Passing From Pentecost to Tabernacles

Table of Contents 2004

Passing From Pentecost to Tabernacles

We cannot jump from Pentecost to Tabernacles without passing through the two intervening observances.

The sermon this morning (7/25/2004) was preached by Stan Josephsen, the Assistant Pastor of Mount Zion Fellowship in Poway, California. Stan's subject was the transition from the Pentecostal experience to the Tabernacles experience.

Some who are reading my words may not be acquainted with the terms I am employing.

There are millions of people in the world who have experienced "Pentecost." As we ordinarily use the term, we mean they have spoken in tongues and perhaps continue to speak in tongues as a "prayer language." Perhaps many of these believers may not be aware that the term Pentecost is taken from the fourth of the seven feasts of the Lord (Leviticus, Chapter Twenty-three).

It is important for us "in Pentecost" to understand that there are three more feasts to be experienced as we move forward in the plan of salvation. These three observances are the Blowing of Trumpets; the Day of Atonement; and the final convocation of Tabernacles.

As Stan pointed out, it is not possible to jump from the Pentecostal experience to the Tabernacles experience. In between these two acts of redemption lie the Blowing of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.

For those Pentecostal people who are pressing forward in Christ, the Lord Jesus is sounding the trumpet of war. The Lord of Hosts is standing before each one, pointing out the enemies in his or her personality. "Behold! I stand at the door and knock."

As soon as we recognize there are areas of spiritual darkness in us, we open the door of our personality and the spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement begins to operate. As we pass through the solemn Day of Atonement, we confess, denounce as evil, and renounce our love of the world, the lusts and appetites of our flesh, and our self-will (our unwillingness to remain in the prison where God has placed us).

We can gain total victory over each of these three areas of sin through the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have been reconciled legally to God through the blood of the cross. Now we are being reconciled actually by the power of the Holy Spirit so that our thoughts, words, and deeds bear a true witness of God and we are at rest in His Presence and will.

It is only as the darkness that is in us is removed by the power of God that the Father and the Son can make us Their eternal dwelling place, which is the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

All of the above can be true of you, but you will have to go to Jesus and claim it for yourself.