Can I Have Your Attention Please?

To the choir. Hey, there we go. Thank you to the choir and thank you to those prepared, the offeratory and the special music today. Beautiful songs. We're so blessed to have people with talent and people with the ability to share those talents with each of us who maybe don't have that particular talent. So it is nice to have the opportunity to have such beautiful special music on these holy days. Well, once again, good morning to all of you and welcome to the Feast of Trumpets. It's good to be here together. It's good to have the opportunity to keep these days before God, kind of beginning to usher in this fall Holy Day season. It's hard to believe that it'll just be 10 days from now that we'll be commemorating the day of atonement and then the Feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day. It's incredible that things come on so quickly sometimes. Well, there is rich meaning that is embedded in this particular Holy Day. And if Feast of Trumpets represents a linchpin in the plan of God, it represents an aspect of God's Holy Day plan when that fulcrum that allows the remainder of his plan to take place finally tips and the age of man comes to a close and the kingdom of God begins. This day is that fulcrum. Without the events that are pictured as a result of this day, the culminating events that we see pictured by the day of atonement, by the Feast of Tabernacles, by the eighth day, none of those things can take place without the events of this day taking place first.

For the plan of God to come to its full fruition, the events of the day of trumpets must first take place. Let's go ahead and set the stage today by turning over to Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23, we'll go ahead and jump in here with the command that we see to ancient Israel and a command that ultimately is down through the ages to us today. Leviticus 23, we'll pick it up in verse 23.

Leviticus 23 and verse 23. We'll see the description that's provided by God to Moses to present to the Israelites. Leviticus 23, we'll read verses 23 through 25. It says, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest.

A memorial of the blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. So here we are. Right here we are. We have gathered here today on this first day of the seventh month.

We are here to commemorate the Feast of Tabernacles. We recognize it's a high or Feast of Tabernacles, sorry, Feast of Trumpets. We recognize that it is a high day. We recognize that this is a high holy day. We don't do any customary work. We're to come before God. We don't come before Him empty-handed. We bring our offering, certainly not in this case with fire, but we bring our offering today. And we commemorate this day not necessarily physically with the blowing of trumpets as we see in ancient Israel, but with a recognition of what those trumpets symbolize and the spiritual focus that comes along with them.

As there are many things in Scripture that we see in which God produces a physical pattern for a spiritual pattern, and this is no different. In fact, if you want to turn over to Numbers 10, we can see an example here as to the reason for some of the understanding that goes into these days.

Numbers 10, we'll see clear instructions here that God provides Israel for the production of and use of trumpets. We see this particular system in place. Numbers 10, and verse 1. Numbers 10 and verse 1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, make you, in this case, how many? Numbers 10 and verse 1, make you two silver trumpets for yourself. You shall make them of hammered work. You shall use them, notice he gives the purpose, you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.

When they blow both of them, all the congregation should gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. But if they only blow one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel shall gather to you. And so the trumpets that we see God provide Israel in this case were used for two very specific purposes. And the first of those purposes were to call the assembly of Israel together. They were to call an assembly. Now, can you imagine for a moment, okay, the host that left Egypt was immense!

The host that left Egypt was huge, right? The book of Exodus records there were 600,000 men on foot. Okay, that term, you can see in Hebrew, that term there implies soldiers. It implies men, foot soldiers, military men of military age. Now, besides women and children, I've seen estimates of anywhere from 1.5 million people to 2, 2.5 to 3 million people out there in the desert. How do you gather a group that size? Go up to the first guy and go, hey, we're going to get together at the tabernacle at this time. Tell everybody, right? It's this giant game of telephone at that point, and then somebody shows up late, people forget, the message gets changed, it doesn't work.

You have to have some way to gather the attention of everyone at the same time. At the same time. He goes on in Numbers 10 and Verse 5. Numbers 10 and Verse 5 says, when you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey. But when you sound the advance the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side should begin their journey. They shall sound the call for them to begin their journeys.

And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance. Then it says, the sons of Aaron, the priests shall blow the trumpets, and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations. So we see that there were a second purpose to going through and blowing these trumpets. Okay, we see that as we see in Verse 9, right? We see in Verse 9, it says that they should sound the alarm with the trumpets in Verse 9 when they go to war. You go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you.

You shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Also, Verse 10, in the day of your gladness and your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpet over your burnt offerings, over the sacrifices of your burnt offer or peace offerings, and it shall be a memorial for you before your God. He says, I am the Lord your God. So we don't know the exact, you know, specifics of what this alarm blast sounded like. There have been some folks who have speculated.

We don't know for sure, but what we see in Verse 7 is that it's two separate blasts. These are two different things. If you wanted to gather the people, you would blow the trumpets but not sound the alarm. If you needed to move to gather the advance, then you would sound this next piece.

When you think about these purposes, when you think about assembling the people, when you think about sounding an alarm, both of those things are designed to get your attention.

Both of those things are designed to get your attention. They're designed to snap you out of whatever it is that you're doing in that moment and to focus you in a different place for a different purpose. In this case, it was the sound of a trumpet that would then do that. The study of human attention is fascinating. One of the theories in modern neuroscience that investigates how we focus and pay attention—you probably have heard that we have less focus than goldfish these days, which isn't entirely true—but the human attention span has been shrinking as time has gone on.

The ability for humans to pay attention to something longer than a certain period of time has been getting less and less and less with time. But there's this model called the spotlight model of attention, which basically means that our environments are so sensory rich. There's always something going on around us consistently. In order to prevent sensory overload—in other words, your body can't take all of that in at once for those who have sensory processing disorders—that's exactly what they experience. Everything at once, and it overwhelms them.

In this case, your body has a little spotlight that it puts on whatever it is that you're paying attention to in that moment. Now, it's not a literal spotlight, but it's part of your brain that focuses on that one component and that one piece. It doesn't mean that you're not aware of the other things that are happening around you. It just means that in that moment you're not paying attention to that thing. You're focused on this. For now, you're focused on this sermon for about another five minutes. And then once we get into it a little further, then you're going to be looking at what's going on around you. You're going to be hearing this and that and all those other things. But while you're sitting and listening, there are millions of sensory neurons that are firing in your brain in an attempt to try to get your attention. It's sounds, it's smells, it's visuals, it's other things, it's positional. For example, some of those things are going to make it through the filter. You might notice the person sitting two rows behind you clicking a pen.

And it's going to get through the sermon and you're going to go, who is clicking the pen?

Right? And turning around trying to figure out who that person might be.

It's made it through the filter. It's made it through the spotlight.

You probably, up to this point, were not aware of the position of your elbows.

But now that I've mentioned it, you can't think of anything else.

Like, I hadn't thought of it. Where are my elbows, actually? That's the way this spotlight model of attention works. That's the reason we don't notice a mosquito until it's buzzing in our ear.

Or why somebody can be distracted by tapping a pencil or clicking a pen. Right? It makes it wave through the spotlight. And once that spotlight shifts, once it moves over, it's almost impossible to focus on anything else. And it starts to just kind of eat at you a little bit when you notice it.

You know, scientists have been able to illustrate through study. People don't pay attention to boring things. I mean, duh, right? I mean, people don't pay attention to boring things. But they have found that people do pay attention to things that interest them.

Things that bring to mind a memory or somehow connect with them emotionally.

But you know what else works remarkably well? Loud noises! Loud noises work remarkably well to get someone's attention. Or the dings and the buzzes and the beeps and whatever from our phone notifications. A couple years back, we were in Estes Park, Colorado. This is probably three or four years ago at the feast. And at that point in time, the United States was going to be testing, U.S. government was testing some sort of a national warning alert system. And they told everybody for months leading up to this because they didn't want anyone to panic when everyone's phones went off at the same time. So they told everybody, this is what we're doing at this time on this day, this is what's going to take place, everybody's phones are going to go off, don't worry about it, it'll be just fine. Well, I remember hearing all about that and then I completely forgot.

My attention shifted to something else and I completely forgot. But I remember we finished up services at Estes Park, we're walking around, we're fellowshiping, and all of a sudden, everybody's whose phone volumes were up started going... It's a pretty good impression, isn't it? It's not bad. Thank you.

The other ones, those that had their notifications silent, started buzzing.

I watched that room, every single person in that room reached into their pocket, they took out their phone in that moment, and they looked at it. And the room went silent.

Everyone's attention was focused on that one thing in that one moment at that one time, and all else stopped. And then as soon as it was over with, everybody put their phones back in their pockets, they realized what was taking place, and they went on to go about the rest of their day.

The ancient Israelites didn't have the Verizon network, you know, which is probably good because the calls would have dropped. God had a different system in place. He had a system, of trumpets, He had a system of these blasts to be able to assemble the people, to sound the alarm, to advance the Israelite host. But these things were designed to get the attention of those individuals who were there. And, brethren, the Feast of Trumpets is an annual festival that is designed to do the exact same thing for us.

It is designed to get our attention. It is designed to pull us away from the constant distractions that we have in the world around us today, the noise of life, the noise of society, and it's intended to pull us back in from the world around us and to refocus on what is truly important. That is the goal of these days, to focus on that watershed moment that is going to change this world forever, which is the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. In the time that I have remaining this morning, I'd like to take a look at some specific meaning in these days with that context of getting our attention, getting the attention of the world.

We're going to take a look at three core aspects. We're going to look at the judgment of God on this earth. We're going to explore the return of Jesus Christ, and we're going to look at the resurrection of the saints. And so, if you're interested in the title, the title of the sermon this morning is, Could I Have Your Attention, Please?

Could I Have Your Attention, Please? So, one of the aspects of this Holy Day, one of the things that we look at and one of the things that's really implicit in its meaning is this concept of judgment, this concept of judgment, and the judgment of God being poured out on the world.

The Jewish name for this day, or the ancient name for this day is Yom Teruah, which means the day of shouting, day of loud noises. Trumpets were used to sound an alarm, as we've seen. It was used to gain people's attention, to be able to get them in the process of considering the things that were taking place. And in this place, what we can see in Scripture is a few different locations in which these trumpet blasts announce that very thing. We're not going to go there. I'm hoping to save some Scriptures for some of the speakers who will be coming along by me today.

But Revelation 8, Revelation 9, 11, and 16, through those trumpet blasts that we see take place in the book of Revelation, we see God get the world's attention. We see them stop focusing on the things that they're focused on, and we see them turn their attention to God. I'd like to turn over to Jeremiah 25. If you would turn over to Jeremiah 25, please. We're going to head to Jeremiah 25, and we're going to see a reference of this time of judgment on the nations.

Jeremiah 25, we'll see this reference of this time of judgment on the nations of this world. Jeremiah 25, we'll pick it up in verse 30. Jeremiah 25 and verse 30. Jeremiah 25 and verse 30 says, Therefore, prophesy against them all these words, and say to them, The Lord will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation. He will roar mightily against his fold. He will give a shout, and says, As those who tread the grapes, he'll give a shout as those who tread the grapes against all the inhabitants of the earth.

A noise will come to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has a controversy with the nations. The Lord has a controversy with the nations. He will plead his case with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword, says the Lord. Verse 32. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, disaster shall go forth from nation to nation. A great whirlwind shall be raised up from the farthest parts of the earth. And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth, even to the other end of the earth.

They shall not be lamented or gathered or buried. They shall become refuse on the ground. So we see this concept brought out. And interestingly, there's a number of places in Scripture, actually, where we see a reference to this idea of shouting as the wine press is tread. It's kind of an interesting concept because some of the archaeological evidence has actually found some of these large wine press-type stones in Israel.

They would have an upper vat and a lower vat, and they would crush the grapes in one location, and then the grape juice would flow down into the lower vats. But what's interesting is, culturally, we see even historically recordings of when that took place, when they tread that or trod rather, I guess would be the proper verb there, when they trod that wine press, they would shout, and they would sing joyfully as that took place. Now, in this case, the prophecy that Jeremiah was given to proclaim, the Lord would give a shout, and it's going to be a very difficult thing for the inhabitants of this earth as that shout takes place.

But that noise is intended to get their attention. It's intended to snap them out of what they're focused on and what they're looking at, just like those that tread the grapes shout as they tread the grapes. This time, however, it's against the inhabitants of the earth. We're going to turn over to Isaiah 63.

Isaiah 63, we'll see another example here. Isaiah 63 in verse 1.

Isaiah 63 and verse 1.

Isaiah 63 and verse 1 says, Who is this who comes from Eden with dyed garments from Vazra, this one who is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength, says, Why is your apparel red?

Why is your clothing red? it says, Why is your apparel red and your garments like one who treads in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me, for I have trodden them in my anger and trampled them in my fury. Their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my robes, for the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come. Again, this metaphor of treading the winepress is used to describe the fury and the wrath that God will pour out on the world on the day of his judgment, on the day of his vengeance. See this example used in Revelation 14. We see it used in Revelation 19. And again, for us today, as we come down through history, these metaphors can be lost on us. For the people who would have been hearing these things then, and making that connection between treading the winepress and shouting, this would have been something that they would have understood completely. That concept would have been present in their culture and in their understanding. And so this would have landed differently with them than it does with us today. But these seven trumpet blasts that we see outlined in Revelation are directly connected to the judgment that God treads out on this earth as he treads that winepress. Judgment for what? Let's go to Romans 1.

Romans 1. What is that judgment coming upon mankind for? Romans 1. Romans 1, we'll pick it up in verse 18. Here is it describes the wrath of God and the purpose and the reason for the wrath of God.

Romans 1 and verse 18 says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even his eternal power in Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. Changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. So the wrath of God we see described is something that's being revealed from heaven against ungodliness and unrighteousness. Romans 1 gets more specific. Romans 1 tells us it's because of those who see the hand of God in creation, who can look around at this creation around them and see the complexity, to see the presence of God in his creation, but then deny him in their hearts. Instead, crafting an idol to worship or worshiping that creation, at times even instead of the God who created it all. Verse 24 continues, it says, therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshipped and served the creature, rather than the creator, who was blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions, for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise, also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men, committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error, which was due. He goes on in verse 28, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting. Verse 29 goes on, it says, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, their whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. Then when you think his list is done, he takes a breath, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. The perfect judgment of God that is implicit in the day of trumpets is being poured out upon a world that embodies the final statement here in Romans 1. Romans 1 and verse 32 says, who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. These individuals encourage them. They take pleasure in doing them as well. There's no regret. There's no repentance.

And this is strong indictment on the world around us. Very strong indictment on the world around us.

But brethren, how is God getting our attention with these trumpet blasts in our own lives?

How is He getting our attention? Because it's not just the world.

It's us too. Let's go on to Romans 2. Romans 2. Keep in mind there were no chapter verse breaks in the original text. You know, there was this was just one big long letter. And in that sense, yeah, we've put a chapter break here, but it's very much associated with what just came before it.

Romans 2 follows upon this and continues. It says, therefore, again, based on all these things you just read here in Romans 1, therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are, who judge, for in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourselves for you who judge practice the same things. For we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourselves wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to His deeds. Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, says indignation and wrath, tribulation, anguish on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality or no respecter of persons with God.

Brethren, cutting through the noise of life, cutting through the noise of society, can we hear that trumpet blast? Can we hear that trumpet sounding? God silencing those distractions and asking for our attention. God going, over here, uh-uh, over here. Look at me. The judgment of God will be poured out on the world. It is absolutely going to come and that is implicit in the meaning of this day, but we cannot forget that judgment first begins with the house of God, begins with us first.

And we need to be using this holy day to be reflecting on and considering the judgment of God, not just on the world, but in our own lives as well, repenting where necessary, preparing our hearts and our minds for the upcoming day of atonement, right? Because we're 10 days out now from the day of atonement. Be thinking about what we need to be considering as we come into those days and then into the Feast of Tabernacles and then into the eighth day. So as these trumpet plagues described in Revelation that we'll see as more messages continue today, that devastation and that disaster comes to the earth in judgment. The final trumpet tips that fulcrum for good. It tips that fulcrum for good and the return of Christ takes place. Let's go over to Revelation 11 and verse 15. Revelation 11 and verse 15. We see the fulcrum tip. We see the shift now into what God has done as a part of this age coming to a close. The kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of God and of Christ. Revelation 11, we'll pick it up in verse 15. Revelation 11 and verse 15, we see another meaning that is inherent in this day. It says, then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. The 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, we give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and who is to come, because you've taken your great power and reigned. It says the nations were angry and your wrath has come. The time of the dead that they should be judged and that you should reward your servants, the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name, small and great, and who should destroy those who destroy the earth. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven and the Ark of his covenant was seen in the temple. There were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake and great hail.

You know, when that seventh angel sounds that trumpet, the fulcrum tips forever.

Nothing is ever going to be the same again. The age of man comes to a close, this present evil age that we see. Jesus Christ returns to possess the kingdoms of this world. We see a righteous and a just government that is established. And of that government and his peace, there will ultimately be no end. It just continues. Now, is it going to be immediate? No. No, it's going to take some, there's going to be some tantrums getting thrown by those who are currently in charge. And those are going to be difficult, very difficult times. About a decade ago, my wife and I had some squatters move into a vacant house across the street from where we live. The house had foreclosed back in 2008. It'd been pretty much empty for quite a while. And then all of a sudden we started noticing, well, there's activity. There's people in there. Somebody must have bought the place. We're thinking, hallelujah, this is great! We've got neighbors in there across the street. It's not just going to keep falling apart and rusting on its foundations. But the activity was strange. It was strange activity. We noticed that there was activity at all hours of the night. There was foot traffic coming in and out of the house. Cars would zip in for two or three minutes and then turn around and bail back out again. People would, and then after a long enough period of time, people started running around screaming at each other all hours of the night outside the house. It actually became quite a challenge to live across the street from.

But we started keeping tabs on the traffic that was coming in and out. We had our kitchen window had a direct shot at the driveway, and so we'd get license plate numbers of every car that came in and came out of the house. And so we started writing down license plate numbers, which we then turned over to the police, of course. And between us and the owner and the police, a plan got hatched that they were going to, as soon as these guys left, they were going to go in and change the locks, restore the ownership to the house, and whatever else. So the best part about this whole process was these squatters had absolutely no idea what was coming. They had no clue what was coming.

They thought everything was going just fine until one day they left and they came back and the locks were changed. That is what is going to happen to the nations of this world. They're going to come back one day and realize the locks have been changed, and they're not going to be happy about it. These guys weren't happy about it either. They trashed the place. Unfortunately, it broke windows. They got inside. I mean, it was bad. It was bad. And those tantrums, those things that we see are going to be very similar in that sense. They do not realize the kingdoms of this world, the individuals that are ruling these kingdoms now, they do not realize that the end of their reign is coming. It's been decided. It's done. It's just a matter of waiting for the time when that lock is going to get changed. And they're not going to just accept it when it comes.

They're going to fight. But when that seventh trumpet sounds and Christ returns and he evicts the current squatters and changes the locks, so to speak, for the first time in human history since Eden, mankind is going to have true hope. True hope. True opportunity. And that is a hope that is so desperately needed. When you look at the conditions of the world around us today, there are such incredible needs everywhere. You know, from the countries in West Africa that we just visited going through, I actually had my opportunity for my first West African road trip from Accra to Lagos by road. And I'll tell you, the level of need that is in between those two cities is just unreal. It's unreal. Whether it's war-torn parts of Southeast Asia, whether it's the streets of our own cities here in the United States, hope is in short supply. There are so many needs, and many of which are heartbreaking and legitimate, and the need is so substantial that you can sell all of your belongings and donate every dollar you had, and it would be a drop in the bucket.

You might help one person, and a hundred more would take their place. The need is beyond what mankind is capable of addressing. It's beyond what we are capable of addressing. It doesn't mean you don't try, but we have to recognize the only legitimate solution, the only true solution, that lasts, the only possible fix to the ills of this world, is the return of Jesus Christ, and the kingdom of God. This aspect of what God has put into his plan.

And we don't know the day or the time. We don't know for sure the day or the time, but I can assure you one thing. We are closer this year on the Feast of Trumpets than we were last year on the Feast of Trumpets. Brethren, have you seen an increase in your relationship with God over the past year? We're a year closer. We don't know when. We don't know for sure what day or what time. But have you seen an increase in growth in the relationship with your God over this past year?

Are we, myself included, approaching building that relationship with a greater sense of urgency, knowing that that time is getting shorter? We're running out of time.

We're running out of time. Every year is one year closer to when that takes place. Are we building that relationship in the way that we need to be? Matthew 24. Matthew 24, if you want to turn over there. Matthew 24, kind of in line of what Mr. Janisus was mentioning this morning with regards to this idea of the suddenness of Christ's return. Matthew 24 in verse 36. Matthew 24 verse 36 says, But of that day and hour, of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, Christ tells his disciples, but my father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field, one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken, and the other left, it says, Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Verse 43 says, But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour of the or what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Right? He kind of lets us know this would this is gonna be a sudden thing, something that comes in a way that people aren't expecting. Therefore, it says, You also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour you do not expect. Now verse 45, because again, verse chapter breaks, they weren't there. These were continuing ideas. Who then, it says, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food and do season.

Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.

Surely, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.

So blessed is that servant who is doing when the Lord comes. Right? Who's going through that process, who's acting, who's following through. And what we see, though, is the opposite example in this passage as well. We see the next section discusses the opposite example. Verse 48. But if that evil servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and to drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. On this day of trumpets, a festival in which God designed to get our attention, to get our attention, to snap us out of our focus on these other things, focus on the world around us.

God's asking each one of us, Can I have your attention, please?

Pay attention, please, God says. When he comes, when that trumpet sounds, and Jesus Christ returns to this earth and takes the keys to the kingdom, will he find us so doing? Each of us, you and I, will he find us so doing? Will he find us practicing true religion, visiting of the widows, the orphans, keeping ourselves unstained? Will he find us loving one another, serving one another, reconciling with one another, preaching this message, this gospel to the world?

Or are we going to be sitting on a talent that we've buried, hoping for mercy, or beating our fellow servants? What will God find when he returns?

Final core aspect of this day is the resurrection of his saints.

This is an incredible, incredible aspect of this day, and one that many of us look very much forward to as we consider the meaning of this day. Psalm 116, verse 15, states that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. We see that the death of God's saints is precious in his eyes. And you can understand that, I think, when we consider those who have lived this way of life before us, who have paved this way, who have been called by God and stepped out on faith, those who sacrificed so much to bring the gospel to the world, those who willingly gave up their life for so many, see men like Abraham and Moses and Abel, Stephen, Paul, John, we see all these people of Scripture, women, Sarah, Rahab, Deborah, Esther, Priscilla, Tabitha, those who have attained this resurrection of the dead in Christ when it comes. You know, Hebrews 11 is just a short list of those individuals. 1 Corinthians 15 talks of the detail of the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15, verse 23. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 23.

We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 20 for some context. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 20.

It says, But now Christ has risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order, each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits afterward those who are Christ's at his coming. Then verse 24, it goes on and says, Then comes the end. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. So we see there's an order here, right? Christ the first of those firstfruits. Then the firstfruits, those who are Christ's at his coming expounds on this idea even a little bit further down the page in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 51 and 52. So if you skim down there, 1 Corinthians 15, verses 51 and 52, says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. That's important. That's really important because it ties this to some other passages in Scripture that we can see. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we, it says, shall be changed.

So we see again an order here, those who are Christ's at his coming, those who remain, those individuals who are alive will be transformed. That trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised, and those who are Christ's will be changed. 1 Thessalonians 4 provides a little bit of additional context, 1 Thessalonians 4, and gives again a connection to this blast of the trumpet, this blast of the trumpet that we see recorded kind of the events in Revelation 11. 1 Thessalonians 4, we'll pick it up in verse 13.

1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13, says, But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep. We heard those lyrics during the special music today. We don't want you to be ignorant about those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, and that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself, verse 16, will descend from heaven with a shout. We've seen this concept of the shout wrapped into this idea of the winepress. We've seen it wrapped into the idea of these trumpet blasts. We've seen it wrapped into the meaning of this day, the day of shouting, yam-taroah, right, the day of loud noises, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall be always with the Lord. Therefore, verse 18, we seek comfort, one another, with these words. You know, we've all lost people that we love in the faith, people who have lived a good, long life serving God, and who have finished their race, who have obtained their crown, and they now kind of await the resurrection. Death is never easy.

It's one of those things in which the only thing that really can heal it is time.

Death's never easy, but there is a degree of comfort that we can take away in our understanding of the plan of God, knowing that those people that we so absolutely just love are sleeping at the moment, taking a rest, figuratively asleep, and that God has plans for them and for us.

And that hope and that resurrection is comforting. That hope and that resurrection takes the edge off of sorrow, but it doesn't take away sorrow. It doesn't take away that pain that we feel and that loss that we feel. But that hope and the resurrection is comforting to us because we know that regardless of how difficult this life gets, regardless of how challenging this life gets with its struggles and its ups and downs, even if it ends prematurely, that there's something far greater awaiting us on the other side of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And that enables us to be able to face life when it gets tough with the knowledge that God has promised us something far greater, eternal life in His kingdom. Hebrews 6, as we start to wrap up this morning here, Hebrews 6, Hebrews 6, we'll pick it up in verse 17. Hebrews 6 and verse 17 says, Instead fast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become the high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek, that God has promised us the gift of salvation, that He has promised us eternal life through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Christ died on our behalf. It's given us that opportunity. He's entered the veil. He's become our high priest. And that process enables us to come boldly before the throne of God. Be able to come before Him for grace and time of need, for mercy. It says these two things have been promised to us. And brethren, it is impossible for God to lie. It is impossible for God to lie. We take consolation in that. We take comfort and encouragement in that. And that hope and that encouragement and that understanding should anchor us when the times get difficult in life, when the waters get rough, when life starts cresting over that bow of our ship a little bit, and we get into some rough seas, and that ship starts taking on water. We can take comfort in the promises of God. Brethren, with the blast of a trumpet, with the shout of an archangel, Jesus Christ will return to this earth. The dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible, and those who are Christ's at His coming will be changed. And as we look at these promises, and as we consider these things, and we think about where we fit into this process here today, the Feast of Trumpets demands our attention. It demands our attention. The first resurrection is going to be made up of those who have lived God's way, who have internalized and lived the principles which Christ taught. Individuals who will be willing to lay down their lives for Him, and of course that's not a requirement, but that they were willing. Revelation 20, to close, Revelation 20. Revelation 20, we'll pick it up in verse 4. Revelation 20 in verse 4.

We see the promise that's been provided. We see what's coming. We see the goal, so to speak.

Revelation 20 in verse 4 says, And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.

I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received the mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And it says, And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.

It describes again this first resurrection here.

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.

Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him for a thousand years.

A piece of trumpets invites us to take stock, invites us to consider our lives as we reflect coming into the Day of Atonement, as we come into this next 10 days, so to speak, between now and the Day of Atonement. It invites us to reflect, to prepare, to fast, to prepare, to in prayer, to recognize and to internalize what was needed for us to be able to be reconciled to God, be able to come to him in this fashion.

Brethren, are we living in accordance with Christ's teachings?

Are we doing what we can to grow? Do we have the difficulties, the trials, the struggles of the world around us today? As those things rage, we can take hope in the promises and the symbolism of today.

There is rich meaning embedded in this day and in the fall holy days as we come out of here, but this day, this linchpin of God's plan is a time when that fulcrum fully tips and when the promises that we see outlined for us in Scripture take place. Without the events that are pictured by this day, the rest of God's plan for humanity cannot possibly take place. Jesus Christ's return is necessary for there to be a thousand years of peace. For Satan to be bound, Christ must return and remove the dominion. All of these things hinge on the meaning of this day.

God will judge the world. God will return. He will resurrect and change his saints. Trumpets are designed to get your attention. Trumpets are designed to get your attention, to draw you out of whatever it is that you're focused on, whatever it is that you're looking at or distracted by, and to snap your attention back into a place that God desires it to be.

And each and every year annually, God has us rehearse these days to rehearse this symbolism, to be able to jar us out of our everyday lives and the chaos of the distractions of this world around us. And God very noticeably asks for our attention. He asks us to put it in the place where it needs to be, pushing us out of that distractedness and that preoccupation of life and focusing on what is really important. And that is the coming of Jesus Christ. Hope you all have a wonderful remainder of your holy day. Looking forward to fellowship and looking forward to having the opportunity to connect.