And God the Holy Spirit led the
Apostle Paul to mention a man by the name of Epanitus. Verse 5 of Revelation or Romans
chapter 16. Salute my well-beloved Epanitus,
who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. And I believe when
he was making that statement he was saying he was the first
convert. He was the first person the Lord saved, in my experience,
in that place when I went to preach to that place. Now, here's
the question. What does firstfruits mean? I've entitled this message, Firstfruits. It's an Old Testament concept.
What does it mean? Now, there are two Hebrew words
that are translated firstfruits. One is the same word that's translated
in the beginning. The first fruits are the beginnings. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. And the other word is the first
part of the crop that was to be given to the Lord. When they
had a harvest, the best of the crop, the first part of the crop,
was presented to the Lord. Now they were giving back to
Him what He had already given to them as a pledge that they
were going to trust Him for the rest. The same was true concerning
the animals or children. Your firstborn son was the firstfruits
to the Lord and the firstborn animal was the firstfruit to
the Lord. Now the firstfruit was given
to God as a gift. knowing it came from Him. You
know, when you give, you know you're only giving back a part
of that which He's already given you. You know that, don't you?
When we give, that's what we're doing. And we're trusting Him
by giving the firstfruits, that which comes first. We're trusting
Him to take care of the rest. Now the firstfruits were given
for the maintenance of the priests, the tabernacle, and the entire
Levitical system. Now we have a very good example
of this concept found in 1 Kings chapter 17, if you turn with
me there for a moment. Beginning in verse 8, And the word of the LORD, 1 Kings
17 verse 8, And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise,
get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell
there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain
thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath.
And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, The widow
woman was there gathering of sticks, and he called to her
and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that
I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her
and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake,
but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruz. And
behold, I'm gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it
for me and my son, that we may eat it and die. And Elijah said
unto her, fear not, go and do as thou said, but make me thereof
a little cake first and bring it unto me. And after that, make
for thee and for thy son. Now, do you hear what he's saying
to her? You bring me something first. You bring me the firstfruits. And then you go and bring to
your son. And through that she was going
to be taken care of. For thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the
crews of oil fail into the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon
the earth. And she went and did, according
to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house
did eat many days. And the barrel of mill wasted
not, neither did the crews of oil fail, according to the word
of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. She was to give the firstfruits
to him, and she was going to be miraculously taken care of
the rest of the way. And that's an example of first
fruits. And that principle is actually
seen in our giving. When I give, I don't wait and
see what I have left over. That's not really giving. I don't
wait and see till after the bills are paid and I've made all bought
all the things that I want. That's not giving. Giving comes
first. You give the firstfruits and
you trust the Lord to take care of everything else. Well, how
much should I give? Whatever you feel led to. I'm
not gonna give anybody a percentage or a number, whatever you feel
led to, but you're doing what you're doing when you give the
first fruits. You're saying, I'm trusting the Lord to take
care of the rest. Now, Epinathus was the first
fruit of that place, the first one that God had saved, and he
was the pledge that there was more to come. When I would see
the Lord reveal somebody, preaching of the gospel, I would think
there's going to be more. There's going to be more. The
Lord is going to do that. Now this word, firstfruits, is
found seven other times in the New Testament, and I want us
to look at all of them. Turn with me to Romans 8, verse
23. And not only they, but ourselves also, which had
the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we, ourselves, grown within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our
body. Now remember, the firstfruit
was not all of the harvest, it was the firstfruit of the harvest.
Now we have the firstfruit of the Spirit in the new birth. That's the pledge that we'll
have all the rest, perfect bodies, perfect souls, sinlessness, perfect
likeness to Christ. But we haven't entered that yet.
But we have the first fruits. We have the guarantee that it'll
take place. Now notice, he says, we've grown
in this body. Now when a man is born again,
there was not a change affected in his body. If you were born
from above, your body is no different than it ever was. It's still
subject to the same diseases. It's still subject to the same
sins. And in this body, we groan. You know what that means? In this
body we groan. And I know what that groaning
is. O wretched man that I am, who should deliver me from this
body of death. Now we have the first fruits
of the Spirit that guarantees one of these days I'm going to
be sinless. One of these days I'm going to
be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. What a blessed
thought and we're waiting for the redemption, the full deliverance
of our body. We have the first fruit of the
Spirit I've been given a new nature that looks to Christ,
and because of that, I'm guaranteed that I'm going to have perfect
likeness to Christ. I'm going to have all the rest,
all of God's blessing I've got. Turn to Romans 11, verse 16. For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy. Now he's
talking about the batch of dough. If the first fruit be holy, everything
that comes out of it is holy. The lump is also holy. And if
the root be holy, so are the branches. Now Christ, the first
fruit is holy. I'm always struggling for a way to define
holiness. You know what holiness is? More than anything else, holiness
is the inability to sin. God cannot sin. He cannot lie. He cannot be unjust. Holiness is the inability to
sin. Christ Jesus is holy. He's impeccable. He doesn't have
the ability to sin. I've heard people argue that
what was there any merit in his resisting temptation if he couldn't
be tempted to sin? Well, that's ridiculous. Christ
couldn't sin. He did no sin. He knew no sin.
In him was no sin. Christ, the look, is holy, isn't
he? And the batch that comes out
of him, every single one of them are holy. You are looking at
a holy man. And you know it makes me feel
weird to say that. But it's so. David said it. I am holy. And I sure enough
know that the holiness I have didn't come from me. He's made
unto me sanctification. He's made unto me holiness. And if the first fruit is holy,
So also is the batch of dough. Every believer has a holy nature,
a nature that is incapable of sin. If the root is holy, the
branches. That's me and you. That's every
believer. We're holy too. Now turn to 1 John chapter 3
for a moment. I want us to see this. Verse 9, whosoever is born of
God doth not commit sin. Well, what that means is they
don't practice sin. You know, somebody makes a statement
like that, they've lost all credibility with me. I don't practice sin. I don't believe that for a second.
If you sin more than once, it's practice of sin, isn't it? And as far as that goes, he doesn't
say, he that's born of God does not practice sin. He says, he
that's born of God doth not commit sin. A holy nature is a nature
that cannot sin. For his seed, God's seed, the
seed of Christ, the seed of the Word of God, remaineth in him. It never leaves. What's that
next word? He cannot. He lacks the ability
to sin. He can't do it. It's beyond him
because he's got a holy nature. Now, when Adam was in the garden,
Before the fall, he didn't have a holy nature. He had an innocent
nature, but a holy nature cannot sin. And every believer has this
holy nature that cannot sin, because if the lump's holy, everything that comes out of
the lump is holy. Now somebody says, Preacher,
I don't feel holy. I hear you talking. but I can't
enter into this experientially. You talk about holiness, but
I sure don't feel holy. Well, I don't either. I guarantee
you I don't. But my dear friends, it's only
the new nature that has any understanding of sin. The reason you see yourself
as so desperately wicked is because you have a holy nature that recognizes
that. The natural man doesn't have
any concept of sin. He doesn't have any concept of
holiness. He thinks sin is if I do this or if I don't do that,
I'll be holy. He thinks there's things you
can do to live a holy life. Listen, you don't live a holy
life if you are holy. The only way you can be holy
is if you are holy. Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if the lump is holy, the
whole batch is holy too. I'm looking at some holy people,
people who God would call holy, people who are partakers of His
holiness. Somebody read that scripture
sometime in Hebrews chapter 12. We're partakers of His holiness. Oh, if the first fruit is holy,
Everything else is holy that comes out of it. Now turn to
1 Corinthians chapter 15. Beginning in verse 20. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits There's the Word. He's become the firstfruits of
them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man also came the resurrection of the dead. Now Christ is the
firstfruits. He's the guarantee of the resurrection
of His people. Now if Christ doesn't return
in my lifetime, I'm going to die. And it won't be very long till
my body turns to dirt. And all I will be is a pile of
dirt. Nothing else. Going through the process of
decay. But because Christ was raised from the dead, I will
be too. My mother said to me while we
were driving home today, she said, I can't wait to die because
I'll be able to walk again. And she will. She'll be able
to walk again in a glorified body. Now, since by man, Adam
came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.
Verse 22, for as in Adam, All die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive. Now, that's one of the most important
verses in the New Testament. It says so much. In Adam, all
die. Now, we know he's not simply
talking about physical death, though that's included, but he's
talking about spiritual death. What does a dead man have the
ability to do? Absolutely nothing. What really
happened in the garden? Well, just exactly what God said,
in the day you eat thereof you shall surely die. But in this
verse we also find out what happened on the cross. In Christ shall
all be made. I was made something by what
Christ did. I was made a new creation. Christ accomplished something
by his death. He made something. He made himself
a holy people separated under the Lord. In Christ shall all
be made alive. Spiritual life. That's what that
holy nature is. Eternal life. The new man. It's the new man that hears the
gospel. It's the new man that loves.
It's the new man that repents. It's the new man that owns the
sins of the old man. Oh, this new man. The firstfruits. Verse 23. But every man in his
own order Christ the firstfruits. When Christ was raised from the
dead, you know what was guaranteed? The perfect resurrection of everybody
he died for. Christ, the firstfruits, and
afterward, they that are Christ's. Don't you love that term? I want
to be one of those people, don't you? They that are Christ's at
his coming. 1 Corinthians 16. Verse 15, I beseech you, brethren, you
know the house of Stephanus that is the first fruits of Achaia. They were the first converted
in this place. Now, I've found out that there
are some 16 different cities in this New Testament times called
Achaia. This is a different one. They
were the first fruits of Achaia and they have addicted themselves
to the ministry of the saints. Now here is a good addiction. These first fruits, they've addicted
themselves to the ministry. the service of the Saints. What an addiction that is. May
you and I have this addiction. Turn to James 1, verse 17, Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from where? Above. Don't expect to find any
good gift or perfect gift in the dunghill of human nature.
It won't be found. every good gift and every complete
gift. It's from above. And it cometh
down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. Now what this is talking about
is the immutability of God. There's not even a shadow of
turning. There's not any kind of variation in Him. Whatever
He was, He is. Whatever he is, he always will
be, and he'll never change. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. That's why. If he would change,
he'd get rid of me. But thank God, he never changes.
Now, I love thinking about this. He doesn't change in his essence.
And somebody says, what is the essence of God? I don't know.
He's a spirit. But whatever his essence is,
it's immutable. He doesn't change. He doesn't
change in his attributes. He doesn't change in his purpose.
He doesn't change in the objects of his love. He does not change. With him there's no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. Now look what he says in verse
18. Of his own will begat he us. with the word of
truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Now, don't miss this. You're
not going to find a stronger statement regarding the sovereignty
of God and salvation than right here, of his own will. Now, God's got a will. The Lord said, I came down from
heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent
me. God's got a will. I love talking about the sovereignty
of God. God's got the power to make sure his will comes to pass.
He's got the right to make sure his will comes to pass. He's
God. Whatever he does is right. And he always does make his will
come to pass. own will, the supremacy of the
will of God, of His own will. He birthed us. He begat us. He wasn't responding to anything.
He simply willed this. He begat us of His own will.
He begat us. How? With the word of truth. Now understand this, there is
no spiritual begetting at all apart from the truth, the Word
of Gospel. God doesn't use error. Why would
He? Why should He? He's not going
to do it. Of His own will begat He us,
birthed He us with the Word of Truth. Now who is the us that
he beget? The same us as in Romans 8.31.
If God be for us, who can be against us? Of his own will beget
he us with the word of truth. Now the word of the truth is
the gospel, the word of God, the doctrine of the cross, and
the Holy Spirit never acts apart from the truth. There is no spiritual
birth apart from hearing and believing the truth of how God
saves sinners by Christ. The Lord said, God is a spirit,
God is spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him
in spirit and in truth. God the Holy Spirit and the truth
of the gospel. Now somebody says, well, can't
God save without using the truth? You want a better question? Does
God save without using the truth? The answer is no, he doesn't. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits. This beginning brings forth the
firstfruits of his creation. Every believer is the firstfruits. I turn to Revelation chapter
14. And I look. And lo, a lamb stood
on the Mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand
having his father's name written in their foreheads. Now, who
are these hundred and forty four thousand? It's simply a number
that represents the elect. It's not some special group like
the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses talk about, you're going to be
in the 144,000. Not everybody's going to be there.
I get so mean when they come. Somebody said, well, you're not
in it. I'll tell you that. I wish I wouldn't get that way,
but I just, my blood. It's an exact number with the
lamp. representing God's elect. It's a number that can't be added
to or subtracted from. This is who is with the Lamb,
all of his elect. Verse 2. Well, notice they have
their Father's name in their foreheads. And I know what that
name is, Jehovah Tzidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. That's how they're identified.
They have the Father's name righteousness of Christ written in their foreheads. Verse 2, And I heard a voice
from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice
of a great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps. Now we know that this number
is 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands and thousands according to Revelation
5. That's over 100 million. Literally, I believe so. Can
you imagine hearing a choir with a hundred million people singing
the praises of the Lamb? And I heard a voice from heaven
as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder.
And I heard the voice of harpers, the sweetness of this voice,
harpers harping with their harps. And they sang as it were a new
song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders.
And no man could learn that song but the 144,000 which were redeemed
from the earth. You see, it's only the redeemed,
the elect of God, those for whom Christ died that can really understand
the words to this song. Nobody else understands. They
may hear the voice, but they don't understand. But I know
who does. The redeemed. Let's look at this
description of them in verse 4. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are people
who have never looked outside of Christ for any satisfaction. They know something about the
simplicity of Christ. Remember when Paul said, I presented
you as a chaste virgin, I fear lest you become corrupted from
the simplicity. that's in Christ. Now, who are
these virgins? They are people who look to Christ
alone. Christ and becomes an adulterer. I have one wife, Lynn, not Lynn
and. If it's Lynn and, it is adultery. I look to Christ alone as all
my righteousness before God, all my acceptance before God.
I don't look anywhere else. I look to Him only. I don't look
to my works. I don't look to my preaching.
I don't look to my praying. I don't look to my reading the
Bible, my understanding. No, I don't look to anything.
I don't look at my efforts. I look to Christ alone. Here's
my only hope that everything that God requires of me, He looks
to His Son for. Now that's a virtue. That's the
simplicity that's in Christ. Simplicity means the onlyness,
the onlyness, the singularity. We look to Christ alone. Go on reading. These are they
which follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed
from among men. particular effectual redemption. It doesn't say everybody was
redeemed. These 144,000, God's elect, they
were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God
and to the land. Everybody that Christ died for
are the firstfruits. Now let's go on reading in verse
5. And in their mouth was found
no guile, no deceit. Now the only way I can be honest
and tell the truth is if I say I'm full of deceit and sin. You
might think, what do you expect me to listen to you for if you're
like that? Well, I'm not the only one like that, so is everybody
else. Deceitful, sinful, and if you're going to hear the gospel,
you're going to hear it through a sinner. And the only honest
person is that person who confesses, I in and of myself am nothing
but sin. And if someone will not make
that confession, they're deceivers. They're deceived. They have no
credibility. Now, that's what it means to
be without guile and without deceit. You don't pretend to
be what you're not. But look what it says next about
these people in verse 5. It says, for they are, what's
that say? Without fault. before the throne of God. This
is what is called justification. Every one of these people who
are the firstfruits of the land, you can count on this, there's
not going to be guile in their mouth. They're going to confess
themselves to be what they are. No guile. But not only that,
they're without fault. They're perfectly justified.
They're without sin, justified before the throne of the Lamb.
And that's the first fruits of the Lamb. That's the first fruit
of His harvest, what He did. Now, Epinathus was the first
fruits because he had the first fruit of the Spirit. And that
guaranteed he was going to have everything else. He was in the
holy lump that made him holy. Christ was the first fruit that
guaranteed his resurrection. Because he was a first fruit,
he addicted himself to the ministry of the saints. He was begotten
by the will of God as a first fruit of God, and he was redeemed
from among men being the first fruits of the Lamb. Every believer,
just like Epinathus, is the firstfruits of Christ. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that as we prepare to remember thy son in eating the
bread and drinking the wine, we might realize that what he
did put away our sins, and that we're holy before you
through him. And Lord, even as we know that
we are holy before you, we have to pray, Father, forgive us of
our sins. Lord, how we long for that time
of sinlessness and perfect conformity, the image of your son. And we
have the first fruits that cause us to know that will take place. And Lord, we long for that. In
Christ's name we pray.