Trumpets and Faith

Feast of Trumpets gives us the opportunity to rekindle the vision that has kept God's people going for thousands of years. This day represents the unspeakable joy of the return of Christ to this earth and our change to spirit.

I would like us for a moment to not think about the stock market, your 401(k), your mortgage, your job, or your paycheck today. You know, there's an old saying that says, "I complained about having no shoes until I saw a man with no feet."

I would like us to think on the positive nature of the meaning of this day, and by doing so, I'd like to tell you about a friend of mine who died a few years ago. He was a member of the Boston congregation, and he was there while I was serving as the pastor. He died a couple of years after I moved from the area.

His name was Rod Rodriquez. He was Portuguese by ethnicity, but a very talented man. He had been called into the church prior to my arrival in Boston, so when I arrived in Boston, he was actually one of the first to greet me and welcome me to the church there. I remember him well.

His wife, Jodie, is not a member of the church, but she would occasionally come to social occasions, and I had a chance to meet Jodie. Rod and I would normally meet for lunch, and I would meet him at work. He was a logistical engineer for the Polaroid Corporation, and I would meet him at Polaroid. We'd meet in the lobby, and we'd come out, and we'd discuss where we would go to lunch. And we often went to lunch and had visits, pastoral visits. We became pretty good friends through those visits.

Rod had been married before he married Jodie. And he had two children, two girls, by that previous marriage. And he would occasionally talk to me about the challenges of raising two teenage girls from a distance, and the child support, and I think one of them was, as I recall, in the early years of college, and the other was in the latter years of high school. And he'd talk to me about those challenges.

And when he met his second wife, Jodie, and they were married, they had a child, so he in essence had two families. And he had this boy by Jodie, and I think at the time I met him, he was about three or four years old. And so he would always talk to me about the challenges of his older girls, and the challenge now of raising a young boy, and how different that was.

We'd talk about the usual things that you talk about, the trials he would go through at his workplace, his job. He was a supervisor, and it was hard, of course, for him sometimes to supervise people who didn't really want to work. We talked about those things. We talked about his family issues, his trials, his frustration that Jodie was not called, and was not a member of the church. And, as I mentioned, we got fairly close.

In the winter of 1993, as I recall, Sabbath morning, we were all standing in church services singing the opening hymns, and as the final hymn concluded, and we all sat down, Rod collapsed.

He was sitting, I remember very distinctly this Sabbath; he was sitting in an aisle way, and he collapsed into the aisle. And of course, those people around him began immediately to look over, and there were a couple of nurses in the congregation who ran to his aid. And as they began to check his pulse, look into his eyes, after three or four minutes, one of the nurses came to me, I was in the back of the hall preparing announcements while the sermonette now was being introduced and going on, and Rod was sitting near the back of the hall so it wasn't disrupting everything, so the sermonette continued. One of the nurses came up to me, and she said, "I think Rod has a serious condition. I think we need to call an ambulance."

So we got on the telephone, and we called an ambulance, and I said we also should call Jodie and let her know. And then we'll find out from the ambulance driver which hospital they're taking him to. So we called Jodie and let her know that Rod was being taken to a hospital, and it was only three or four minutes before the ambulance finally arrived, and they took Rod out the back of the hall and took him off to the hospital.

We continued that service, and immediately after services, I went to the hospital to see how Rod was doing. And I was met there by Jodie; she was in the waiting room, and, of course, she immediately recognized me, came over, gave me a big hug, grabbed me and said, "Rod is still in the examining room; they've taken him right in, and I don't know the extent of his illness."

So we waited there what seemed to be hours, probably just a few moments. It's obviously very difficult for a pastor or a minister to sit with people at a time like that wondering, "Will my husband live? Will he die? What's the nature of his illness?"

The doctor came out and began to explain to Jodie that Rod Rodriquez had had a stroke. He said, "It's a major stroke." He began to explain that the vessels in the body and the arteries go along the spine, and as they go through the neck and up into the brain, there's a junction box at the back of the brain. And he said, "What has happened is a clot has broken lose somewhere in his body for reasons we don't know, and it's traveled up into this junction box, right at the base of his brain and it's lodged there. "And," he says, "I can tell you that your husband will probably die." He says, "But we do have an experimental drug, and if we give him this experimental drug, we're fairly sure that we can break up the blood clot." He says, "But the unknown factor is here, if the blood clot breaks up, then all the little pieces of the clot will then go into his brain. And we don't know what part of the brain, then, will be damaged as the result of that blood clot going into his brain."

And she said, "Could I have a few moments to think about this," and so she asked me to go with her into the chapel at Mass. General Hospital. We went into the chapel, and she asked if I would pray with her. We prayed, and we, of course, asked for God's will to be done, and after our prayer, I attempted to explain to her the meaning of this day and Rod's view of life and death, the resurrection. Again, a very challenging time for a minister of any kind, and not just myself, but other ministers have been through this same ordeal, probably many times, or at least, similar. And I didn't know what decision she would make, but after a few moments, she went out of the chapel and went back into the waiting room, and the doctor was there. And she said, "I want you to administer the drug. If there's any chance that he will survive, I would like for that to happen." So they administered the drug, and the clot did break up.

They had given Rod drugs to put him into a comma so that he wouldn't have convulsions and other things that might occur as a result of this clot going into different parts of the brain. So they induced him into a comma; they put him on a respirator, and he was in the hospital at Massachusetts General Hospital for several days, and they didn't know what had happened. They didn't know the results of this drug and the breaking up of the clot.

It was an unknown field; it was an experimental drug; they were observing him, but there was seemingly no change. He was unconscious; he was on a respirator, and in fact, the doctors decided to keep him in that state for several weeks. Weeks soon turned into months, and I remember many times going to the hospital and sitting beside the bed and reading parts of the scripture, of reading cards that he had received out loud. Because a nurse had told me, she said, "You know, we don't really know, but it could be that Rod is able to hear. So you should be careful what you say in the room when you're in there. And it's okay to read scriptures and cards because he may be able to hear; we just don't know."

As I said, the weeks turned into months, and after awhile, they contacted Jodie; we kept in pretty close contact during that time period and would often meet at the hospital together and visit Rod and visit with one another. And she called me and said, "The doctor has asked me to consider taking Rod off of the life support, the respirator that he's on. What do you think?"

And, of course, I said, "Well, it's your decision, of course, but let me tell you again what Rod believes." And once again I explained to her about what this day means. I talked to her about life and death and what Rod's hope for the resurrection was and his view of this life as we understand it.

So she made the decision to have him taken off the respirator. And much to the amazement of the doctors, he breathed on his own. And he continued to breathe on his own for the next several weeks, but he was still in this coma, so they began to withdraw the coma-inducing drug, and there he lay in the bed; he was breathing on his own; they were feeding him, obviously intravenously. He used to be a man around two hundred pounds, but now he was a little over a hundred pounds. But they were still feeding intravenously; he was still alive. We didn't know what his emotional, mental or physical state was, however, that was still undetermined.

They finally brought in some specialists, and they began to give Rod tests. And these specialists knew about stroke victims and had worked many times with stroke victims. And through the process of these tests, they discovered that Rod was totally paralyzed, except for his ability to blink and to cry, to shed tears. They determined that he was mostly blind, but as they understood how to communicate with him and they worked with him, a therapist worked with him and got him to communicate by blinking once to yes, and twice to no.

And they could actually carry on a conversation with Rod by asking him questions that had yes or no answers. And they determined that he was in what is called in the medical field a "locked- in condition." Now let me explain that to you. A locked in condition means that you cannot control your voice; you cannot control your body; you cannot control anything, but your mind is as healthy and vibrant, as alert as ever. So they found that Rod's mind was not affected by the stroke, but all of his motor skills had been.

They began further tests, and they found out that Rod could feel pain, but he couldn't let anybody know if he was in pain; he couldn't articulate it. One day while he was in a nursing facility; he moved from the hospital to a nursing facility, his arm fell off of the bed and on to a radiator. And it was only the burning of his flesh that the nurses at the nurses' station were alerted to go to his hospital bed and pull his arm off the radiator. He could still feel the pain. He just couldn't articulate it. He couldn't scream out; he couldn't say anything; he was locked in.

I actually went with a therapist a few times to understand how to communicate with Rod, and it's really a skill to try to communicate with someone and solicit either a yes or a no answer to questions. And I remember during one of these discussions, I asked Rod, I said, "Rod, do you wish you would have died?" Because I thought about that as I sat there many times at the foot of Rod's bed either reading a scripture or reading a card from someone; would I want to be in this condition?

Perhaps it's easy for us to answer that question, healthy the way we are today. When I asked Rod that question, I looked very carefully for the answer which would come by the blinking of his eye. And he gave me one hard blink - an emphatic yes. He's glad he was alive. Even in his state, he was happy he was alive.

Now I wanted to know - why. I couldn't just say, "Why, why is it you want to stay alive?" So I began to go through, "Well, let's see, is it because you wanted to see your son grow up?"

He blinked yes.

"Is that the main reason?"

Two blinks, no.

I said, "Is it because, you know, you wanted to be able to continue your relationship with your wife?" Because he loved his wife.

He said - yes.

I said, "Is that the main reason?"

No.

And I went through a whole litany of questions trying to figure it out, and finally I said, "Is it because you want to continue to build character to be born into the family of God and to be in the first resurrection?"

And again, it was one hard blink yes.

And I said, "Is that the main reason?"

And he blinked yes.

I thought, how remarkable! This man was totally incapacitated in a locked-in state, what he continued to live for, what he continued to understand, even though he couldn't articulate; he couldn't speak; he couldn't move was that he would continue to grow spiritually in that state so that he could be involved in the first resurrection. That so impressed me; in fact it was the nurses who told me that they had seen that he had grown in character. They told me that many times. And he was a wonderful patient to work with.

Rod continued to live in that state even though he contracted pneumonia about twice a year; had to take antibiotics, through difficult therapy, he survived in that state for nearly eight years. He was able to hear his son come to his bedside and hear his son talk until his son became nearly seventeen years of age before he died.

He died in the faith. One of the more difficult discussions that I had with him, and I say discussions because he was able to discuss, however briefly with his blinking, the breakup of the church in 1995. And he was able to communicate to me that he wanted to be a part of the United Church of God because of his very strong beliefs in what this day pictures.

Today I want to share with you the vision that had kept God's people going for thousands of years, members of the body of Christ like Rod Rodriquez; it's the window to Trumpets and our role in it. We are here to celebrate the return of Christ to this earth and our change to spirit.

I'd like to begin in Leviticus 23. In Leviticus 23:24Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
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Leviticus 23:24Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
See All... - The command that God gave Moses - "Speak to the children of Israel, (saying;) say ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month,. . .that's today. . . you shall have a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of the blowing of trumpets,. . .and I don't know how many of you have seen or can see from where you're sitting, but there's some trumpets up on the corners of the stage. There was a trumpet used in the ensemble accompanying us in the hymns today. We have sung about trumpets and the wonderful return of Christ that will be brought in by the blowing of trumpets. ". . .It shall be a memorial of the blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation." There are a number of historical events that occurred in the history of Israel that were signified by the blowing of trumpets. It's not my purpose today to go through all of those, but the Jews will be meeting today on Rosh Hashanah, and they'll be rehearsing some of that history. It's to be a "...holy convocation..."

Verse 25 - "You shall do no customary work on it; (and) you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord." As I said, trumpets indicated the sound of alarm, the signal to awaken, the call to gather together. The ancient Israelites and even the Jews today did not, and do not, understand the full meaning and the symbolism of the fulfillment of this day.

While I was serving in my first pastorate in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, I got a call one day from a man that was referred to me by the church headquarters in Canada, in Vancouver. He'd just read our booklet about the holy days and its meanings, and he called me up and he said, "I would like to interview you on a television program that I host; it's aired every Sunday morning. It's called,

"The fool wants to know." And he said, "I'm the fool, and I want to know, so I interview local religious ministers, pastors and rabbis, and I want to ask you some questions about the holy days."

And I was delighted that he was interested, and I said, "Well, sure I'll come on the program." And I went on the program, and when I got to the television studio because the studio that he recorded in was the local TV station. When I got there, there was also a Jewish rabbi there, and I found out that he was going to interview us on the same program. He was going to ask the Jewish rabbi about the holy days because he said, "You keep the same holy days as the Jews."

And I said, "Well, yes, basically."

In the course of the interview on television, he asked the Jewish rabbi, "What do these holy days mean?"

And the rabbi said, "We don't know."

Oh, I could hardly contain myself. And the interviewer knew because he'd read our booklet, and I've over there, you know, ". . .ask me that question, will ya?" And he did. And I had the opportunity to rehearse in the "readers digest" form what we know our holy days, God's holy days, mean to us.

And it was interesting, the host said, "Wow, that's terrific."

I think he was very sympathetic towards us even though he was an ex-communicated Mormon who never really became a part of the church but just an interesting fellow. "Wow, that's amazing." And he turned to the rabbi and he said, "Well, what do you think about that?"

And he said, "Well, it's kind of interesting."

What was so fascinating was that the rabbi didn't know, and he admitted, "We don't understand. Many of these days are historical to us, and we really don't understand that they have greater meaning."

But you and I do. We know what these days picture. Trumpets begins a series of four holy days yet to be fulfilled that were often called in ancient Israel the "pilgrimage fall feast days." And all the males in ancient Israel went first to Shiloh and then to Jerusalem; they went up for these last four holy days to Jerusalem to make offering and to worship and to honor God. So we're here today to begin thinking about the return of Christ as King of kings and His millennial reign on this Earth and our part in it.

Let's examine this vision, this vision that motivated people like my friend, Rod, this window through which we must view our future and the Feast of Trumpets, and I'd like to begin looking through this window, since we know that God wants us to be here, to convocate and to think about this, to put out the thoughts of the world today; there's lots going on out there that can be distracting and to focus on this. Let's go to Hebrews 12:2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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Hebrews 12:2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
See All... - Let's focus on this day. In Verse 1 he talks about the great cloud of witnesses that we see in Hebrews 11, and I'm going to get there in a few minutes because, if you like to title sermons, you might want to title this one - Trumpets and Faith. I'm going to talk a great deal today about faith, the kind of faith that was demonstrated by my friend, Rod. ...looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith,. . . See, He's the one who authored faith, and He's the one who's going to complete the process of our faith. . . . who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Verse 3 - (For) consider Him who has endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. A lot of us have reason to be discouraged from time to time, the trials we face, the difficulties we go through. As you face your next trial, whether it's a physical ailment, or whether it's a financial trial, or a problem with your boss, or a family problem, whatever the problem is, I hope you will think about Rod, and realize that our problems aren't really all that bad.

We're asked here to consider Christ, who went through so much. I'd like to get you to hold your finger here because we're going to be back to this area of scripture, well, don't hold your finger there. You might lose blood in it. Let's go to Psalm 16. We believe these were the thoughts of Christ as He was enduring what we just read about in Hebrews 12. He was enduring that conflict, that punishment, that shame. In Psalm 16:8I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
See All..., the psalmist writes, and we believe these are inspired words, and I believe they were probably a Psalm that was going through Christ's brain as he was being crucified.

Psalm 16:8I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
See All... - I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand and I shall not be moved.

Verse 9 - Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope,

Verse 10 - For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,. . . or the grave. . . nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

Verse 11 - You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; and at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. These two expressions found here in the last verse of Psalm 16 have always stirred my imagination. What does it mean - fullness of joy? This is what motivated Christ to endure what He endured. I believe it was part of what helped for the better part of eight years Rod endure what he endured.

I think of the joyful times that I had, the experiences that I have gone through, and marriage, most of us remember our wedding day and the joy that we experienced on that day. The birth of a child. It's a very joyful day in my life to be present at the birth of both of my sons; in fact with son number two, we were in our living room, actually, and the midwife insisted that I actually catch my son as he was born. A very joyful experience. I still remember the emotion; I remember the day; I remember where I was, of course; I remember what I was doing. It's a very joyful time. We remember things like that. Baptism, maybe your baptism; you still remember that day because of the joyful emotion associated with it, where you were, who baptized you, who else was there; it was a very joyful time.

When the psalmist describes - fullness of joy, I think of taking those joyful times in our past and magnifying them many thousands of times, and that's what Christ understood it was like to be changed and in the presence of God.

He also talks about - pleasures forever more. Once again, I think of pleasures that I enjoy, creative work, seeing the fruit of your hand and the fruit of your labor; food and drink. You know God talks about the wedding supper as something very special. God made us as human beings to enjoy food and drink, didn't He? Those are pleasurable experiences, emotional expression like music; it can bring emotion and joy to us, or love. Imagine those pleasures forevermore magnified many thousands of times. That's what motivated Christ. ...in Your presence is fullness of joy... At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The Feast of Trumpets asks for us to focus on the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection. Let's go to John 5 and look at that promise that Christ, Himself, made. John 5:20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
See All..., and I'm glad that Mr. Seelig used some of the scriptures that he used. I won't need to go there. John 5:20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
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John 5:20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
See All... - Christ says, "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel." He was talking about the miracle that He just performed that He's being questioned about.

Verse 21 - "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

Verse 22 - "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.

Verse 23 - "that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Verse 24 - "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

Verse 25 - "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God;. . .pictured by the blast of the trumpet on this Day of Trumpets. . . . and those who hear will live.

Verse 26 - "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

Verse 27 - "and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.

Verse 28 - "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice

Verse 29 - "and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." Look across the page, at least in my Bible, to John 6:40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
See All..., something else Christ said - John 6:40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
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John 6:40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
See All... - "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." ...on the Day of Trumpets. . ."I will raise him up at the last day." Look in Verse 44.

Verse 44 - "No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draw(s) him; and I will raise him up at the last day." In John 6:54Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
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Verse 54 - "Whoever (eats) partakes of My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Brethren, I don't know if you've thought about this, but the Feast of Trumpets requires something of us - Faith. Faith in the promises pictured by this holy day, the kind of faith that I believe was expressed by my friend, Rod, in wanting to live in a locked-in state.

Let's go back to Hebrews 11 now. Hebrews 11, this is called the - faith chapter. I'd like to read some highlights from this chapter as we focus in now on faith and how faith is required, we shall read here, especially for this day of trumpets that we look forward to this day and the wonderful blessings it will bring primarily eternal life and a release from this carnal life and the elements around us. Let's notice in Hebrews 11:1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
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Hebrews 11:1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
See All... - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It defines faith here - faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's a realization that it exists even though we can't see it. And that's what we're doing here today; we're making an effort to see it so we can have faith in it. Let me share with you a practical example of what this is about.

I don't know how many of you have been on the sea, or have sailed. I enjoy sailing; I taught sailing for several years up at the summer educational program in Minnesota, and I owned a couple of sailboats; one when I lived on the east coast, and one when I lived on the west coast. I enjoy sailing; it's very relaxing. When you're out on the water in the wind and nature and there's no noise except the sound of the wind pushing and driving you through the water. It's just a beautiful feeling.

And oftentimes when you come to the end of your sail, and you want to anchor, especially when I lived in Boston, and again in Southern California, when you drop the anchor off the boat, you usually can't see the bottom because the oceans there are kind of muddled. When you're in the Caribbean, you can see almost a hundred feet; you can see near the bottom. But when I drop the anchor off of the boat to anchor it, I have confidence because I can tell I'm only a few feet from shore; I have confidence when I drop that anchor in the water on the end of the chain that it's going to hit something; it's going to hold; it's going to hold my boat from being caught in the current.

So every time I drop the anchor over the side, it's the ...substance of things hoped for but not seen. I'm sure that when I drop that anchor out, that it's going to grab something. It may be sand; it may be a rock, but it's going to grab something, and it's going to hold that boat from being pulled into the current.

That's very similar to what is being described here. In fact, there are a number of nautical terms that are used in the book of Hebrews. This is one of them. The other is over in Hebrews 2:1Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
See All.... I'm not going to go there, but it talks about not being, you know, carried about by every wind of doctrine. . . and tossed and turned. Back to Hebrews 11:2For by it the elders obtained a good report.
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Hebrews 11: 2 - For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

Verse 3 - By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Faith does require us to have confidence in something we can't reach and touch and see, but this day requires us to have faith. Then the writer talks of Abel and Enoch. It says in Verse 5 that...Enoch pleased God. How did he please God? Because he had confidence in something bigger than himself. Look in Hebrews 11:6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
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Hebrews 11:6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
See All... - But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Today we are called upon to think about that kind of faith, that we believe that He is...that is God...and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him...that Christ will resurrect us at His return.

So how real is the Feast of Trumpets to us? Do we think about its fulfillment more than once a year? Do we meditate on the return of Jesus Christ more than once a year? Do we understand that is the only way to solve this world's problems. Senator McCain and Senator Obama do not have the answers or the solutions to our problems. Only the return of Jesus Christ carries with it those solutions.

Do we have confidence that all those who have died in the faith will be resurrected to eternal life? People like my friend Rod, a member of the church up in New England for many, many years. Do we imagine our change to spirit? As I said, that's what motivated Christ as we read in Psalm 16 and Hebrews 12. Notice Verse 7 now.

Hebrews 11:7By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
See All... - By faith Noah, (being divinely) having been warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with (godly) fear, He prepared an ark (for) to the savings of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Righteousness that comes from faith. Then he talks of Abraham.

Verse 9 - He says, By faith he (dwelt) lived in the land of promise as a stranger (in a foreign country), dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs (with him) of the same promise with him.

Verse 10 - for he (waited) looked for (the) a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Is that what we look to, and look for and think about? Particularly on this day of trumpets? I'd like to focus on Verse 13 now, and see if we can't pull from this chapter on faith some real pragmatic, usable points today.

Verse 13 - These all died...these patriarchs... by way of (in) faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and they were persuaded (were assured) of them, and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

I'd like to point out four characteristics of faith from this verse. The four characteristics of faith: one is to see, to envision. Thayer described the Greek word used here, translated - seen, but they could - having seen them afar off is - to perceive or to notice, or discern, to turn the eyes, the mind, the attention to anything. I'm not talking about casually looking. Often times we do this when we're driving along. Have you ever driven with your mate in the car, and you're driving along, and it's silent in the front seat. And all of a sudden, your mate goes, "Did you see that?"

And you go, "No, what? What?"

And they say, "Well, there was a deer on the side of the road there."

"I didn't see it."

Or sometimes your mate will point out, "Well there was a billboard, and the billboard said this."

You go, "I didn't see it."

"But, it was in full view."

That's not what it's talking about here. It's talking about something that takes your full attention, and you notice, you're drawn into it. Let me give you an example. One time I was speaking, actually this was in Delaware. I remember again very distinctly this particular Sabbath. It was very hot. We were in a small school gymnasium, and it was so hot that we opened up double doors in the back of the hall from which I was speaking from. And the doors on the other side, and we had fans going, and people were kind of tired, and it was a challenge for me to keep them engaged. And as I was speaking, I noticed that all of the members' attention was drawn to the door. Not a one of them, not even the sleeping babies was looking at me. They were all looking at the door. And I had to stop the sermon. I just couldn't help it. I stopped the sermon, and I walked over to the door and peered around the corner. And outside was a German shepherd chasing a woodchuck....without success, but the woodchuck couldn't find its hole. So around and around and around they went. There was this race, you know, like the coyote and the bird of the desert. Here they were, everybody was totally distracted; they were focusing on this dramatic event that was going on outside. Was he going to get him or not?

Well, maybe that tells you how engaging my sermon was. But I've never forgotten that, that everyone's attention was drawn to that. God, today, wants to draw our attention to the resurrection and to the change that's coming for us and the faith that we need to have.

One of the characteristics of this kind of faith is for us to see, to focus on this day. That's why at the beginning of this sermon I said, "Let's leave outside the door all of our concerns of this life and this day today."

Point number two, secondarily, is persuaded or assured. We must not only envision or see, but we must be persuaded and assured. Again, Thayer explains this as to trust, to have confidence, to be confident, that is to know, not wishful thinking. We're not sitting here kind of wistfully, wishfully thinking that one day I hope to be in the resurrection. No, it's to envision it, and then to be fully persuaded, to realize, "Yes, I'm going to be there."

The kind of faith that I saw expressed in my friend, Rod, who had the confidence to know that "Yeah, I want to stay alive because even though I'm locked-in, I still have the opportunity to learn and to build character because I've still got a mind and that's what's important to God. I'm going to get a new body someday." He was fully persuaded.

Point three - is they embraced that vision. They embraced that. Not only did they envision it and see it, they were persuaded, but they embraced it. Again, Thayer explains it this way - to draw to oneself, to embrace. We often times talk of people wrapping their minds around something, or we wrap our arms around those that we love. We embrace it. That's the challenge of faith. Do we really embrace this teaching, this doctrine to the point that it motivates us? Thayer goes on to explain - it's spoken of things to welcome, to embrace, to receive gladly. That's why we rejoice today because we understand the fulfillment of this day as a very joyous occasion.

So, point one is seen, or to see. Point two is to be persuaded and assured. Point three is embrace, as you would a loved one. And four is confessed. They confessed their beliefs. Thayer defines this as to say the same thing, to agree, to assent, to declare openly.

What did you say or do to get this day off from work? My wife's boss yesterday asked her, "Well, I thought you were Christian." You know, "Why do you need a Jewish day off?"

And she explained to him why she needed the day off. When she had the opportunity she kind of explained what all seven holy day meant in the discussion. You see when we see these things, we are persuaded by them, we embrace them; we're not embarrassed to confess them. In fact to confess what? When you read on in this Verse, Verse 13, it's interesting; it says that they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims.

Let me ask you a question. Do we think of ourselves primarily as citizens of the kingdom of God, or do we think of ourselves as primarily Americans, or Ohioans? The answer to that question may actually define the level and the depth of our faith. This word - pilgrim - is rather interesting, too in the Greek, according to Thayer, again. It's defined as the one who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there beside the natives. Sojourning in a strange place, a foreigner, a stranger, a stranger sojourner. Not simply one who is passing through, but a foreigner who has settled down, however briefly next to or among the native people. Like an ambassador. In other words, we're not involved in the affairs and the politics of this world, in the culture we live in, and this is what's challenging - is how do we see ourselves within this culture? Are we primarily citizens of the kingdom of God looking forward to that resurrection, or is that secondary? So easy this time of the year to be drawn into the politics around us, and to say, "Yeah, I'm for them. You know, I'm religious so I'm conservative Republican. Or I'm this or I'm that." To express our faith in what this day means means to acknowledge that we are strangers and pilgrims and not afraid to confess that in the world in which we live.

Let's notice Verse 14.

Verse 14 - For (those) they who say such things declare plainly that they seek a (homeland) fatherland.

Verse 15 - And truly if they had been mindful of (called to mind) that country from which they (had come out,) came, they (would) might have had opportunity to have returned.

Verse 16 - But now they stretch forth to a better fatherland, (they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country) that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. We don't have time to talk about Abraham and Jacob and Moses and their examples of faith, or Rahab. Let's pick the story up in Hebrews 11:32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
See All....

Hebrews 11:32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
See All... - And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephtah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:

Verse 33 - who through faith subdued kingdoms, (worked) wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

Verse 34 - quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in (battle) fight, turned to flight the armies of the (aliens) strangers. Even lived for eight years in a locked-in state.

Verse 35 - Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.

Verse 36 - (Still) And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yes, more (and) of bonds (chains) and imprisonments.

Verse 37 - They were stoned, they were (sawn) sawed in two, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented -

Verse 38 - (of whom) the world was not worthy of these.. . .

Verse 39 - And (all these) these all, having obtained a good (testimony) report through faith,. . . . You see, Trumpets is inexorably tied to faith, this concept of faith, where we have to look ahead and see and envision. We have to be persuaded. We have to embrace, and we have to confess.

In Revelation 20:6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
See All.... I'm not going to go there, but it says, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Why is that? Because of the faith of those who will be in that resurrection, the faith that's required. It says, The second death has no authority over these for they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him a thousand years.

This is what motivated my friend, Rod as he wanted to continue to build character even in his locked-in state awaiting the first resurrection. I'd like to conclude by going to I Peter 1:3. In this first epistle, Peter says, I Peter 1:3.

I Peter 1:3 - Blessed be (the ) God (and) the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His (abundant) great mercy has (begotten) regenerated us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Verse 4 - to an inheritance incorruptible (and) undefiled and unfading (that does not fade away), (reserved) preserved in heaven for you. That's what this day pictures is the fulfillment of that hope, that promise, if you will, the end of the faith that we express in the symbolism of this day.

Verse 5 - (Who are kept) by the power of God having been kept through faith (for) to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. You see, that vision is kept by faith. It's kept before our eyes by seeing it, by being persuaded, by embracing it, and by being willing to confess it.

Verse 6 - In (this) which you greatly rejoice, (though now for) yet a little while, if need be, grieving in manifold. . . temptations and trials. (you have been grieved by various trials.)

Verse 7 - (that the genuineness) so the trial of your faith, being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, (though it is tested by) but being proven through fire, (may) might be found to praise, and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ...symbolized, of course, by the Feast of Trumpets.

Verse 8 - whom having not seen you love.. . . In whom not yet seeing but believing in Him, you exalt with unspeakable joy. The kind of joy we read about in Psalms 16. (. . . Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.)

Verse 9 - and having been glorified, obtaining the end of your faith, that is the salvation of your souls. (receiving the end of your faith - the salvation of your souls.) The conclusion of our faith, the end result, the outcome of our faith is the resurrection to a spirit body. Trumpets is the fulfillment of our faith.

Brethren, this day represents the unspeakable joy of our hope, our joy, our faith in the first resurrection and the return of Christ. I hope we can see it; I hope we're persuaded by it; I hope we can embrace it, and that we're willing to confess it, just as those who have come before us, we look forward to the change of our bodies and the return of Jesus Christ to this earth; it is the only answer.