? It's not that it wasn't noted or even on their calendar, but it's not become even a part of their strong tradition today.

We understand that the New Testament symbols and we understand the fullness of this with Christ as that wave sheaf offering, of course, and fulfilling all the various offerings. We understand how we are to keep the Day of Pentecost today in the spirit, based on what we see in Acts 2 and, of course, other verses. But going back here to verse 20, it says that, "They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. And on that same day, you're to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This has to be an everlasting ordinance for the generations to come wherever you live." Embedded in this instruction is in so much of God's teaching out of Leviticus is the idea and the truth that this is a sacred offering. And that means it is spiritual. And in that, it is something that has a deeper spiritual meaning that endures. It's not removed. It's not done away. It's not something that we ignore. The people of God know what that term sacred means to have a sacred offering, in a sense. We are sacred offerings before God, Romans 12:1, tells us. We are to keep a sacred assembly, as this says. We understand the Sabbath day and holy time.

This Festival, as well as all the Festivals, are sacred assemblies. There's a spiritual dimension, the very presence of God here, that no change in any aspect of the covenant or of the relationship between God and man does away with. It only heightens it, magnifies it, and intensifies it as a meaning, and experience, and truth for the people of God. It's not something that is optional. It's not something that, you know, you can keep if you want because it has some, you know, special meaning. It is sacred. It is truth at the very bedrock of existence. And that's why we are here. And so, it is to be kept. And we keep it in the spiritual sense, as we understand here. And we're witness to that. We're evidence of that very, very intense truth. There's an early harvest that this Festival of Pentecost shows.

Through Pentecost, we see that there is a very small, first harvest, ahead of a larger fall harvest. And in the temperate zones of the globe, that is very well understood and a part of what we can observe around us every year is through the cycle of the seasons. When we look at it spiritually, the really small harvest tells us something about the mercy and the magnitude of God's holy plan. The Holy Days give to us in the church an understanding of not only being a firstfruit, but also a seed sown of that coming kingdom, planted in today's world to grow and to develop into the sons of God. That's where we are. So we know why we are here today, on the date of the Feast of Pentecost, and we know what we are to do, which is why we're here assembled before God.

There's another, a second matter of this being we are witness to with the Day of Pentecost. We are witness to the fact that Christ is the first of the firstfruits. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul brings this truth out in the midst of this resurrection exposition to show the truth of the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15. The spiritual significance of this first harvest, celebrated by the Feast of Firstfruits is made very clear in a few verses here, beginning in verse 20 of 1 Corinthians 15, where it says, "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." So, again, the resurrection of Christ during the Days of Unleavened Bread, after being in the grave, three days and three nights, is tied to, obviously, the Day of Pentecost, as that next day begins the count and that time but Christ was risen from the dead, He's become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Down in verse 22, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive." And so, through Christ's life, His resurrection, we have the opportunity for eternal life.

Without His resurrection, we only have a dead Savior and we have our sins forgiven. But the hope of life, as Paul later brings out in other Scriptures, is through His resurrection. We are made alive in Christ through that. Then he goes on in verse 23, "But each one in his own order." A remarkable phrase. There is an order to the plan of God. There is an order by which God is bringing salvation to the world. In the holy, they show us that. And the Feast of Pentecost is a key Scripture or a key Holy Day to help us to understand that, that this marks a special time, a special harvest, a unique period, in the history of life and of mankind as to what God is doing. He's only dealing with a few in that category of firstfruits. He's only calling a few at this time. The later time of salvation will be offered to the world in the later fall of harvest after the return of Christ as the ensuing Holy Days' picture. And again, we have to keep the Holy Days to understand this. It's not something that you can fully develop and understand as a truth of the Scriptures, as a worked-out theology, without this matter of the Holy Days and what they show us. And “every man and his order,” and the order that God is bringing to pass here. “Every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.”

And so, that wave sheaf begins with the early barley harvest. Fifty days later, we come to Pentecost, and we have understood Christ was accepted by the Father. On that morning, when He appeared, remember, to His disciples, Mary wanted to worship Him. He said, "Don't touch Me, I haven't yet ascended to My Father." And then later that very same day, we find that they do embrace Him. And so, in that time, Christ was accepted by the Father, appeared again to the disciples, and began that process that leads up here to what transpires with Pentecost and the Feast.

But through that now, with the giving of the Holy Spirit, we have access to the Father through Christ. And so, we're told that all of this is done in a particular order, in a particular way. Paul states that the resurrection of the saints that Christ coming as immortal spirit beings later on here in chapter 15, as he moves down into the glorious aspects of it, beginning in verse 43, and concluding to the end of the chapter about the mortal being changed to immortality, shows how that will transpire at the time of Christ appearing in an instant at the last trumpet as verse 52 brings out here, "the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." We anticipate that event. We're not yet there.

We're in that time period between the receiving of the Spirit, in our calling and our life, or even from the time that what began with Christ's acceptance or began with the Day of Pentecost, to this point in time on this Pentecost in the year 2020, we anticipate then the time when this change will take place at the timing of the last trumpet. It'll be a supernatural clarion call that will announce the return of Christ to rule the earth. And at that time, God will resurrect the dead, who had been previously faithful, the dead in Christ as 1 Thessalonians 4 describes. They will be resurrected first, not preceding those who are alive at Christ’s return and changed in the same way that verse 52 brings out to spirit beings, immortality granted. Meeting Christ in the air as He appears and then descending with Him, where His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives in that day, and that will begin that 1,000 year period that is described in Revelation 20, that we call the Millennium when we will be a part of what is called the first resurrection.

In Revelation 20:6, it says, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection." That's what we look to. That's what we hope for. And there is a blessing for those that are a part of that. The first resurrection is a unique resurrection in that it is a resurrection to spirit life, to eternal life. All right, the other resurrection that we call the second and described later in chapter 20 as a physical resurrection back to physical life for those that have never heard. That's a greater fall of harvest that we look forward to. But verse 6 tells us, "That over such the second death has no power, but they shall be a priest of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him one thousand years." And so we know we're called to be a part of this event, along with all who have gone before us, who are then the dead in Christ. And so we witness to that. We are evidence of that, as we read it in Scripture and by faith, believe it. And then on this Day of Pentecost observe it, remembering that we are firstfruits waiting for this particular time.

There's a third area of evidence that we give as well or witness, again, like the people did back in Bethlehem, where they came to the place of assembly and said, "We are witnesses." We are witnesses that the firstfruits of which we are a part, overcome the world as preparation for this age to come. We're here to remember that, to be evidence of that. The firstfruits of God's plan are those who are called now in this age, having their minds and attitudes changed. We call it conversion. We call it a transformation, spiritually transformed, but the receipt of God's Spirit is to change us. It is to give us that power to become like Jesus Christ because His Spirit is in us. His life is in us. The life we are to live now is through this Spirit of His and the Father's that is within us, working within us, helping us to overcome sin. In James 1, James brings this out, again, in terms of what we are as firstfruits.

James 1:18, "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.” Firstfruits of all that He has created. James brings that out to us. What the firstfruits learn today, what we learn by a life of overcoming, resisting this world, this sin is a life that is to prepare us for the age to come.

You know, all that we go through in our lives, the experiences, the trials that come upon us, the mistakes we make, the lessons that we learn, the growth that we make through our years in life, as young people, as singles, as teenagers, as young adults, as married with children, the mistakes, the lessons, the triumphs, all that we learn as we grow through the years, nothing is wasted. Nothing goes to pass. Everything that we develop as a talent, everything we develop, as far as discernment, understanding, maturity, growth, nothing is lost. Everything that we learned through all that we do, all the character that we build, and develop with God's help, ultimately, because that's the only one that will endure, the gifts that we have, none of it will be wasted. Everything that we go through, God will use what you and I learned, as firstfruits in this life and in this world today, and the glorified life that He will give us at the resurrection. So it's the spiritual lessons, the spiritual understanding that we want to gain today.

You know, there are some things that we will stumble into, and some things that will happen that may take years to finally move away from, and in some cases, the result of it may be with us the remainder of our life. But it is the spiritual lessons that we learn, even at times when certain physical matters may linger and remain. It's the spiritual lessons that we learned, the spiritual maturity and growth that will not be wasted, God will use that, and that new body that He gives us at the resurrection.

And that knowledge and understanding, that will be glorified. That will be magnified by what we were given from God and what we receive. It's by the trials and the mistakes of our life, If we remain faithful to God, that we learn the spiritual values, the spiritual understanding that transcends this life. This is why I think, at the heart of what Paul was getting to in 1 Corinthians 2 [1] when he encouraged the people to understand why they were called. In 1 Corinthians 2 [1], he said, "Do you see your calling? Not many wise men are called. Not many noble brethren, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise." We are called. We are chosen. We are evidence in His hand, of His glory, and of His purpose, and of His plan. And it's that which we have to understand. We've got to see our calling, which means to understand it, to know that we are called, that yes, we are special people and a very special relationship with God as firstfruits.

You know, I thought over the years, as I've first learned about the Feast of Pentecost, as a youth, intellectually accepted it, spiritually accepted it and, you know, as a baptized adult, taught it for many, many years in the ministry, I've often thought about this day and the audacity of the day, the meaning of the firstfruit, called now, separate from the rest of the world, the world not being called. And sometimes you never felt guilty about that. I've never felt ashamed of that. I've marveled at it. I've wondered, added, sometimes I’ve just been a bit awestruck at it to grasp it, as you look at the whole rest of the world. And it's just taken me, I guess a number of years of teaching, and thinking, and learning to see my calling and to understand what God really has done with His firstfruits. And it's only by the grace of God that we are a firstfruits. It's a humbling experience. It doesn't make us any better. The better resurrection that was referred to in the sermonette, that is the first resurrection.

It's not because we are better. It's better. And it's our responsibility to live up to that better, that better resurrection through this life. That's our challenge to us. So it is an astounding thought to mull over in our hearts and in our minds, as we think about what God is doing. Called now rather than later. It would seem to be easier if we were called later. I thought that one through too, especially when I was young, especially when I was young. I had it all figured out at one time, how I was going to live my life, right up until a certain point that I thought we understood, then I was going to repent and obey God, you know, be safe, whatever. Well, I learned the folly of that way of thinking and that didn't work. That's not how we should live. But it would seem easier later. But God's called us now. And we have to accept that. And when we do, God gives us the help.

This present stage, this time of the firstfruits is a special unique one time period. And I know that's not grammatically correct, but it gets the point across, special unique one time. All right? It is. Think about the period, the time of the firstfruits. It's a unique event describing Scripture, situation, or place. Think about that now. Think about that now, 2020, in this moment. In this moment, we have a world that is shaking as a result of what has happened. It's shaking to its foundations for a moment, for a time, not to a godly repentance, but it's been shaken. And we have to consider this truth about God's plan and purpose, to consider who we are and what we are to do.

I've thought a lot as you have. We all have about this pandemic, this COVID-19 pandemic. I think we have experienced a kind of a pre-revelation event, a pre-revelation event experience. And I think as firstfruits, we should see this as a wake-up call to our calling. The prophecies and the warnings from Christ are very real. In Luke 21 and Matthew 24, and in the book of Revelation, all of that is more than just an intellectual biblical knowledge base. We're living through some very real times, some big times. God's purpose and judgments are sure. And He's examining the nations at this moment, and the nations have indeed been startled.

Because I've thought it through and I know that there's all kinds of ideas that are rampant and conspiracy ideas about this virus and everything. And there is a truth about it, in terms of the physical hard truth. And I think we will find that out in time. But as I step back and look at it with a biblical worldview, I think I see that what we have seen is a satanic attack, meant to take down the present world, the present world order, and to lay the foundation for a system that is described in the Bible, yet to come, called Babylon, Babylon the Great. That's what I think we have seen. A final… at Babylon is a final global order that will be Satan's masterpiece of deception upon the world. And as I look at this and as I look at the Scriptures, this is personally what I've concluded that it's a satanic attack, God has not allowed it to succeed. It's not going to completely reshuffle the world order. They will make some changes. But as we understand Scripture, God's purpose and plan, the prophecies tell us and keeping the Holy Days helps us as well because we understand the Holy Days and we observe them, God's Church, God's people are able to understand the plan of God and I think also have insight into the world, where we are in the world in relation to biblical prophecy, to be able to discern the times in which we live. Our keeping the Holy Days is very much a part of that. These are big events that we are living through. And we cannot and should not mistake this time and what the Church should learn as a result. We are being made ready through this crisis. The Church, the firstfruits are is being made ready, all the more important that we know who we are and what we are to do. To come to certain conclusions and have a proper biblical understanding requires that we step back and, again, have that biblical worldview, which, when I was again, young, I used to hear this phrase called "Keep the big picture," we used to say.

Have a big overview of God's purpose and God's plan, which, again, the Holy Days give to us, Bible prophecy gives us. Keep the big picture I was taught. And this is the time to do that, to keep the big picture with a biblical framework of what is happening in the world. There's another phrase that we had at that time that I grew up on as well. It was called the work. We're called to do a work. We have a work to do. And it's biblical. It comes out of actually the book of Acts because they went to do the work. There is an incident in the book of Acts where they went to do the work. They went about continuing preaching the gospel. But that phrase, the work, the work, the work was like an anvil, upon which the words were beaten regularly, in my mind, as a young person in the Church of God, the work, the work, the work, we are called to do a work. We must go to do a work and people understood that, believed that, saw that vision, sacrificed for it, some to their hurt. And we still understand that. But that's what we were called to do. That's what we understood.

You know, the roots of the United Church of God, our inner work that was begun during a time of global depression, and World War, and large international issues that began in the 1930s, in the 1940s, into the 1950s, the roots of who we are, go back into that timeframe of the world where there were huge world events taking place. Issues of human survival, literally, with the advent of the nuclear age that followed World War II. That's the global backdrop against which the Church of God that we are a part of grew and developed in the 20th century and out of which we have come. God began to work literally during the sixth horn of the beast of Revelation 17 when it rose out of Europe, and Asia, and devastated the world. And we are still today dealing with the after-effects of it. We were on Corregidor back in late December, an island bombed out of near existence.

And you go on Corregidor, in the mouth of the Manila Bay in the Philippines, and it's just like it was at the end of World War II with the bombed out buildings and the guns that were left and inoperable because they too were bombed. And you see the results of the rise of the beast. And we're still dealing with that today. But my point is, that was the backdrop by which God grew and developed, the work out of which the United Church of God came. People were faithful. People were called, began to keep the Sabbath, the Holy Days, the Festivals, and helped build that work. They knew what they had to do. They knew who they were, just like the people during the time of Ruth and the period of the Judges, and the time of national breakdown during that era and that period. God always has a remnant. God always has a work. The church, it doesn't die out.

And so, when we consider ourselves today, those who went before us in the United Church of God, my mother, my wife's parents, and her grandparents, your uncles, your aunts, your parents, your grandparents, they were living in a time that I just described coming out of that. They wanted answers. They wanted hope in their world and in their life because the world didn't provide that for them. Their world nearly came to a collapse and a depression, a world war, and then the threat of a nuclear age. They came looking for answers and hope. Those were the people from which we are descended, in many cases, literally descended today. And frankly, we are into the fifth generation, and you stop and figure it up of those people that began in the 1930s. In the Church of God, we're into the fifth generation today and united are those people who are doing the work, called to do that work. Today, our legacy in United is built upon what went before. We proclaim the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, a message of salvation.

We show God's purpose to many of how He's bringing many sons to glory, and their potential, and why they were born. The United Church of God is a work that is built to preach the gospel and to prepare people to reign with Christ. That's what it's about. And everything that we do is to prepare a people to reign with Christ, from a summer camp to an Ambassador Bible College, to a Sabbath service, to a Bible study, to a trained, dedicated ministry, to a church, to a work of evangelizing, putting up booklets, magazines, media content of all sorts, to teach the gospel, to preach a message of salvation, to preach a message of repentance, to turn from this world, to save yourselves, to believe, to keep and to be a part of the Kingdom of God. That's what we are doing. That's what we are part of. This is our roots. This is the United Church of God.

And so when we look at all that God has revealed to us and shown us as to this firstfruits calling, this firstfruits Festival of the Day of Pentecost, and why we are called now, it's because of that. We are called to preach the gospel. We are called to be behind a work of evangelizing, a work of preaching the gospel of salvation, a message of repentance. And that should explain why we do what we do and who we are. And also Brethren, importantly, why we are called now in advance of the time when God is going to call all the others. And as the parable show us, there is an early harvest. There's a later harvest. There's a time when God is going to harvest the world and fields are ripe for that at this particular time. Our present calling is connected to the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God and to prepare to rule with Christ. It is a special calling. It is a special time. Yes, it is a better resurrection. And yes, we have to live up and be a better people to be a part of that and we can as God gives us the grace and God gives us the help. We must live up to that resurrection, and all that it means, and all the hope that it will provide for all the world to come from that point.

You know, Brethren, right now, in the end of May 2020, as we are kind of inching our way out of this COVID-19 virus, the world's looking for the hope of a vaccine to be developed somewhere by some nation in some lab. Just one scientist, one team will work together to provide a vaccine for this particular virus to make us safe, to wipe away fear, to let us open up, and to return to our normal. And we have projections maybe by the end of the year. I've read everything from by fall to the end of the year. And some I've read, it could be near impossible because of the way this particular respiratory type virus mutates so quickly. I'm not an expert in those areas. Like you, I have hope that it will be, that it will provide that safety for people. But that's what the world is looking for at this point in time.

You know, as we are here on Pentecost, we've read where the Holy Spirit was poured out and made available. The Holy Spirit of God, Brethren, is the ultimate vaccine. The Holy Spirit of God is the ultimate immunization that we have. It's the inoculation, if you will, that God has given to those who in faith, repent, and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, and are baptized, and with the laying on of hands receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's our immunity against sin, against every evil work. That's our vaccine against racism and against prejudice. And unfortunately, the United States right now is beginning to tear itself apart, city by city in recent days. And a scene that just makes us want to cry, as we have come out of a period of being sheltered and we see this in a sense of a scab ripped off and the problems surfacing again of racism, and of prejudice, and anger, and all that is there from all quarters of our society. God's Spirit is the ultimate immunity for that. It is also the vaccine against fear and doubt that God gives us. It is the power by which the United Church of God will live up to its promise.

The Spirit of God, it is the power by which we will preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, and make those disciples that God provides and to care for those disciples. We will do it by that power and by that power alone. There's a scripture I'd like to turn to, that we all know when we normally turn to this at times to kind of point out to the larger nation as a whole. And it certainly applies there. Please turn with me to 2 Chronicles 7. It is a time of the dedication of the temple by Solomon. And God has a lot to say here, that Solomon has prayed and God appeared to Solomon, to show that God was with Solomon and with the people as long as they were with Him. And in verse 13 of 2 Chronicles 7, God says, "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land,” we read about locusts in Africa. And those of you that may be listening in and Africa, you know about that “or” it says, "send pestilence among My people." Again, Brethren, these Scriptures are very real. We've lived through a time of pandemic, of pestilence. And when God says these things, we should take note as to what we are to do. Verse 14, is what we know very well. God says, "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." We quote this a lot. And we usually point it toward America, Canada, Australia, Great Britain or the world is large. And certainly, it applies there. And we know that the context of it given to Israel Solomon at the time of the dedication, but it is a principle that applies today. And lets for a moment, on this Day of Pentecost, Brethren, let's for a moment take it and turn this promise to us in the United Church of God. We are the people of God.

Can we humble ourselves? Can we pray to God? Can we pray for the nations, pray for the United States, that it gets its act together, that it doesn't rip itself apart? It is the engine of the world economy, at this time, still, regardless of what's happened in recent weeks, and much depends upon it. In terms of that, most importantly, the fact that we can function as a church and a work to preach the gospel. Pray for the United Kingdom. Pray for Canada. Pray for Australia. We lamented in December when Australia was burning up, and they had to cancel their youth camps down there at that time, not knowing that just a few weeks from that time, we would see a problem that would impact us as well. And again, even in the Church, we've had to curtail a lot of our youth programs as well, it has been quite a period of time, quite a year. But pray for the nations, pray that the gospel may be heard, and that it may change lives, that there are enough of those people who are softened up at this time, who are disillusioned, who recognize that the idols that they have trusted, the government, science, their pocketbooks, their job, their status, their position, can be gone in a minute, can be gone just like that, as it has in many cases. And you can't just start there with a stimulus check. You can't just depend on the government to bring it back. It's going to take more than that. I pray that there are people who begin to ask the questions, to begin to search for the answers, that God will lead to us if that's His choice, and they will find hope. They will find solutions. They will find answers. Pray for that. That we can be a humble people that can receive those individuals and help to disciple them.

Pray for that as well. If my people, called by my name, pray that God, who has I'm sure, I know, more firstfruits to call, that they can be called as a result of this. Pray for your church. Pray for the United Church of God. Pray that the United Church of God can have a revival, a renewal, of unity, of faith, and of power, for all of us to be more tightly knit together in the bonds of love and fellowship. I pray that as we reopen, and we pray that we can reopen quicker, I'm hoping that in my local congregation we can reopen before Disney World reopens. That's my prayer. And I think we'll get there. But pray that as we reopen, our services will have a stronger passion for who we are and what we are to do. "If My people, all by My name will humble and pray,” God says He will answer. Let's use this Day of Pentecost, Brethren, to do just that, to renew a sense of dedication, and purpose, and passion for the work for the calling that God has given to us as firstfruits. Let's be a people who know who they are and know what they are to do.