The Meaning of the Feast of Trumpets

Bible Thessalonians 5.32 Well, brethren, today is the first of t Doll ovary, the first day of the seventh month. Today is also a new moon, and today is a Feast of Trumpets. All of those things occur today. Let's go back to Leviticus 23 and verse 23. There's very little written about the Feast of Trumpets in the Old Testament. When you read through the section, there's quite a bit written about the Passover, Days by the Eleven Bread, Pentecost, and some of the other festivals.

But when it comes to this one, there's very little said. The Lord spoke to Moses, verse 23, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying that in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a Sabbath rest. So this is a Sabbath day, a Sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation, or a sacred assembly, as it can be translated. And you shall do no customary work on it, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.

What I've mentioned before about the blowing of trumpets, Jim Lichtenstein mentioned that in his sermonette, only blew trumpets once on the Feast of Trumpets, and that cured me. I didn't personally blow them. I had somebody in the back with a shofar, who, when I would say, and the trumpet sounded, he would blow the shofar.

He also woke every baby in the place up, had all the mothers upset and families, and I decided, we won't do that anymore. For peace and tranquility, we will avoid that. But we find that this is the only holy day that really, that falls on a new moon. It pictures something maybe you haven't thought of. It pictures the end of one harvest season and the beginning of another harvest.

The first harvest is the harvest of the first fruits. It pictures those that have been called during the first six thousand years, a man being on the earth. That's the harvest that ceases at that time. The next harvest involves those who are going to be called in the millennium and the great white throne judgment. So you'll find that this day pictures a division, a time when God intervenes, and the first harvest comes to a close, and the second harvest is about to begin. This day pictures a time when God intervenes in the affairs of mankind to put down the rule of man and to establish His government on this earth.

And the one hope that mankind has for salvation to save his life is if Jesus Christ comes back. Let's go back to the book of Daniel. The book of Daniel is an amazing book. As you read through it, there's so much about the future, so much in this book about prophecies that are going to take place here in the future. But let's notice in verse 14, Daniel 7 and verse 14, we find talking about the one like the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven.

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. And all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one who shall not be destroyed. Jesus Christ is going to have to come back to this earth to put down all nations and governments on this earth, the rulers. He's going to set up his kingdom, and once that kingdom is established, it will never be destroyed.

No one will be able to overthrow it. Verse 18, And the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. So you and I as the saints will rule in the kingdom of God. In verse 27, we find the same thing. Then the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom unto the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High, and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

And all dominion shall serve and obey him. So this day pictures Christ coming back to the earth, putting down the warring nations, establishing his kingdom. And that kingdom will be established in power because there will be no force that can destroy it or resist it.

This is also the time of the resurrection, as we know. This is a time when Christ comes back and at his second coming, the resurrection of the first fruits take place. That's why it's an end of that first harvest, because once that resurrection takes place, those are the first fruits.

Those are the ones who will be in God's kingdom. This is what motivates us. You stop and think about it. The fact that God has promised, held out to us the fact that we can be a member of his family, that we can be the sons of the resurrection, that we can be in his kingdom, we can live forever, we will have eternal life. We have this hope for the future. A lot of people today look at the future and all they can see is doom and gloom.

They see economic problems, they see troubles, and they don't have a hope that goes beyond that. They don't see what you and I can see. In Hebrews 11, we find about the first fruits. This is the faith chapter, and beginning here in verse 13, we find something about all the first fruits. It says, These all died in faith. That's Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, so on. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.

Now, you and I die, and we don't receive the promises at that moment. We go to our grave. We await the time of the resurrection. But we see them in the mind. We read about them in the Scriptures, and it says they have seen them afar off, and they were assured of them. That's one thing that you and I have to be absolutely convinced of. That we are totally convinced and assured of the promises of God that God holds out to us.

Not only are we assured of them, but we embrace them. We hold on to them, and they confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly they seek a homeland. And truly, if they called to mind the country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But they desire better. That is a heavenly realm. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Not only did they look forward to the future, but they look forward to the time when the kingdom of God would be set up. The new heavens, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem would come down. You see, all of us as firstfruits walk by faith, not by science. We have to have faith in the future. If you want another definition of faith, faith is future seen. We see the future through faith. We have total confidence. Faith is trust in God. Faith is trust in the Word of God.

Go on over to verse 39 here at the end of Hebrews 11. We read this. It says, And these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. God, having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. So the question is, have you been made perfect yet? And if you answer no, well, the Scripture hasn't been fulfilled yet. That they should not be made perfect apart from us. When will we be perfected? Well, we'll be in the resurrection. So, brethren, we look forward to that time. God has a glorious future prepared for us. We find that God created this physical earth, physical universe, to carry out His plan and His purpose. God will share His power.

He will share the rule of this universe. He wants us to be a part of His family. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 16, we find this promise. Romans chapter 8 and verse 16. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. So if you have the Holy Spirit of God, your God's son, God's daughter. And if we're children, what rights do children have? Well, children are heirs. And as it says here, if children are heirs of God, then joint heirs with Christ. So you and I jointly are going to share what Christ shares, what He inherited, and what did He inherit? Well, the whole universe. And you and I will be joint heirs if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together. So you and I are going to be glorified members of the family of God. God wants to share all things with us. So today we're going to take a look at the plan of God here at the end time, what this day pictures, and how it pictures events that lead up to the culmination of Christ's return, the resurrection taking place, and what God has in store for us. So let's take first of all and look at the events that lead up to the resurrection.

We know that the Feast of Trumpets signals a culmination of this present age of man, in the beginning of an incredible age or time during which God will play a much more direct part in human affairs. The previous festivals, talking about the Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and all constituted personal responses to the working of God and what God is doing.

Because each one of us personally who had to accept Christ as our Savior come out of this world become involved, become a part of the firstfruits. But the Day of Trumpets heralds the intervention of God in the affairs of humanity in a dramatic way. Not known before, the Holy Day represents a dramatic turning point in the history of mankind. For 6,000 years, God has let man go his own way, do his own thing. And what we find, there's going to come a time when God will intervene. Numbers 10, this was referred to in the sermonette. Let's go back here to Numbers 10 and verse 9. There are a number of purposes for trumpets listed here, but one of the major purposes is articulated in verse 9. Let's notice verse 9, Numbers 10. When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppressed you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpet, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Brethren, there's going to come a time here in the future when we as a church, we as a group of people, are going to look to God for salvation, physically speaking, to go to a place of safety, to be protected by God from events that are going to take place. There's going to be a sounding of warning. The church today is to sound a warning to the nations. We have the responsibility, one of the responsibilities is, you know, several fold, but one of them is simply to warn the nations about what is going to take place in the future. The book of Revelation discusses that. It discusses seven trumpets being sounded at the end time. So let's go back to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 6 to begin with, and we won't try to go through these in great detail today, but we will touch on them. In Revelation chapter 6, we find the six seals are mentioned here. You'll find the book of Revelation, again, is divided up into three sevens. Seven seals, seven trumpets, seven last plates that are poured out.

Six of those seals are mentioned here, and you'll notice beginning in verse 2 a white horse picturing false religion, false ministers, second seal, a fiery red horse here takes peace from the earth, symbolizing warfare at the end time. These are all events that lead up to the very end time. They don't say that the end is here, but they are leading in that direction.

Third seal, a black horse, famine, drought, scarcity. And then we find the fourth seal, a pale horse. In verse 8, notice the last part, power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, killed with a sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beast of the earth. You look around the earth today. Is a fourth of the earth today under this type of a curse? And you look at famine, lack of food, warfare. Look at all the nations where warfare is going on, areas of the world where people die. We have literally hundreds of thousands who starve to death every day in this world. Well, we find that events are going to get so bad as we approach the end time, then one-fourth of the earth will be afflicted. But notice verse 9, the fifth seal, and the fifth seal pictures a time of martyrdom of saints. This pictures the future, the time when the church is going to be persecuted. Satan is going to come down with great wrath, Revelation 12. He's going to rise up to heaven, try to kick God off his throne again. He's going to be cast back down when he does. He's going to come down with violence. It's going to be directed towards the nations of Israel, and it's specifically going to be directed towards the people of God, the church of God, spiritual Israel. And you and I will be the brunt of that. And so there's going to be persecution and martyrdom. Then in verse 12, we find the sixth seal. Sixth seal is heavenly signs. And verse 17 talks about the great day of the wrath has come and who is able to stand.

The great day of God's wrath is talking about the time of the trumpet plays when God intervenes.

Now you find, beginning in chapter 8 of Revelation, where the seventh seal is blown, says, When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

And I saw seven angels stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

Now these seven trumpet plays began to show God's intervention, the wrath of God being poured out on mankind. Why? Because God hates mankind. Now it's finally to get his attention so that man will finally wake up and go God's way. So the seventh seal is composed of the seven trumpet plays.

And you find, beginning in verse 7, huge worldwide natural calamities taking place.

Much of this is going to be due to warfare. Let's notice, beginning in verse 7 here.

It says, The first angel sounded, and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. A third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Now our minds, I don't think, can even begin to start to fancy some of this, the Holocaust, the destruction that is going to happen to this earth. Some of this will be man-made, some of it will be a result of warfare. You begin to drop atomic bombs or hydrogen bombs.

You begin to have all-out warfare, chemical warfare or biological. You'll find that it will have an impact on the earth. Then the second trumpet sounds, and you find a third of the sea becomes blood, and a third of the living creatures in the sea die. So they turn to blood.

But, you know, this is going to have a tremendous impact economically on fishing industry, this type of thing. And then going on in verse 10, the third angel sounded. So here's the third trumpet plague. A third of the rivers and springs of water, in the words fresh water, are turned, are polluted, and they become like wormwood. Then in verse 12, the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun was struck. A third of the moon and a third of the stars. Now you can just imagine going out at night looking up into the heavens, and a third of the stars, you know, the heavens blank. You don't see anything. A third of the moon doesn't appear. Sun comes up and a third of it doesn't shine. You know, it's going to be a situation where the scientists are going to try to explain, well this is a natural phenomenon, and you know it happens every once in a while, and you know they'll try to explain this away, but there won't be any explaining.

And people will be filled with fear and terror. They won't know what's going on.

These are the events that are going to lead up to, as we read then in chapter 9 verse 1, some major military campaigns. You finally come down with the trumpet plagues, and you'll see what's been going on behind the scenes here. That there have been great nations that are contending for control of the earth. By this time, the nations of Israel, the United States, Britain, Australia, South Africa, have been eliminated. We're no longer players on the earth's scene at this time. What you do find is that there are two major power blocks. There could be three at this time. One is Europe. And here in chapter 9, beginning in verse 1, verses 1 through 12, we find the fifth angel sounded, and a star fallen from heaven to the earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless fifth. And so you'll find locusts come out, and they go out, and they fight. And verse 11, they have, as a king over them, the angel of the bottomless fifth, whose name in Hebrew is a vodun, but in Greek his name is a polon. This means destruction or the destroyer. And so you'll find this is a great military power. This is describing a united Europe. What we describe or say is the beast power. Chapter 13 describes this beast arising, coming out of the bottomless fifth. And you'll find it is a religious, political union.

And so you find this political power gets its power from Satan the devil. And so this United States of Europe, this beast power is under the sway of the devil. And they come out, and they're one of the players contending for control of the earth. And then in verse 13, the sixth trumpet sounds, and you find another power described.

It says, Then the angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the six angels who had the trumpet, Release the four angels who were bound at the great river Euphrates. So the four angels who had been prepared for the hour of the day and the month, and the year were released to kill a third of mankind. I want you to notice in this one battle, a third of mankind is destroyed.

Now we don't know how many people are alive at this point.

Presently on the earth there's something like seven billion people. By the time we get to this point, there may only be four or five billion. It could be three or four. Who knows? But out of that number, however many are left, at this junction in history, one third of them are going to die. How is that possible? Well, it's possible with hydrogen bombs, with modern warfare techniques that we have. And notice we get an inkling of where this power comes from. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was 200 million. So it goes on to say in verse 18, by these three plagues a third of mankind was killed by fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. So we're talking about jets. We're talking about, and when you talk about smoke, a big cloud. Did he see a mushroom cloud coming up in the air?

You know, exactly what was he observing. Where do you get an army of 200 million?

Well, two possible possibilities. Number one would be a Muslim block of nations.

There are 1,200,000,000 Muslim who are around the world. When you begin to look at the Mideast, you begin to look over into what we would call the Far East. There's also nations like China, India, which alone have a billion people, you know, population. So somewhere from these conglomerates, there will either be a conglomerate of nations headed by Muslims who will come to fight against Europe, final clash of civilization, which religion is going to hold force. Or it could be nations like China, India, you know, and cahoots with Russia, who are trying to control the world at this point, and perhaps the Muslims being called in the middle. But we find that this battle takes place. And the Bible is very clear in Matthew chapter 24 that unless Christ intervened, no flesh would be saved alive. All life would be destroyed off the face of the earth. In fact, we used to coin a word, cosmocide, you know, to describe that particular holocaust taking place. And right at this junction where man is about to annihilate all life off the face of the earth, Jesus Christ himself will step in and intervene.

Chapter 11, verse 15. We've had six trumpets blown at this point. Now comes the seventh trumpet.

And verse 15 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. That's what we read back in the book of Daniel.

The kingdoms and the dominion under the whole heaven come under Christ, and he's going to reign forever. Then the twenty-four elders who sat before God on the throne fell on their face and worshiped God, saying, We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, for one who is, who was, and who is to come, because you've taken your great power and reign. So God, by his power, by his might, is going to reign over the nations. And the nations were angry. Your wrath has come.

So they're angry. They're fighting. They're controlled. And you're trying to take control in the time of the dead that they should be judged. Now you should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints. So this is the time of the resurrection, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. So God is going to have to come back. This is what we read earlier in Daniel. And what we find is that when Christ comes back, the nations are not going to be standing there saying, Hallelujah, he's here. Now they're going to fight against it. They're going to shake their fists in God's face. They're going to kick sand in his face. Let's go over here to chapter 17 of the book of Revelation, beginning in verse 12.

Chapter 17, when Christ comes back to this earth, you find the ten horns which you saw are ten kings.

This is the beast power. The United States of Europe, at the end time, who received no kingdom as yet, but receive authority for one hour as king with the beast for a short period of time.

These are one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. And these will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. For he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with him are called and chosen and faithful. And so Christ comes back, and the nations will fight against him.

And so you and I will have been resurrected, and we will observe all of this going on.

We may even be instrumental, but I think God will probably use the angelic hosts in these initial dealings with some of these nations. This is what takes place in transpires at the seventh trumpet. Now, I want you to notice back in Psalm 47. Let's go back to Psalm 47, beginning in verse 1. Psalm 47, here's a prophecy about these events in summary form. Verse 1, it says, O clap your hands, O you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph, for the Most High is awesome. He is a great king over all the earth.

He will subdue the peoples under us. So when Christ comes back, the nations aren't just going to open arm, accept Him. They will have to be subdued. Their armies will have to be destroyed. He will have to get their attention. And He will choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob, whom He loves. God has gone up with a shout notice and with the sound of a trumpet.

So there's a shout and there's a trumpet. Sing praises to God. Sing praises.

Sing praises to our king. Sing praises, for God is King of all the earth.

Sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nation. God sits on His holy throne.

The princes of the people have gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham, with the shields of the earth along the God. He is greatly exalted. So Christ is going to come back. He's going to subdue the nations under the saints.

The saints will rule at that time. And all nations will be brought under the control of His government.

Isaiah chapter 27 also describes this time. Isaiah 27, beginning in verse 12. Isaiah 27 verse 12. It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will fresh from the channel of the river to the brook of Egypt. And you will be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel.

One of the first things that Christ does once He comes back to the earth is to regather the peoples of Israel and to bring them back to Palestine. And He will set up His government, first of all, in Jerusalem, Palestine, and then it will begin to extend to all of the nations.

And you'll find there will be a number of recalcitrant nations. And as we read back in the book of Ezekiel, Gog and Magog, Rosh, and Tubal, all of these nations, will not submit to God. And they will try to come up after Christ has been on the earth for a little while. And their armies will be destroyed and crushed, and God will finally get their attention. So it's going to take a while for the government of God to be established. But I want you to notice when this takes place. Verse 13. So it shall be in that day that the great trumpet will be blown, and they will come who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who are outcast in the land of Egypt. And they shall worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. So when that seven trumpet sounds, people hear that sound, and God begins to intervene and begins to reassemble the peoples of Israel, and then begins to resettle all nations in their rightful inheritance. It's going to be a time that the nations will finally come to accept. This is the time of the resurrection, as we've already mentioned in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, let's notice beginning in verse 14. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again.

See, that's a belief that we have. Even so, God will bring with him those who sleep, for those who died in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord. For by no means perceive those who are asleep, for those who have died. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with what? With a shout. So what did we read? Back in Psalm 47, see, there will be a shout, and then with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. And then we which are alive and remain will be called up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. So rather we find that this is the time also of the resurrection.

This is the time that we're looking forward to. The holocaust, the fighting, you know, all of this going on will go on for approximately three and a half years.

Will be a time of terrible destruction, but it's a time that will happen because man will have to finally learn that his way won't work. He doesn't know how to solve these problems, and if left to himself, he would obliterate all life, all the face of the earth. And so God will have to intervene at the last moment to save man from himself. But when he does come back to begin to deal with the nations, the resurrection takes place. Let's go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 50, where we read much of the same as we've already touched on here. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, as long as we're in the flesh. We're not going to be in the spiritual kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. I want you to notice that. There is a mystery. A mystery means a hidden truth that is now revealed. What is a mystery that is revealed? We shall not all sleep. Not everybody will die when Christ comes back, but we shall all be changed.

Everyone will be changed. How? Well, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, that's the seventh trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we, those who are alive, will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible is put on incorruption, and this mortal is put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. So, death, where's your sting? Oh, Hades, where's your victory?

So we get victory over death through the resurrection. Now, with that in mind, notice Revelation chapter 10 and verse 7. We skipped over this earlier, but let's go back to it. Revelation chapter 10 and verse 7.

It says, in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, that's the seventh trumpet, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God will be finished. What is that mystery?

How man, flesh and blood made out of the dirt of the ground, can become an ever-living, everlasting, eternal spirit in the family of God. That's a mystery. How can that happen?

It's something the angels scratched their head over. They wonder how God is able to accomplish that. They can see it taking place. They know it will happen, but when it happens, and millions, probably, are resurrected at that time, they are going to see the mystery of God completed. It's finished. Brethren, that's our hope. That's what we look forward to. That's what motivates us. That's what keeps us going forward. As Paul explained back here in Acts chapter 23, verse 6, might remember here he had been brought before the Sanhedrin, the council.

He perceived that part of them were Sadducees, part of them were Pharisees.

And verse 6 says, when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "'Madam, brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead, and my being judged.' And notice in verse 8 for the Sadducee say that there is no resurrection and no angels or spirits, but the Pharisees confess both. So, brethren, what is our hope? Our hope.

And when I use the word hope, I mean our conviction, our belief.

You see, the word hope today is not always used in that way, is it?

People in the world say, I hope that I win the lottery.

And what do they mean by that? Well, it means they want that to happen. They wish it would happen. That's their desire. And so they hope that they can hit the jackpot, and maybe they have one out of a hundred million chances, which is not very good.

Well, our hope in the resurrection is not one out of a million chances.

Our hope in the resurrection is absolutely firm. It is something that will take place.

As just quoting here, Ephesians 2, 12, tells us, Ephesians 2, verse 12, talking about those who were Gentiles in the past, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope without God in the world. So people today have hope. They hope they can end sickness. They hope they can end poverty.

They hope they can end war. They hope and they hope. Hope that the Bible is talking about is another conviction and belief. I hope for the resurrection, and that hope is a belief. It's a conviction. It's based on the Word of God. It's based on the promises of God. It is based on the very nature of God that He cannot lie and what He promises that He will do. Therefore, we have conviction. We have belief. And God gives us that hope. That's something we look forward to in the future. Let's back up to Mark, Mark chapter 12. We found that the Pharisees here did not believe in the resurrection. Jesus Christ was confronted by them on different occasions. And here in Mark chapter 12 verse 18, you read that some Sadducees who say there is no resurrection came to Him and asked Him the same teacher. So they asked this trick question. Man's brother dies, left his wife behind and leaves no children. His brother should take the wife, raise up offspring. Now there were seven brothers and each one of them died. She marries each one of them. In the resurrection, they ask, whose wife is she? That's verse 23. Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as a wife. They thought, we've got it. He won't be able to answer this question. But I want you to notice what Jesus Christ said. He answered and said to them, are you not therefore mistaken? Notice the margin. It says you're deceived. If you're mistaken or deceived, because why? You do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

He will want you. Two factors. You do not know the Scriptures. Do the Old Testament Scriptures tell us that there will be a resurrection? And the answer is yes, absolutely.

What about Job saying that he will see God in the future? Job 19. Job 14, if a man died, shall he live again? And he goes on to answer yes. David in Psalm 16 said, you will not leave my soul in hell. Psalm 49 talks about being redeemed from the power of the grave.

Isaiah 25 talks about swallowing up death. And Daniel 12 too talks about those who sleep in the dust of the earth or be resurrected. So he's saying, look, your own Scriptures condemn you. You don't know the Scriptures. We know the Scriptures, and we know that in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, it's taught. Then it says you don't know the power of God.

You see, they limited God. Is God able to resurrect a human being from the dead?

And the answer is unequivocally yes. Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead.

God is called in the Bible the Almighty God. There's no force, no power in the universe greater than God. There can nothing keep God from doing what he wants to do. If he's able to create life, he certainly is able to resurrect a human being. Let's go on here in verse 25.

Christ said, for when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven. Now, I want you to notice, he says, when they rise from the dead, when you die, you don't go up to heaven and walk around heaven all day. You're dead. You go, and you're in your grave. But concerning the dead, he says, that they rise. Have you not read in the book of Moses and the burning bush passage how God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly deceived or greatly mistaken. So when he says, the dead shall rise, he quotes this about God being the God of the living. He's indicating very clearly that they were presently dead. Abraham is still dead in his grave, but God considers him alive because of the certainty of the resurrection. When you and I die in the faith, we find there is the certainty of the resurrection. God calls things that are not as if they were.

We may be dead, but we are alive, and God's us and his perspective. Let's go over to Luke's account of this, Luke chapter 20 and verse 27. We find again the same thing. Some of the Sadducees deny that there was a resurrection, came to him. They ask him the trick question. Verse 34.

Jesus answered and said to them, the sons of this age, Mary, they are given in marriage of this time. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, rather than that's what we're looking forward to. We're looking forward to the future, to the coming age. We call it the world tomorrow. We call it the millennium. We call it the future. It's when Christ returns. And the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. So we find something about the resurrection. In the resurrection, we will not marry nor will we be given in marriage. We will be like the angels. So we're similar to the angels and the fact that we will not marry and we won't die as we go on to see here.

Verse 36 is something else that God clearly explains about that resurrection.

Neither they marry nor are given in marriage, nor can they die anymore.

So once you obtain that resurrection, you will not die. For they're equal to the angels, equal in the sense of not marrying, not dying, and are sons of God. So we become the sons of God, being the sons of the resurrection. So you and I will be the sons of God through the resurrection.

And we will be called the sons of the resurrection. But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him. Brethren, once you and I have God's Spirit, we live to him, or we live in him.

The new Revised Standard Version translates to verse 38. Now he is the God, not of the dead, but of the living, for to him all of them are alive. God considers them alive.

If they've made it. So we look forward to being sons and daughters of the resurrection, born sons of God. Let's notice in Philippians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul set an example for us that we all need to be emulating. Philippians 3 verse 10.

He says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering, being conformed to his death, if by any means, any way, any means, I may obtain to the resurrection from the dead. Paul said he would do anything to the dead. He said that he would do anything I may obtain to the resurrection from the dead. Paul said he would do anything to obtain to the resurrection from the dead. He was willing to be martyred, and he was martyred. He was willing to suffer loss, and he did suffer loss. He was willing to go without, and he did go without.

He was willing to apparently not marry after God called him, and was using him. A number of things. Whatever it took Paul, Paul was willing to do it. Brethren, do we have the same attitude today?

Because we are so much closer to that period of time. It's right around the bed, so to speak. You know, it's facing us almost in the face. That period of time in the future, that the peace to trumpets pictures. And yet, what are we doing? We live in an age when we see these end time prophecies being fulfilled. And we've talked about them for years, for decades.

I remember back in the 50s and 60s, you know, when these were being talked about. You know, the future, the prophecies that were going to take place. Europe is united.

And we see that happening before our eyes. The Muslim world is uniting against Israel, and America, and Britain. Oil is becoming a strategic issue worldwide among nations, especially among the emerging industrial powers like China and India, who are now competing with us for oil. Water shortages, especially in the Middle East, are a potential huge problem. America is beginning to lose its power and its dominance, as the Bible predicted we would if we didn't rely upon God. We've become a debtor nation, not a lender nation.

We have seen many states now potentially going bankrupt. But some of the leading write-ups recently in the next 20 years, 30-something states could go belly up because they don't have the money. Is the federal government going to be able to bail all of those states out? Obviously they will not. Personal debt in this country is staggering, and now we're in the middle of an economic downturn of both people losing their jobs, losing their houses. We're fast also becoming a non-Christian nation. We're not even willing to say that we are a Christian nation today. We're no longer an Israelite nation. We find that with immigration taking place another 30 or 40 years, Caucasians will be a minority. Blacks will be a minority. Latinos will be a majority. And you find that this country is no longer going to be a nation that we know that God gave us. We see these things happening, and we've said that they would happen for decades. And yet now they're transpiring right before our eyes. How do we respond to all of this, to the prediction of scriptures that we see happening today? Are we really turned on and motivated? Are we people who are driven? Is our zeal doubled?

Or are we lukewarm and drifting? The Bible gives certain prophecies that are going to happen at the end time. And it tells us that certain events will transpire at the end time. Are we living like we believe these prophecies will take place? Are we living our lives? Are we conducting our spiritual lives? Are we conducting our relationship with one another? Are we conducting our involvement in the work of God as if we believe that these prophecies in the Bible that we see happening are truly happening and that they are going to take place? Well, this is what we need to be doing. The prophecies have been given to us as a warning. Not only is it a warning to the nation, not only is it a warning to other nations, but it's a warning to the Israel of God likewise that we need to get going. God has given us a glorious future. That future is filled with hope, and we'll hear more about that this afternoon. The tremendous blessings that God is going to give us, the tremendous rewards that God has for us. We have a hope. We have a promise. We understand things that the world does not, but along with that comes responsibility to whom much is given, much is required, and you and I have given a lie. So the question we must answer is this. Are we living in our private lives today like we truly believe these end-time prophecies will take place?