Perspectives on the Feast of Trumpets

Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Festival of Trumpets 2017. This is an exciting day. We're here to celebrate and observe the Feast of Trumpets. And thank you for accepting God's invitation to be here today. And we'll take a look at that original invitation in just a few minutes. In 1984, my two young daughters, and BJ and I, observed the Feast of Tabernacles in the United Kingdom. My daughters then were just very little girls. I just saw them standing here with little girls of their own. So it's amazing how time flies. And while we were in the United Kingdom, which that year was in Tenby, Wales, which is southwest Wales, if you go across the sea, you're facing Ireland, we spent a few days in London.

And I went to a coin shop while I was in London, and I purchased a coin. This is an ancient Roman coin from one of the third century emperors. Obviously, you can't see it very well from where you're seated.

It was minted between 235 and 265 AD. And like any coin, it has, if you put it on its lip, it has two sides facing in two different directions. In this coin, in case with this coin, one is a Roman emperor who's reflecting the message of his power and strength, looking in one direction.

And on this coin is a Roman god who is reflecting peace and prosperity and strength because of his power on the other direction of the coin. You know, the Feast of Trumpets is similar to the lip of a coin. It reflects two opposite sides of human history, facing in two different directions.

One direction is facing towards the 6,000 years of human dysfunction and misery. The other side of the Feast of Trumpets is facing towards the future of the Kingdom of God and the New Heavens and the New Earth. So today, let's be on the lip of the Feast of Trumpets. I'd like to discuss some close events that are reflected on each side of what this very beautiful and meaningful Holy Day represents for all of us. One side, again, is the human perspective of the events leading up to this day.

The other side is the perspective of God's elect and the events immediately following the last trumpet. But before we talk about that, let's go to Leviticus 23, beginning in verse 1, and remind ourselves of something that is so powerful you can never say it enough. And that is, whose feast days these are and why they are so rich and meaningful and important to us. Leviticus chapter 23, and we'll take a look here at verse 1. That is an introduction to all of God's festivals, beginning with the weekly Sabbath. It says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, The feasts of the Lord.

Again, as I always like to emphasize, these are God's feasts. We didn't make them up. Church councils can't declare what these feasts are. Individuals can't declare what these feasts are. God declares that these are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations.

These are my feasts. That's the second time he said that he has ownership of them. Verse 3, Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is the almrest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all of your dwellings. These are the feasts of the Lord. That's three times God takes ownership of all of the days that he outlines throughout the rest of this chapter.

So these are important to God. He said they are holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their appointed times. We should never lose sight of that. That is why we cling to these days so dearly, why they are so meaningful and important to us. Let me give you a quick recap of the festivals.

Add on to what Mr. Stiver was mentioning in the Offertory. Of course, the fall festivals that we're beginning today have a different theme than the earlier holy days in the springtime. Representing a time right after the new year in the Hebrew calendar, you have the Passover the Days of Unleavened Bread in Pentecost. And these represent the conversion process of the elect that God has called throughout history. God has prepared. He is preparing a people to serve with Jesus Christ in the millennium and beyond. And they are called. They accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

They receive forgiveness. They begin to overcome sin. And because God is merciful and we don't have to do it alone, He gives us the gift of His Holy Spirit. So the first part of God's plan is preparing an elect. Preaching the Gospel, preparing a people. And all of this is only made possible by the first coming of Jesus Christ.

Then there's a gap of time. Actually, the longest gap of time between any of the two Holy Days or any of the festivals in God's calendar. Before you get between Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets. And that is to represent that it would be a long period of time before Jesus Christ would return to earth again. Then you have the Fall Festivals that we are starting now. Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day.

And they all occur as a result of Jesus Christ. The Fall Holy Days are about the establishment of the Kingdom of God and what follows the return of the Messiah. This is the second part of God's plan. Establishing a Kingdom without end. And all of these days are only made possible by the second coming of Jesus Christ. Mr. Stiver read verses 23 and 25, I believe. But I'd like to read verse 24 in just a different translation. This is the Holman Christian Standard Bible. And here's what it says regarding this very day.

"'Tell the Israelites in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a day of complete rest, commemoration, and joyful shouting, a sacred assembly.' So to God's elect, their perspective and their view of the meaning of this day is supposed to be one of joy. From the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, here's what it says regarding the phrase in the New King James Version, a memorial.

And your translation may have said, a memorial of the blowing of trumpets. It's the Hebrew word zakron toriyah. And here it says, it's rendered a memorial of the blowing of trumpets properly signifies. In other words, the proper signification of this is a memorial of triumph or shouting for joy. So I'm letting the cat out of the bag a little bit here, but from the perspective of God's elect, which is when you look at the lip of the Feast of Trumpets, one of its views, it is one of joy. It is one of a very special, inspirational, and beautiful meaning for God's people. As was mentioned in the sermonette, there are two types of trumpets that were blown on this day.

One was the ram's horn, the shofar, and it had a piercing, alarming blast when it was presented properly and with people who had the skill to do so. And the second was two silver trumpets, as mentioned in Numbers chapter 10. They were also used to announce all of the Feast. And in Numbers 10, the two silver trumpets were used to gather the congregation together. That was one sound. Another sound called only the leaders of the congregation's up to the tabernacle to have a meeting. Another sound said, begin to prepare to march and go somewhere else, go in another direction.

But the trumpets were also sounded as an alarm for war. So again, I don't believe we can ever emphasize enough that these are the Feast of God. They are proclaimed by the very God himself who later emptied himself of his divinity and walked on earth as a man named Jesus Christ. He's actually the one that proclaimed these holy days. Every one of these holy days point to something that Jesus Christ has done, is doing today, or will do in the future.

Every one without exception. And of course, the New Testament Church continued to observe this day with a new meaning and a new style of worship. The Apostle Paul spoke about the Feast of Trumpets and connected it with the resurrection of the saints in 1 Corinthians 15. We'll take a look at that in a few minutes. 1 Thessalonians 4. In the book of Revelation, John speaks of seven significant trumpet blasts as part of future prophecy. So today, I would like to see the biblical prophecies, especially in Zechariah and Revelation, record this feast as if it's a two-sided coin.

We're going to look at this feast from two perspectives. One is the human perspective of the end of six thousand years of human depravity, a world that has finally come like a boil. Cool ahead, and that head is ready to be lanced by Jesus Christ. The other side of that coin, as we look at the Feast of Trumpets, is from the perspective of God's elect. Those whom the early holy days all represented, those who were being prepared in their lives through repentance and accepting of Christ as their Savior and overcoming and growing in character and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and using that Spirit for their own growth and to serve God, they have a perspective too.

And it's very different from the human perspective. So let's start out first with the human perspective. We must never forget that the reason Jesus Christ is returning to earth is pictured by this very feast. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 22 that unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. Brethren, it's for your sake, because he loves you so much that he will not allow the nations of this world to destroy all life from off of this planet.

And that's exactly what would happen. That's exactly what will happen if at the last minute Jesus Christ does not return to earth and shorten the days of human ruling over themselves for the sake of his precious elect. The trumpets are mentioned, of course, in the book of Revelation. We don't have time to go there today, but looking at this from a human perspective, I'd just like to recap the seven trumpets.

Of course, in Revelation chapters 8 through 11, Jesus Christ was found worthy to open the seals and the seventh seal, and the seven trumpets comprise the seventh seal. And very quickly, here they are. And I want you to think about who people who are not in line with God's will and who are on the wrong side of history and God's plan, some of the things that they will experience. The first trumpet blast is injury of the earth with hail, fire, and blood, and one third of the trees and all grass are destroyed.

Think of the destruction. Think of the environmental catastrophe that will occur. The second trumpet is one third of the living creatures in the sea will die. Again, think of all that pollution in our seas around the world. All those dead and decaying animal carcasses floating in the oceans of this earth. The third is one third of the fresh water supply on earth is polluted. Think of people who will die because they won't have access to clean water. The fourth is light is reduced towards the earth by the sun and the moon and the stars by one third.

Think of the plants in the tropical areas of the world that were created for intense light and will shrivel up and die because they'll no longer receive the intensity of the sun that they need to grow. The fifth trumpet is part of what's known as the first woe. It will be a plague on men that will be most likely caused by radiation as a result of war and this will be the outcome of a rising European-centered political power that will be intent on dominating the world. A very terrible plague is part of that first woe.

The second woe, which is the sixth trumpet, will be a massive counterattack against Europe by an eastern empire of 200,000, I'm sorry, 200 million warriors. One third of human life is annihilated as the result of this second woe. The third woe, which is the seventh trumpet, comprises of seven angels preparing and declaring seven last plagues. So looking at the perspective of a human, someone who doesn't understand God's will, God's plan, very terrible, horrific events will come upon this world. Let's take a look at what the prophet Joel said. If you'll turn with me to Joel chapter 3 and verse 9. Joel chapter 3 and verse 9, if you'll turn there with me.

Joel chapter 3 and verse 9, he says, proclaim this among the nations. Prepare for war.

Jesus Christ is coming back to earth to express God's wrath on an evil world. Prepare for war. Wake up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up. Put your best together. Put your brightest in your best together world. This is going to be the ultimate battle.

Verse 10, in reverse of many of the beautiful prophecies that we think of. Beat your plowshares in the swords and your pruning hooks in the spears. In other words, make all the armaments you want to tangle against Jesus Christ. You better make all of the armaments you possibly can. You better be ready. You better have it all together.

Let the weak say, I am strong. Psych yourself out. Do a little machismo. Self-talk here and make yourself think that you're better than you really are. Assemble and come all you nations and gather together all around. Cause your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. Let all the nations be awakened and come up into the valley of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat means Yahweh judges. So come down to this valley of judgment because it's going to be judgment time.

God is going to make his judgment on the nations of this world. For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put a sickle in for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down for the wine press is full. The vats overflow for their wickedness is great. If you've ever made wine, homemade wine, you know that you put all of those grapes in that wine press and then you begin to use that tool and you literally smash and squeeze everything out of those grapes. Verse 14, multitudes, multitudes, perhaps hundreds of millions of warriors gathering together for a major battle. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark and the stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord will also roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and the earth will shake, but the Lord will be a shelter for his people and the strength of the children of Israel. In spite of all that's going on here, God will protect his elect. God loves and protects his people. That is a promise. Verse 17, so you shall know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Of course, Zion was a hill south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem shall be holy and no alien shall ever pass through her again. Joel's talking about the climax of earthly events leading to the direct intervention of Jesus Christ. The remaining armies of this world gather near Jerusalem with the intent to utterly destroy it and in their minds make war against an invader. You know who that invader is? Who they believe that invader is? They think it's Jesus Christ. That's their perspective, but it isn't really much of a battle. They only have material armaments. They only have biological arsenals. They only have nuclear weapons. Jesus Christ has a spiritual force so powerful and destructive it transcends what human beings are even capable of developing. Let's go to Zechariah's prophecy. Zechariah chapter 14 beginning in verse 1.

See what occurs here around the capital of Jerusalem just before this climatic battle. Zechariah chapter 14 verse 1, it says, Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst, for I will gather all the nations to battle Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half the city will go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. And God will protect those whom he wills. Verse 3, Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. So we see in this prophecy, we see destructive human armies that are very angry. They capture half of the city of Jerusalem. They loot the houses. They take anything of value. They violate the women that they capture. Very barbaric, animalistic type of army that only has one thing in their mind, vengeance and destruction. Verse 12. Let's drop down to verse 12 here. This will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand in their feet. Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. No body armor doesn't protect you against that. Those spiritual forces, unseen forces that have this kind of power, capability.

Your nuclear weapons mean nothing when you're fighting against this kind of a power.

This is immediate, massive annihilation of all those who dared to fight the Christ and experience God's wrath. Let's take a look at this event from John's perspective in the book Revelation. Revelation chapter 16, and we'll begin in verse 15. Revelation chapter 16 and verse 15, and see after Jerusalem is taken where the armies are led to for this massive, incredible battle to occur. Revelation chapter 16 and verse 15, behold I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches. That's one reason we keep our eyes on prophecy. It's one reason that we pay attention to what's going on in this world, in events of the nations of this world. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame. We keep our garments, we keep clothed in the Word of God. It keeps us warm, it covers us, it gives us strength, so we stay close to Jesus Christ and we wear righteous garments, the garments of God's law and the gift of God's Spirit. Verse 16, and they gather together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. We'll talk about that in another minute or so. Let's continue these verses, however. 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 is done! It's showtime! And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings and there was such a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake, as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. This is the ultimate destruction of the beast power and the armies that represent all the nations, all the particular nations of this world. And they gathered together in a place that in Hebrew is actually called Armageddon. The word Armageddon that we have in our English translations is the corruption of a Greek word that actually means harmageddon. That is the hill of Megiddo. That's a 35-acre mound about 60 miles northwest of the city of Jerusalem. Those of the beast powers captured Jerusalem and then they are led and they proceed to Megiddo to confront the returning Jesus Christ and his armies. Let's turn now to chapter 19, if you'll turn there with me. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 15. Again, we're looking at how the human, worldly perspective views and will view the events on the Feast of Trumpets from those who are contrary to God's will. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 15. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. So he's not coming back to negotiate. He's coming back to lance this boil that we call human civilizations that has caused nothing but grief and pain and dysfunction for 6,000 years and it's coming to an end. As it said in three chapters ago in Revelation 16, Jesus Christ says, it is done!

I'm done with it! He'll rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the wine press, same metaphor used in Joel 3. The wine press is a fierceness and wrath of Almighty God and he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried out with a loud voice saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, birds of prey, birds that have been wired and created by God to eat flesh and eat meat. Come and gather together for the supper of the great God that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and those who sit on them, the flesh of all people, free and slave and small and great. And I saw the beast, this great political power that had mesmerized the earth. The kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. Who is his army? Well, we'll talk about that as we look from the other perspective of the Feast of Trumpets. This is John's account of the colossal final battle in the Valley of Decision located at Megiddo. It could very well be that millions of millions, hundreds of millions of the beast power's armies will be destroyed in that battle. Remember Joel said in chapter 3 in verse 14, multitudes, he repeated multitudes, meaning many, many beyond numbering, beyond the ability to number them. So, my friends, this is what the human perspective is, that the Feast of Trumpets represents. This is what those who are out of God's will and on the wrong side of history. This is how they will view the events immediately leading up to and including the Feast of Trumpets itself, the return of Jesus Christ. But like a two-sided coin, there's a story, there's a statement looking in the other direction, and that's the perspective of God's elect. And the beautiful thing about that is that it also includes each and every one of us. You know, none of us were able to participate in anything represented by the spring holy days. Take Mr. Graham, for example. He's getting pretty old, but even he wasn't at the original Passover when Israel left Egypt. He wasn't there on the first Feast of Unleavened Bread. Even Mr. Graham wasn't there when Jesus instituted the new covenant symbols of the bread and the wine. But you'll be there, represented and respected for all eternity. You will be there on that day of Trumpets. You will be assisting Jesus Christ. You have a part to play. You'll be there as you observe Satan being put away and removed from influencing humanity. You'll be there serving through the represented by the Feast of Tabernacles, the kingdom of God. You'll be there representing Jesus Christ and helping others on the eighth day when billions upon billions of those who never knew God's way of life will be resurrected from the dead. You'll be there. You'll be there throughout eternity serving when there's a new heaven and a new earth. So it's a different perspective for God's elect. Let's begin by going to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 51 and see the first and for us perhaps the most significant change that will occur for God's elect because this is a game changer. What Paul describes here will change everything about us. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 51. Paul wrote, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In the moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. So Paul understood the powerful meaning behind the feast of trumpets. He draws in that very fact right here in these scriptures.

At the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and shall be changed, for this corruptible must put on incorruption. Right now we are corruptible, carnal, physical human beings and that has to change, God says. God says, I have an awesome reward for you, for your faithfulness, for your faith, for your belief, for your commitment.

So it says again the corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality and that's a gift. A gift from God. Verse 54. So when this corruptible is put on incorruption and when this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. No longer will we need to fear death. No longer will we need to fear the scourge that comes with the separation of our loved ones when they die or we die and the sorrow that comes with that. Verse 55. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? So you no longer can control us. You no longer can make us fearful. You no longer can separate us from our loved ones. Verse 56. The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. His shed blood and our faith in Him and our commitment to Him as His disciples pays the penalty for our violation of that law. It no longer can condemn us. It no longer can be held over our heads. It no longer can produce the penalty of death. This very beautiful and long anticipated event occurs again at the same time as the seventh trumpet blast. Now let's go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Again, see another example here of Paul tying in the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets with the resurrection. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and we'll begin in verse 13.

He said, but I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. He says, I want you to be encouraged.

I don't want you to live in fear. I'm going to reveal to you God's plan, he says, so that you can have hope. Verse 14, for if we believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. Now many would just stop right there and not read any further and they would imply from that statement that Jesus Christ is bringing saints who resided in heaven since the time that they had died. That's what many would tell you. But you have to finish what Paul, you have to give Paul a chance to finish what he's saying. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are asleep 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. There again, Paul completely understanding the meaning of this day. And of course, he's taking the perspective of the elect of Jesus Christ. Continuing, and the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. So what Paul is saying here is saying, first of all, that the promise of the resurrection is sure, and it should give all of us hope. He then explains how those who were both dead and alive in Christ will leave this earth and will meet Jesus Christ who is descending from heaven in the sky in the midair.

And it says that we will forever be where Jesus Christ is at that point. Where is that? Where does He go? And since it says that we will always be with the Lord, where will we be? Well, let's go again to Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 5 and see what the prophet tells us. We'll know exactly what our role is and what we're doing. Zechariah chapter 14 will begin in verse 4. You know, we looked at Zechariah 14 earlier, verses surrounding these that we're about to read, and we read those verses using the human perspective because they were verses about terror, about horror, about war, about tragedy. And here, again, looking on the lip of what this day represents from the perspective of the elect. Here's what the same verses say.

And in that day His feet will stand in the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two. From east to west, making a very large valley, half of the mountain shall move toward the north, half toward the south. Then you shall flee through my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azol. So God will allow some of the remnant of those who are living in Jerusalem at that time, physical people, who are the remnant of His seed. He'll allow them an opportunity to escape. Yes, you will flee, and you will flee from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah the King of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come and all the saints with you. So, as connecting it together with what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians, all of those who are in Christ, those who had previously died, those who were still alive, it is returned. We'll leave this earth, and the twinkling of an eye will be changed into immortality, incorruptible. We'll meet Jesus Christ in the air, and we'll return back to this earth with Jesus Christ as mentioned here on the Mount of Olives, and it says, and all the saints with you. So we'll be there observing, participating, doing what we can do, doing whatever we are asked to do. Now let's go back to the book of Revelation at the same chapter that we looked at earlier. Earlier we looked at verses that are sandwiching what we're about to read, and they were from the human perspective, the perspective of war, of pain, of suffering.

But here's the elite's perspective beginning in 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. Now his wife is representative of not just the church as a spiritual body, but as each and every one of those individuals within the church, because we all are to have an intimate personal relationship with God, to have a perspective in which we are considered holy and part of his family. Let's continue here. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, meaning without sin, glowing, radiating like the sun itself, like the power of God. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, right, blessed, 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, and I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, see that you do not do that. I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And we're looking at those prophecies today so that we understand that there's a different way for us to view the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets than the world will perceive it. The marriage supper pictures the holy personal relationship between Jesus Christ and every individual in his church, and that includes you. These are the same individuals who returned to Jesus Christ through this earth. I want you to notice how God perceives them because Jesus Christ dwells with them. It says they are like fine linen, clean, bright, and white. Let's drop now down to verse 11. Revelation 19, 11, and now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he who sat on him was called faithful and true in righteousness. He judges and makes war, and his eyes were like a flame of fire, and his head, on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. Remember what John taught us in the first chapter of John. Jesus Christ is the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and this is that very one who became Jesus Christ. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God, and the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Brethren, a very elect who became incorruptible, and immortal children of God at the return of Jesus Christ, met Jesus Christ in the earth above the heavens of the earth, descended with him to Jerusalem, and will be part of his armies in the final battle of Armageddon, clothed in fine linen, white, bright, and clean. That includes you. That's a role that we will have the privilege of playing, of participating in, represented by this day. One final scripture, Revelation chapter 20 and verse 6. If you'll turn there with me. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 6.

John was inspired to write, blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. That's the resurrection that Paul talked about in two different places that we read today. It says when you participate in that, from the perspective of the elect, you are blessed. Think of the blessing of never being tired again, the blessing of never needing sleep, the blessing of never feeling famished from hunger you'll be able to eat for the pure enjoyment of eating, the blessing of never growing old, of never seeing your faculties weaken with age. Think of the blessings involved in being part of that first resurrection. It says, blessed and holy is he who is part in the first resurrection.

God doesn't call things holy lightly. When he calls things holy, that means that God himself has set apart that day or that individual or that characteristic is something very precious and very special to him. And since we will be part of the family of God, incorruptible, immortal, we will be considered by God as holy. Again, blessed and holy is he who is part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.

My, what a different perspective that the elect have compared to those who are outside of God's will. These are the immediate events of the Feast of Trumpets, looking at the elect's perspective of this meaningful festival. So this is an astounding day that launches God's holy days here in the fall. It's a pivot point in the future of the world.

Kind of like the lip of this coin, two sides. And the one side, the same trumpet blast, the same sound, what people will see will be one of fear and misery and terror if you're on the wrong side of God's will in history.

On the other side, at the same time, in the same trumpet sound, it will be one of courage, of joy, and of jubilation if you're on the right side of God's will and history.

So let us celebrate this day. Let us celebrate it according to God's will for each and every one of us as God's elect, called to be part of his future and part of his plan for all humanity.

Let us continue to wear fine linen. Throughout the rest of our days, how much time God gives us, let us remain faithful to our calling, faithful to his way of life. The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Let our names and our actions be one of praise that give glory to God, because we don't have to fear the upcoming events that are going to fall upon this tired world.

We can be jubilant. We can rejoice for God's plan and for God's will for us, because when you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, when you had hands laid on you, when you put your hand to the plow and said, I will never look back, you received a very wonderful title. You are God's elect. Have wonderful feast of trumpets.