The Feast of Trumpets

We're here all. We're all here on this day. You know, if you're going to get someone's attention, you're going to get someone's attention, one of the instruments you would first think of if you were going to get someone's attention is a trumpet, right? If you went to summer camp when you were, when you're a young, a young person, you know, maybe they woke you up in the morning with a trumpet, it certainly wakes you up, and it's kind of a shrill noise, very pleasant noise, in some other cases, but it gets your attention. If you were ever in the military, you know that that's one of the ways you get attention, and God gets our attention through trumpets, and certainly this day of trumpets, this feast of trumpets, He's looking to get the attention of the world around us and to get our attention as well. Let's go back to Numbers 10. Numbers 10. You know, in ancient Israel, trumpets maybe had more of a meaning to them in their everyday lives than they do to us, because we have, we have alarms, and we have television, and we have other things, but they didn't have any of that back in ancient Israel, and God in Numbers 10 gives some purposes that the trumpets would be sounded there, and He wanted people to take notice whenever they heard the sound of a trumpet, because we could have various meanings when they heard that noise. Remember how many people, how many people came out of Egypt? There was a lot of people that came out of Egypt, and God commissioned to hear them in verse 2 to make two silver trumpets. He says, Make two silver trumpets for yourself. Make them of hammered work. Use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. So when you're going to gather people together and you want them to come together and talk or meet, blow the trumpet. One if you want a certain group of people, both of them if you want another group of people, but one of the things when Israel would hear a trumpet blow, they would have to stop and think, is this something I'm being called together, or is there another purpose? And then He goes down and gives some more directions on just gathering people together by blowing of the trumpets. Down in verse 9, He gives us one that we might be more familiar with. He says, When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Eternal, your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Maybe we associate trumpets more with unsound of alarm, something that is a crisis that is occurring, something we need to be on the alert of. Kind of a warning. Wake up and see what's going on. Notice that God says, You sound the trumpet when you see that alarm of war. When you hear that trumpet, you think of me. I'll remember you when you sound that trumpet and you sound that alarm. Often, what God is telling Israel, He is reminding them, You think of me when you hear that sound of a trumpet. You, you think of me.

We go down to verse 10. Also, on the day of your gladness, it can be alarm, it can be gathering together, it can be a joyful time in the day of your gladness in your appointed peace. At all the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God, I AM the Eternal, your God.

When you hear the trumpet, and hopefully when Israel heard the trumpets, they thought about God. They realized He's the one who will protect us. He will be the one who provides for us. He's the one who has created this opportunity to be joyful before Him. He's the one who gathers us together, and they're something we need to be paying attention to. And so, it's no surprise that God would call this day the Feast of Trumpets. Back in Leviticus 23, we're probably going over some scriptures you went over this morning, but just to set the tone for what we'll talk about, let's go back to Leviticus 23. In verse 24, and see the command, the reason you and I are here on this day as we obey of God, Leviticus 23 and verse 24, says, Speak to the children of Israel, saying in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, and that's where we are today, the very first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial, a blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation, you will gather together before me. And ancient Israel was simply told about this holy day, the fifth holy day in God's plan, the fifth step in His plan of salvation for mankind. It'll be for you, a memorial, a blowing of trumpets.

So, in Israel, not knowing what we know about this day, they thought back, oh, we blow the trumpets when we're being gathered together. Oh, we blow the trumpet when there's a time of war. Oh, we blow a trumpet in the time of gladness or in the coordination of a king. Oh, we blow the trumpet on each feast day when we're doing offerings and these other things that we do. We blow the trumpet. We think of God. We realize and direct our thoughts to Him. And here, on this day of trumpets, in 2016, all our thoughts should be going to God because God will get the world's attention by trumpets. He would get Israel's attention by trumpets and He will get the world's attention to the trumpets that this day represents. Of course, we know, ultimately, on this day, the trumpet signifies a good end in the fact that Jesus Christ will return to earth. He will establish His kingdom. He will conquer the kingdoms of this world and then the next holy day will picture what needs to happen before the millennial rest and the millennial utopia, if we can use that term, is established. But on this day, we think of trumpets and, you know, ancient Israel may not have understood what is so important about a trumpet.

Jesus Christ certainly pointed us to trumpets back in Matthew 23. When He was asked by His disciples, and what we know today is the Olivet prophecy, they came to Him and said, What's going to be the sign of your coming? What's going to be the sign of the end of the age? What can we look for? And He starts off there in verse 3 saying, you know, they ask that question and then He says, Don't be deceived. Then He goes through a whole lot of things that are going to happen between then and the time that Jesus Christ returns. A whole lot of things that are going to happen between now and the time that Jesus Christ returns. But if we drop back to the sound of verse 29, at the end of all those things, He says this. He says, Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now, there's a purpose for a trumpet.

He'll send His angels with the trumpet, and they will gather His people together.

And unmistakably and undeniably, Jesus Christ points the time of His return, and this step in God's plan for mankind, when Jesus Christ will return in the events that are leading ahead to those trumpets, when they will sound a warning signal to the world. God is in charge. God is alive. God is well. God is ready to send Jesus Christ back to earth.

Paul said the same thing when he was talking about something that befalls all men. Death, back in 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4. And verse 13, he says, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning 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 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 will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. At that trumpet, unmistakably, undeniably, referring to this time that lies ahead that we celebrate today when we celebrate, observe the Feast of Trumpets just as God commanded, all in one place, all in one accord, in a holy convocation, as He has gathered us all together.

At the end of time, He will gather His people from the four ends of the earth. And at that trumpet, that last trumpet, the dead in Christ will rise first. There's a lot that goes on with the trumpets. There's a lot of things that happen during that time. There's a lot of things that are happening even before the time of the trumpet calls. And you're all familiar, and I'm sure you rehearsed this morning the trumpets, that sound of what they mean and how God exacts His vengeance on mankind.

And I don't intend to go through all those again. It's good for us all to read those things. If you didn't hear them, go home tonight and read through Revelation 8 and 9 again. Be familiar with what God says, because it's through those trumpet calls that He is getting the world's attention, and they announce, overall, the return of Jesus Christ. But before that trumpet, which we're here to celebrate today, there's a lot of things that go on. Things that we're living through right now, because from the time that Jesus Christ assured that there would be a future and an eternity for mankind when He died for our sins, when He paid the price for our faults and our sins, there's some things happening that will continue to happen, continue to escalate until the time of His return.

Let's go back to Revelation 4. The trumpets are there at the end time before Jesus Christ returns, but Revelation tells the story, if you will, of what is going to befall mankind between the time of Jesus Christ's life and the time of His return. In Revelation 2 and 3, we have the messages of the churches, and in that Jesus Christ details, here's the strengths, here's the weaknesses.

And we could say, oh, whatever we want to say about the churches, we should all be aware of what those messages are to every single one of those churches. He says, to Him who overcomes, I will give. I will give everlasting life, and I will give the crown. But in chapter 4, God takes John, the apostle John, into a vision to highlight, I think, the importance of what He is going to hear the rest of the time and what God tells him about the time of the end.

In chapter 4, verse 1, John, writing down the revelation that was given to him, he says, After these things I looked, and behold the door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.

Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold the throne said in heaven. And one sat on the throne, and he who sat there was like a jasper in the sardius stone in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance like an emerald.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the throne I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes, and they had crowns of gold on their heads. Twenty-four elders who throughout revelation you read about the twenty-four elders that are there. We find them praising God. We find them glorying God. We find them wanting this time that this day pictures to be fulfilled when the world and the earth can get on with what God had always intended for mankind. Those twenty-four elders at one time were created.

They were created beings. God had a purpose for them, and they fulfill that purpose in heaven. Whatever it is, we don't know exactly what their mission is now or what God created them for, but we know there is one. One day we will know. Verse 5, And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.

Before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal, and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. And then he begins describing those four living creatures that were created for a purpose.

That God knows what that purpose is, just like He created mankind for a purpose.

And those of us who are here today, those of us who lived their life and endured to the end, those who God will yet call, that will yield themselves to God, that will let His Holy Spirit lead and guide them, that who will let Him mold them into whom He wants, He knows what that purpose is. What He creates, He creates for a purpose, and He's called us for something that transcends this physical life. It's a blessing and an opportunity we never even knew existed, but we thank God that He's working with each one of us, and this plan of salvation is for us, it's for all of mankind. And here John finds himself in this throne room, and you can imagine the awe that he felt, the admiration for God. But he realized how special this was that he was there. And in verse 11, or verse 10, well, let's start with verse 9, the living creatures, the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before Him, who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they exist. By Your will they were created.

Giving glory to God. We go on to verse chapter 5 because John knows something is going on here. He realizes what is there, and he knows there's a story here. He knows there's something that's unfolding. He's heard the messages of the churches. He's there in God's throne room. He sees all the things going on, and there's a scroll in chapter 5 that he sees, and he wants to know what does that scroll say, because it must be magnificent. He just looks around him and sees this is a God. This is a beautiful thing. This is a perfect thing, but he worries when he sees the scroll, because it's something that should be open, but who can open it? Chapter 5, verse 1, I saw on the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who was worthy to open the scroll and to lose his seal. And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. It couldn't be complete. The story couldn't be complete. God's plan couldn't be complete. He couldn't read the rest of it, because someone had to lose those seals, and there was only one who could. Only one who was qualified. So, John, he says, I wept much, because there was just no one stepping forward. Who could open this? How could the plan continue? I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, Don't weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, so the Lamb, and so it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. He came. He took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures give glory to God.

You are worthy, verse 9, to take the scroll and open its seals. You were slain. You have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made us kings and priests to our God, and we, which really should be translated, they, they shall reign on the earth. Speaking of mankind, speaking of the purpose that God has created, you and me, the purpose that He has called you and me, the purpose that He will call all of mankind, eventually, and open their minds to the truth that He's given you and me today.

John is ecstatic. Yes, the plan goes on. Yes, Jesus Christ, to whom we owe everything. He came once to favor our sins. He's going to come again to save mankind from putting himself out of, out of, to prevent man from extinguishing himself from the face of the earth. We owe it all to Him.

He's able to loose the scrolls. And then in chapter 6, He starts describing the times that we live in because as the seals open, we see that this is the time we live in. From the time that Jesus Christ was there, these things have been happening. The first four, fifth and sixth, lay yet ahead of us. Chapter 6, verse 1, I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures, saying with a voice like thunder, come and see. And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering, and to conquer.

Jesus Christ and His Olivet Prophecy. I won't turn back to Matthew 24, but you can, you, we've talked about it before. You know what chapter 24, verses 4, 5, 6, and there, talks about and follows the very same line that Jesus Christ, or that John has given here in this section. He talks about, don't be deceived.

Many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ. False religion will be on the earth. And from the time Jesus Christ died for our sins, false religion became on the earth. It didn't take too long before they were perverting the gospel of Jesus Christ, and men were changing times, changing seasons, trying to put their own interpretation and spin on what He said. They weren't preaching the gospel the way that Jesus Christ said, not the pure gospel, not the true gospel, not the gospel and the truth that you have sitting in front of you in your lap there. They began perverting it, and many, many, many, many, many today. In churches that say, I know Jesus Christ, we believe that He came and died for our sins. They're not preaching what Jesus Christ said, no semblance of it, because Jesus Christ would never do the things that they said. He never did the things that He said. He came to set an example for us that we would follow.

And so we not only have Christian churches who call themselves Christians that are false religions, but we have all sorts of other false religions that are out there, and many of which come to conquer, and one to come that will look to conquer everyone and put to death anyone who won't follow their principles. It happened in the old ages. It's going to happen ahead, because this false religion will become worse and worse and worse and more and more intense in their intent to have everyone follow them rather than following the truth. You know, the gospel message is precious, and when we hear it and when we read it and we have the opportunity to talk about it, it's not something we should take for granted. The Bible talks about there will come a time when there's a dearth of the hearing of the Word on earth. And I don't think we can even imagine that, because today we can go on the Internet and we can listen to any sermon that we want, we can read any part of the Bible, we can read articles, we come to church in a land that has always been free, that we can assemble together without any peace. But as we look around us and we see the world becoming more and more and more like it used to be in the Middle Ages, more and more like it will be in the future. You know, they even have this thing and I don't even know what the purpose of it is, but you probably heard on the news about the Internet and how, I guess, we're planning on turning it over to United Nations or something like that. Don't know what that means, don't know why we would do it, it makes no sense to turn something so valuable as the Internet. But one of the things that the American Internet has been able to do is provide freedom of speech, even to the point where it is detriment in some cases to people. You just have to wonder what happens when it gets turned over to another group, another group that would oversee it. What will they do in the future? Will that freedom of speech still be there or will it be shut down when there's a message that they don't want to hear? We can see if we look around us, the buds on the trees that are out there that could lead to something that the Bible tells us is going to come about. But anyway, the first seal comes about and there's a false religion. It's been there from the time of Jesus Christ. It will continue until the time that he returns. The false religion at the end of the age is an awful religion. It is a domineering religion. It forces people to do what it wants and if they don't do it, it will kill them. We see some of that with another religion on earth today. It's my way.

I want to say the highway, but it's not really the highway, is it? It's more like it's my way or no way. I guess that will be what the beast power and the religion of the future is. But that's the first seal. It began right away. We live in the world today. It's just going to get worse and worse and worse, more intense until Jesus Christ returns. Verse 3, when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, come and see. Another horse, fiery red, went out and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth and that people should kill one another and there was given to him a great sword. A horse of war. Jesus Christ said, many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ and will deceive many. Jesus Christ said, you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. And this red horse has been riding across the landscape of humanity from the time of Jesus Christ and will continue to be some wars that we'll read about in Revelation that just boggle the mind when you see the carnage that takes place in them. You know, I said, I think I said on Sabbath here, when you look at human history, oftentimes we monitor human history in the terms of when did this war take place? When did this change of of of of governments take place? It won't be like that in the future, but that's the world we live in now. Verse 5, when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come and see. I looked, behold, a black horse. And he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hands. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, a quart of wheat for the scenarios, three quarts of barley for the scenarios, and do not harm the oil and the wine. Famine. Famine that will take the lives of many people. Famine that we can't even imagine today because you and I have lived in a land that has always had plenty of food.

Publix is always stocked, right? Even in times of hurricanes, you can get what you need most of the time. We're just used to having it there all the time. And we wonder, well, how could there ever be a famine 20 years ago, 25 years ago? Well, it had to be a drought in the way it used to happen. Today we know that our instruments, the weapons that would wipe out our ability to transport food and even have food within a matter of days. We live in that time of age. Famine, even in times of bumper crops, could happen in this nation and around the world without anything other than one strike to our grid and our computer systems. And it would all fall apart. We live in a world that that could happen if that's what God has in mind. Verse 7, when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. The pale horse, when you look at the Greek word there, it's kind of a sickly, brownish-green color. Not at all an attractive color. It looks like a sick horse, not something that you would find yourself attracted to at all. So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of Him who said on it was death. And Hades followed with Him. Pestilence. Jesus Christ said, You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. And there will be famines. There will be pestilences. There will be earthquakes in various places. And He says, All these are just the beginning of sorrow.

These are going to happen. They're happening now. It will intensify. But look what it says at the end of verse 8. And power was given to these four horses over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. Those are some staggering numbers when you think of it, isn't it? Seven billion people. Seven billion people on earth.

By religion. False religion. By war. By famine. By pestilence. By other things that can cause death.

1.75 billion people. A lot of people. And that's one of the seals, or the first four seals, before we get to the trumpets. God will get the world's attention. He should be getting our attention today. And then He opens the fifth seal. Something that hasn't happened in our lifetime yet. When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. Martyrs. Well, there have been people martyred who have died because of what they believe. That they wouldn't give up keeping the Sabbath day. That they wouldn't deny God. Hebrews 11 talks about some of those people and some of the things that befell them. These people, figuratively, they cried with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? How much longer until Jesus Christ returns? How much longer until You end the agony that is the world today with all the pain and all the suffering and all the hurt that is inflicted on everyone because of what man does to each other? How much longer? And then a white robe was given to each of them, and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. It's not done. Jesus Christ said, There will come a time of great tribulation such as the world has not seen before and never will see again. He said right after He talked about the wars and rumors of wars, after He talked about the famines, festivals, and earthquakes, He said they will deliver you up to the synagogues and they will kill you.

They won't like what you say. They won't like what you believe. It counters what they say.

And it's not complete with the people who have already died. It's something that's coming about. When we read about the beast, power, and revelation, it talks about it's drunk with the blood of the saints. It goes to war with the saints, the people who have the testimony of Christ, who keep the commandments of God, who preach the gospel of God, because it's the antithesis of what they preach. It's the antithesis of what the world will be saying at that time. The world wants to put God far, far, far out of their mind. They want to pretend He doesn't exist. And even as those trumpet plagues that you probably heard about this morning, the trumpets as they glow, you remember back in chapter 9 at the end of the first six of them, it says, men didn't repent.

They didn't want to hear what God had to say. They just wanted to put Him out of their minds and pretended that they were doing everything the way it should. You know, it behooves all of us.

It's difficult words and it's difficult to imagine a time, because we've all lived in a land that has been very blessed by freedom of speech, very blessed by the fact that we have freedom of assembly and that we have laws to protect our individual religious beliefs.

You know, even in work when I've had been challenged on Sabbath and Holy Days, I've never had anyone whoever was hostile to what we believed. They may not have believed it. They thought it was. They might have thought it was silly, Old Testament, whatever terms they wanted to use, but they were never hostile. They never cut me off. They never stopped talking to me. They might have thought you were misguided, but they were never hostile. It's hard to even imagine someone being mad because you believe the Bible, but there's a time that's coming. They will not only be angry, they're going to want you dead. They're going to want you dead, and one brother will deliver up another. It behooves us to not bury our heads, but to get closer to God, to ask Him for the strength to follow through in these times, to follow Him, to keep alive very clearly the vision that He has planted for us of what He has planned for all of mankind, to realize that through all the dark times there is a time of bright light, and all the trying times there is a time of great joy that's ahead. If we don't have that vision, if we don't believe in God, if we don't have that faith, if we don't really believe with all of our hearts and minds that God is going to bring that time, then we probably will cave in to the beast power. Now would be the time to ask God to strengthen us, increase our faith, help us to become who He wants us to become that we would never turn from the truth that He has called us to. Last, the fifth seal. Down in verse 12, we see the sixth seal that has yet to occur. I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake. The sun became as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. The stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree, drops its late figs when it shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as the scroll when it just rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. Heavenly Signs. Jesus Christ talked about heavenly signs that would occur before His return. These aren't things that people can explain.

Many people were talking about the blood moons that occurred on the last two sets of holy days that occur on the fifteenth of a month. They could predict those. To them, it was just another natural occurrence. They can tell you when the next time is going to occur that two eclipses occur on the fifteenth of the first and seventh month in the Hebrew calendar. These aren't predictable. These things that are going to happen don't have any kind of predictability, and no one will know why. It'll be like the world is falling apart.

You know, the world today is consistent, it says in Colossians. Consist together because Jesus Christ holds it together. In Him all things were created. In Him all things consist. But God will shake the earth, He will shake the heavens. He'll get the attention of mankind. And in this case, the kings of the earth, verse 15, the great men, rich men, commanders, mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and the rocks and the mountains and wanted to die.

They recognize the world that they have put so much stock into is no longer so stable, no longer so predictable. God's day of God's great wrath has come, it says.

And then the trumpets occur. The trumpets begin blowing. The trumpets that you heard about this morning. I mentioned, I'm going to skip through chapter 8 here. As we go through the end of chapter 9, I want to repeat again the attitude of mankind. The attitude of mankind where they just blatantly refuse to honor God. And as we look at the world around us, we see this attitude developing more and more and more. We want to believe there is no God. We want to believe that something else has all the answers to the universe. We want to believe that science is God. We want to believe that our weapons and our military and our nuclear stash, that we can trust in that implicitly. No one could ever touch us. We want to believe our stock market could never topple. We want to believe all sorts of things are God. And mankind moves further and further away from God. We live in the time where that is exactly what mankind is doing. When they change the very nature of the basic laws of humanity that from the time of creation has been there, and laws are enacted that say things that are just unnatural, and we hear things on TV that are just absolutely ridiculous when you hear it. Because people don't want God in their knowledge. But God will get their attention. God, I hope, is getting our attention more and more each day. Verse 20. I was going to read something. Revelation 9. I think it was going to read verse 20. For the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, all these six trumpets that are blowing here, that spell carnage, that spell hurt, that spell a tremendous war, where again another third of mankind is killed in this great war that occurs here in the six trumpets. The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues didn't repent of the works of their hands, that they shouldn't worship demons and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they didn't repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. They just refused to believe.

Stubborn, stubborn humanity, becoming more and more stubborn and set against God, but every passing year that we live. In chapter 10, after John sees all these things envisioned, he's handed a little book, a little book. And we talked about a similar little book that Ezekiel was given back a few weeks ago, a little book. And the angel who was talking to him says, take eat of this book. And it says down here in verse 10, when he took the little book, it was sweet. It was sweet. It tasted so good when I saw it was in it. It's like, this is perfect. It's the utopia. It's the kingdom. It's the the millennium that we were talking about this past Sabbath. Everything was good. Mankind should be so lucky to have this come about in their lives after everything that they have endured through the course of human history. But then when he digested it, when he saw what it said, when he felt what had to happen, he realized it's pretty bitter. It has some tough things to digest. But the sweetness far outweighs the bitterness of it. In verse 7 of chapter 10, it talks about this. We've got six trumpets that are passed here as we end chapter 9. And in verse 7 of chapter 10, it says, in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, the seventh trumpet, when he's about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets.

When that seventh angel is about to sound, the mystery is complete. The mystery that he gave to the prophets that's written there in the Old Testament prophets, that's certainly written here in the New Testament with Jesus Christ, certainly here in Revelation, as that's about to sound, it's about the days of the mystery would occur. Well, in chapter 11, we find something that's going on in the world because we read about the six trumpets and we read about the great war that's there as part of the six trumpets, but there's something else going on during all of these trumpet plagues because there may, well, there will come a time, or there will be a birth of the hearing of God's Word on earth. But you know, there's never a time when God's Word isn't being preached on earth until the day of the Lord. But then God is really preaching it by the plagues that He sends on mankind. As we come into chapter 11, we find that there's two men, two witnesses, that are on earth, and they are preaching the Word of God loudly and clearly.

They're not making any excuses. They're being perfectly clear about what's going on in the world. They are telling, they are calling the beast power exactly what it is. They are saying that it is a Satan, and the people need to not be part of it. And they are telling them you come out of her. You don't partake of her, so you don't partake of the judgments that are going to come on her. And as they speak louder and louder and louder, the beast power hates what they're saying. Absolutely detest it against everything that they stand for. And all they want is to quash it, just like they want to quash the people of God. They don't want them there. They don't want any part of that anymore. They want God gone. They want His truth gone, which is exactly what Satan wants, who is the author and the inspiration and the power behind that time and the government that will exist. Verse 3 of chapter 11, I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth. You know the math. Three and a half years they're going to be giving this message, preaching the gospel of God, telling it the way it is, being a trumpet, if you will, because they're going to be crying aloud. They're going to be sparing not. They're going to be telling the people their sins. And what does it say in Isaiah 58? Lift up your voice like a trumpet and tell my people their sins. They won't make any bones about what they are saying. They will be getting their power and their words from God.

These, it says in verse 4, are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

Your margin will reference Zechariah 4. So keep your finger there in Revelation. Let's go back to Zechariah. Zechariah, second to last book in the Old Testament. After Zechariah, he's after he's had some visions here and whatever, he's asleep as we come into chapter 4. It says in chapter 4, Zechariah verse 1, the angel who talked with me came back.

And he wakened to me as the man who was wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What do you see? So I said, I'm looking. And there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it. Just picture this in your mind. A lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Got that picture in your mind? It's all intertwined there. Two olive trees are by it. One at the right of the bowl and the other at its left. So he sees this image of this bowl with the pipes, with the oil in it, standing in the middle, and two olive trees on each side. So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my Lord? And then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Don't you know what these are? I said, No, No, my Lord. And then the answer said another question.

He tells Zechariah, It's never by our might. It's never by our power. It's always by God's Holy Spirit that we accomplish anything that we do in life. Never by our power. Never by our might, but always by God's Holy Spirit. And he answers these questions, but then he comes down to verse 11. After he says these things, Zechariah says, I answered and said to him, What are these two olive trees at the right of the lampstand and at its left? And I further answered and said, What are these two olive branches that trip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains? And he said to me, Don't you know what these are? And I said, No.

So he said, These are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth, the two witnesses at the end of time. And so we have this vision and this image of the golden bowl filled with oil, with receptacles coming out of it. We have the two by the lampstands. We have the pipes going. And we have the olive trees receiving the oil. The image is God, filled with His Holy Spirit. And the two witnesses, the two olive trees beside, filled with His Spirit, using His Spirit as they speak to the world, as they present themselves to the world, as they live in the world, as they fight off the fiery darts of the beast's power. It's not by their might. It's not by their power. It's not what they ever do. It's by God's Spirit that they stand there. It's by God's Spirit that they speak. It's by God's Spirit that they live through everything that the beast power throws at them, because, believe me, the beast power will throw everything at them because they want the message dead. And so, back in Revelation, when He talks about the two witnesses, He references us back to that. It's not by our power. It's not by our might. It's by God's Holy Spirit and these two witnesses, in the face of a world that is against them. Preach the gospel, and God gives them powers. Revelation 11, verse 16, has power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy. They have power over waters to turn them to blood, to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. Power that comes from God, power that comes from His Holy Spirit. When they finish their testimony, when their job is done, when they've been doing things for 1260 days, when their job is done, the beast, that autocratic, that tyrannical beast power that arises out of the sea over there, the ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. They've been trying to do it for three and a half years, throwing everything at them, and they couldn't succeed.

They couldn't be killed because God was protecting. God was going to say that His message was still going out during that time. But finally, they will be overcome, and they will die. And their dead bodies, verse 8, will lie in the streets of that great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. It tells us from where they'll be preaching, Jerusalem. That's where they'll be. They'll be lying in the streets, and the people will be joyous.

They'll think, good, we finally got the victory over God. We finally got the victory over that message. We've wiped it out. We've destroyed it. Those from the peoples, tribes, sons, and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days. They won't even allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. We want to see those dead bodies. We've been listening to this for three and a half years. We want to see those bodies lay there. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. They have a rude awakening coming. They think that they've got a victory. They think that they've won. They think that their message is now the only one on earth.

And then something miraculous happens. After three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Can you imagine? Seeing someone dead for three and a half days, and then one day they just stand up, and they're perfectly healthy. Oh, even men had fear at that time. Great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice, verse 12, from heaven, saying to them, Come up here. And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. Maybe much like Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and his disciples watched him ascend into heaven. The two resurrected witnesses. God says, Come up here. And they ascend before the eyes of people. And they ascend into heaven. Now, it tells us something about the witnesses, doesn't it? When they're resurrected. They're not resurrected to physical bodies, because there is no man that ascended into heaven. Jesus Christ said that no man has ascended into heaven. They're resurrected to immortal bodies. They have completed their work. They have endured to the end. They have let God mold them, shape them, develop them into who He wanted them to be. They've accomplished their mission on earth, and now they'll accomplish and serve God for eternity.

But they are resurrected, and they are taken to heaven with immortality. Let's read verse 13. In the same hour that this happened, there was a great earthquake. A tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake, seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. Here's some monumental things that are going on. People raised from the dead, earthquakes that are calling people. We don't have any explanation for these things. And it says in verse 14, the second woe is passed. All this happens during the second woe, and the second woe is passed. The fifth trumpet is the first woe. The sixth trumpet is the second woe. The third trumpet, or the seventh trumpet, is the third woe. So there's a lot going on during this time. A lot happening on earth. A lot that's a lot different than the world that we live in around us. And as we see God doing his will, as we see God enacting his will, as the trumpets are sounding, and they're getting louder and louder and louder and clearer and clearer and clearer. All the trumpets are sounding. And then in verse 15 to 7, 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 will reign forever and ever. Now he is the time for him to return. Now is the time, as well, we'll read what the 24 elders here say. They say, 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 reign. The nations were angry. Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged.

The time of the dead that they should be judged. The seventh trump sounds. Keep your finger in Revelation. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 15.

1 Corinthians 15 verse 51. Behold, behold, I told you a mystery. Remember, in the days of the seventh trump, the mystery will be made known. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep.

We shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound that the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

The dead in Christ. Those who have died with his Holy Spirit, those who have been called, those who have received that call, and those who have enacted that call, and those who have repented, those who have been baptized, received his Holy Spirit, and lived their life, yielding to that Spirit and letting God mold and develop them into who he wants them to be. And die in this physical life, with their life on this earth complete, letting God complete the work in them that he purposed. They'll be raised at the seventh trumpet, just like those two witnesses were raised to immortality.

Revelation 20 talks about that resurrection as well. Revelation 20 and verse 4 says, I saw for owns, I saw for owns, and they, they being you and me, if we endure to the end, and everyone else who lives God's way of life and lets his Holy Spirit direct, guide, teach, correct, instruct them, and I saw for owns, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them, and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded, for their witness to Jesus, and for the word of God, who hadn't worshiped the beast or his image, who had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

The first resurrection. But he says the rest of the dead. All those who didn't have the opportunity to know God's truth in this time and this life, the rest of the dead didn't live until the thousand years were finished. This, what he's talking about in verse 4, is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests to God, of God and of Christ, and will reign with him for a thousand years. What God is preparing you and me for? The first thing, then, there's things beyond that thousand years that he's preparing us for as well, because it's not just for a thousand years that he's going to allow us to live. He's giving us eternity. And there are things beyond that we don't know yet what his plan is, but he surely has a plan. The resurrection will be there.

Back in Revelation 14, a few chapters back, incidentally, in chapter 12 and chapter 13, you read about the 1260 days of three and a half years as well. You read about the church that God will take and nurture for three and a half years. You read about the beast power that's on earth for three and a half years, that traffics in the souls and lives of men and who is at war with the people of God. Chapter 14, verse 1, I looked, and behold the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, with Him 144,000, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, the very same throne that John found himself in back in chapter four that we read about. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women. They had pure religion, as the Bible defines, pure religion. They are virgins. They are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without faults before the throne of God.

Over the course of their lifetimes, they have let God perfect them, weed out the faults, weed out the weaknesses, weed out the sins, so that they became more and more like Jesus Christ, more and more like what God has called you and me to be. If we let Him, if we let Him do that.

And then in chapter 14, angels are flying across the avenue. They say Babylon has fallen, has fallen.

We talked about Babylon a couple weeks ago. And why it will fall, what it represents, what it means.

Babylon has fallen, has fallen. And another other angels go through and they say, it's time for the harvest! The earth is ripe, whoever the harvest! Let's go down and let's have the seventh trumpet blow. Verse chapter 15, I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.

So as the seventh trumpets, we see the seven bull plagues that are coming about. That is the wrath of God, the day of the Lord, the time that God exacts His vengeance on mankind for their rejection of Him, for their failure to yield to Him. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over His image, and over His mark, and over the number of His name standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.

They sing the song of Moses, the servants of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and trust are your ways, King of the Saints. Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested.

Ah, quite a vision, quite a thing that's going to happen. And then verse 5 actually takes us back to the end of chapter 9, I believe. Let's read verse 5 here.

After I've seen all these things, I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. If we go back to chapter 11, as the southern angel found the seventh trumpet, after the elders are praising God, are saying that the time of the dead has come that they should be judged, after the dead or when the dead are resurrected, that you should reward your service to prophets and the saints, verse 18, and those who fear your name, and that you should destroy those who destroy the earth.

Because Satan has always wanted to destroy the earth, he wants to destroy man.

Christ won't let him do it. He will return just as he said he would in Matthew 24, because if he didn't return in time with all the carnage that's going on, with all the warfare, with all the phantoms, with all the pestilence, mankind would exist or would wipe himself off of the face of the earth. But Christ will return to make sure his plan goes on. In verse 19, chapter 11 says, Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple, and there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, and earthquake, earthquake, and great hail, majestic, heavenly signs going on.

In the days of the seventh trumpet, at the time when the mystery becomes complete, when God makes his purpose known to mankind, when in the days that Jesus Christ will return to earth ultimately after the seven bull plagues that are poured out on the earth. And again, I want to take the time to read through chapter 16 and list every single bull plague that is there. But as you read through them, you see the harrowing effects they have on mankind as God pours out on them what they have enacted on others. Water turned to blood just as they wanted to spill the blood of the people around them and on and on. But let's go down to verse 12 of chapter 16.

The sixth angel poured out his bull on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophets. These evil signs, these things that are ruling the world at this time that come from Satan, as it's directing that beast's power. I see what they're doing.

They lead these people to a great battle where they are going to ultimately be destroyed. They are spirits of demons, performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Christ warns us, behold, I'm coming as a thief in the night, or I'm coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. Hold on to what you believe. Hold on to what you know. Ask God for that Holy Spirit. Ask him and be using it and making the choices in your life now that will develop the character, that will develop the resolve, that God will bless and empower you with to see you through to the end of some things that will happen that will deceive, Christ says, even the very elect. If we're not prepared, if it takes us all by surprise, if we just thought, it can't happen in our lifetime, can't happen in this country, and they gathered them, verse 16, together in the place called Hebrew, Armageddon. That's the sixth bowl. Verse 17, then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, it's done.

And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. That great city was divided. Every island fled away. Hail came from heaven.

And the judgment on Babylon is complete. The time, with the completion of these plagues, for Jesus Christ to return. In chapter 18, God warns us, come out of her, my people. Don't be part of Babylon. He describes the destruction of Babylon, the system at that time.

In chapter 19, we see other things that happened before the return of Jesus Christ. Chapter 19, verse 1, After these things, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God. For true and righteous are His judgments. Because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her. And they said, Alleluia, her smoke arises forever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who sat on the throne, saying, Amen. Alleluia, praise God, now is the time you are worthy to take the kingdoms of the world. Verse 7, Let us be glad and rejoice, and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.

She has made the correct choices, led by God's Holy Spirit through her lifetime. She has made the right choices to reject self, to reject the world, to choose God over family, to choose God over children, to choose God over job, to choose God over the world, to choose God over anything that we could put before God. God first. Not always easy to do. Always easy to come up with an excuse why this has to be done or that has to be done. Should always be God first. It's a very simple choice when you get down to it. God or this. What does God say to do? We do that first. And those who develop that attitude who learn and who allow God to teach, correct, rebuke, encourage, exhort, they'll be part of this marriage supper. Her wife has made herself ready. Couldn't have done it without God's Holy Spirit. Impossible to do it without God's Holy Spirit, but we all have choices to make. We all have choices to make. And the her was granted, verse 8, to the arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen and there was the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, these are the true sayings of God. This will happen. This is the way it will be. No maybes. No, if this happens, no, this is going to happen.

And you and I can be part of it, or we can be left out of it based on the choices that we make.

As we listen, as the world listens to the trumpets, God will get their attention and they will eventually fall to God. He will return Jesus Christ to earth. He will set up his kingdom. There is no doubt. There is no way. The question is, what will we do? Will we listen to the trumpets in our lives? Will we listen to God? Will we follow him or will we doubt? Will we mock?

Will we think it's not important? Will we discount it? Will we think we're good enough?

Because I'm telling you today, not one of us in this room is good enough. Not good enough yet.

And it's not by what we do, our might and powers, by we haven't let God yet develop us into who he wants us to be. He will keep working with us until the time we die, or until the time that Jesus Christ returns. The marriage supper comes, and then Jesus Christ returns to earth, and he conquers the armies that are gathered there before him, and he ends this age of man. And he ushers in the kingdom. It says here in verse 11, I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, he who sat on it was called faithful, and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. He was clothed, verse 13, with a robe dipped in blood, his name is called the word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, follow him on white horses, and he decimates the armies of the earth there gathered before him to fight him and to prevent him from taking the kingdoms of the world. Zechariah 14 says, on that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and the Mount will cleave in two, and he'll set up his kingdom, a glorious kingdom, a glorious millennium, a glorious life for mankind, as we talked about on Sabbath.

Something that every single man who understood the truth of God would want and would be part of.

And I would hope that we'll even be willing to sacrifice their life for, because it has such a grace and tremendous meaning.

There's more to the story. Jesus Christ returns, but there's another step to the story on the next holy day of God, the sixth step in His plan. We'll talk about that. We'll talk about that time next week. In the meantime, think about God's trumpets. Think about what His plan for mankind is, and pray for the return of Jesus Christ.