Preparing for God's Appointments: Trumpets

Well, thank you for that special music.

Hopefully I got that title right. I caught some of the lyrics there. Some of that was from the similitudes as well. So not just the beatitudes. Fitting harmonies, fitting lyrics, so I appreciate that very much.

Well, have you had any important meetings lately? Any important appointments that are on your calendar? If you're like me, calendars have become the... is it the bane of my existence?

It allows you to pack so much into such a small amount of time. Have you had any important appointments lately? Maybe with a boss or a teacher. Maybe you're being called in. If you're being called in at work Friday before the end of the business day, that may not be a great meeting ahead of you for all those that have been in the corporate world. Maybe you're being called into a teacher to discuss a paper. Maybe an excellent grade. Maybe a not so excellent grade. What are some of your feelings? Are you excited? No. Sometimes maybe fearful. Maybe a little bit anxious. Hopefully not the bad type of anxious, but maybe just a little jittery. Not sure of what the future holds, but what do you do? What do you do when you have an important appointment? Well, if you're like me, do you consider the date and the time ahead of time? Do you consider where it's at on your calendar? Do you use an alarm if you need to wake up early to get to it? Thankfully, I don't need to use alarm much in my life anymore. I seem to be able to wake myself up when I want to. But I tell you what, when there's an important appointment, I find myself wanting to set that alarm, making sure I don't oversleep. And then what happens? Have you ever been in this situation? You're in bed, you're sleeping, you wake up, and you got that heavy feeling on your chest. I'm late, I know it, but then it's like one in the morning, and my appointment's not till 10. And it's like, okay, go back to sleep, calm down. I wake up at 2 a.m., and this happens over and over until finally it's like 8 o'clock in the morning, and it's like, okay, I got a little time I'll sleep in, and then I sleep until 11. Now, thankfully, that's not a true story. But you've probably heard, maybe felt those feelings, like you've missed it. You consider ahead of time what you're needing to do. If the appointment is very important, you're going to consider it a little heavier. I need to be there on time. Maybe I need to prepare my outfit. How many people like to set their outfits out a night before? Anybody? Okay, a little bit more than morning. I don't like to set out my outfits. I barely know what I'm going to wear on every day today. I have one duffel bag. In fact, while all my belongings are not here till next week, I have all my clothes. You'll see me, I'll wear often a white dress shirt. It's simple. It's clean. And it doesn't make me have to choose another thing. Perhaps you shower. Anybody shower when they're going to an important meeting? Oh, yes. We've got to get cleaned up, make sure we smell okay, and clean our teeth. Make sure the food is not in there. But we take the time to prepare. All right, now the date is August 22nd. And just three weeks away, where are we at? Well, we're really close to the fall holy days. Just three weeks away, we will be landing ourselves within a very important appointment of God. You see, God's appointments are incredibly critical, aren't they?

In Leviticus 23, we find a list of the feasts of the Lord. A list, a nice comprehensive list, of showing these different important appointments. In fact, some of the Hebrew there, for some of the words listed in Leviticus 23, bring out this idea of a set time or an appointed time. I like to think about it like God has set something on his calendar, and now he brings it to our understanding, and we have to prepare to get there. Prepare to keep it. And when we think about these appointments, these festivals, the festivals and the holy days therein, we remember that they're not just days in and of themselves, but Paul mentions that they're actually shadows, that they're kind of revealing something more full. That's in Colossians 2, kind of in the middle of a thought, actually. Paul makes that statement that they are a shadow of things to come. And we think about those festivals. You go through Leviticus 23, and you see that those days are very important. We recognize the church has understood for many years now. We see the Sabbath day, the first festival, the weekly Sabbath, and we see themes of rest. We see connection with the ultimate rest that you and I will engage in, which is in the kingdom of God. We see the spring holy days. We see connections with justification, forgiveness, deliverance, coming out of Egypt, the spiritual sense coming out of spiritual Egypt. We see all these connections, these fulfillments in history, these spiritual types and lessons that we can learn. Well, we just kept Pentecost. I wasn't with you all, but we kept it in Bellerica, Massachusetts. And now that I say that, we kept it in Westford, Massachusetts. So I lied to AM service.

And there I did it again. It's not super important, but it was actually Boxborough, Massachusetts.

This isn't a good start, is it?

We were at Pentecost, and if you think about the day of Pentecost, there's that interesting line. Line, like it's a movie, excuse me, a verse of God's inspired word where it says, the day of Pentecost had fully come. Now, an easy reading of that, you could think, well, the 50th day is here. But actually, the Greek is pointing out an idea of a passing of time, that this is a fulfillment of a sense, the day of Pentecost being fulfilled.

We recognize that that is part of the spring holy days, the later spring, being fulfilled. The day, the birthday, if you will, or the start of the church of God, the pouring out of God's Spirit, the Apostle Peter being inspired on that sermon to start bringing scriptures together like Joel and the pouring out of God's Spirit. But then we come to the fall holy days, which were just three weeks away from the start, and there hasn't been the fulfillment yet. The church of God has recognized for a long time that the fall holy days are yet to come.

Trumpets, we recognize, as being fulfilled within the future time, when on one hand you have the wrath of God, punishment, destruction towards those who reject and fight against Christ's return and the setting up of the millennial reign, all with the capstone of the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the first roots, as Mr. Elliott mentioned in his introduction comment about the international community. And so when we think about important appointments, when we keep these days the weekly Sabbath or the annual Sabbath, we should be keeping them with purpose and direction.

And you know what's required to keep these days with purpose and direction? Good preparation. Good preparation. And so for today's sermon time, as we're quickly approaching the fall holy day season, I'd like for us to review an important part about preparing, specifically within the lens of the next holy day coming, which is the feast or the day of trumpets. So to begin, let's consider the importance of preparing. Let's turn to John chapter 19, if you will. I'm just going to ask another question. As we're turning to John 19, how many of you maybe put things off until the last minute?

Maybe no show of hands. Sometimes that one can be an embarrassing one. Sometimes we call that procrastination. Sometimes we call it prioritization, which sounds more positive. But sometimes it's just the fact that we are not preparing. John 19 in verse 31, we see an interesting principle listed from the writings of John. Now if you remember the section here in John 19, we have the crucifixion of Christ.

And it's near his death or right there about. He just died right before this in verse 31. And then John records, therefore, verse 31 of John 19, because it was a preparation day, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath. For that Sabbath was a high day. Here we see an interesting principle of preparing for the Sabbath day.

Now here specifically we have a great high day. That Greek, the magalos, the megadea, an annual Sabbath. As we recognize that, we see that we find this principle that we should be preparing for God's appointments, whether it be holy days, annual or weekly. Preparing, considering ahead of time, maybe getting our cars ready. If we like to clean our cars, have a nice clean car for the Sabbath, I like to do that not necessarily because I'm a clean freak, if you will, but sometimes there's that nasty food smell, just from all the kiddos sometimes in the car.

But also I'm not the smoothest eater in the car. So you get that out of there, so you have a nice clean smell for the Sabbath. Maybe wash up the cars. Maybe you think ahead of time, is there a build-do coming this weekly Sabbath that maybe I should take care of before the holy time? Because I don't want to be late, I want to prepare ahead of time.

We take opportunities to make sure we prepare so that we can keep the appointments of God as He would request we do or command we do.

Well, what about the Feast of Trumpets? Are you preparing for the day of trumpets?

Maybe the question could be, what's special about the Feast of Trumpets?

We're coming to the fall holy days. In fact, a conversation with a few of you just before services, we were enjoying our... where are we going for the feast? Colloquially in the church, right? We often refer to tabernacles as the feast. And that makes sense! The Feast of Tabernacles often requires a lot of physical preparation. Got to plan where we're going, got to plan how we're going to get there, got to tell my boss I'm going to be off for seven, eight, nine, ten days, whatever the case may be. You could have an opportunity to share with a co-worker why you're going to be gone, but we have to prepare ahead of time. But why the Feast of Trumpets? Specifically this year, it's on the calendar on a weekly Sabbath. Well, that makes it convenient. We don't even have to request it off from work. We're already off that day.

Well, when it comes to preparing for the Feast of Trumpets, I'd like us to consider the spiritual side of things. And let's turn to First Thessalonians chapter 5. Let's consider the spiritual side of the day of trumpets in fulfillment. Are we preparing for what this day pictures in the future?

Specifically the end of this time, the return of Jesus Christ, that historic monumental turning point. First Thessalonians chapter 5. See, the context of what the Apostle Paul is writing here, many were looking around.

Many had thought Christ would return in their time, set up the kingdom of God, set up the kingdom of heaven. And so Paul is starting to notice that the brethren are recognizing people are dying. People are dying, and what's going to happen to the brethren who have died? And so earlier he writes about trying to comfort them. I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren. He doesn't want us to be without knowledge. And so he brings across the understanding. And then in chapter 5 and verse 1, he says, but concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. He says that earlier we've talked about this. I've taught you these things. Jesus Christ had taught these things when he walked the earth. That there's times and there's seasons and there's signs for things that would come. He says, don't be ignorant. Have hope. Have understanding concerning what is coming. In verse 1, he says, there's no need that I should write to you. Verse 2, but you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. These things we should have known and understand that there is coming a time when Jesus will return. And for some, they will be cut off, or excuse me, caught off guard.

Verse 3, for when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.

So there are coming some times that will drastically change, but there'll be signs beforehand. Now, I've noticed there's a lot of children here, which means then logically there have been a lot of ladies who have gone through labor. Now, thankfully, I have not gone through the pain of labor myself, but I saw the signs of labor coming upon my wife. Years ago, when our first son was being, when it was about time for him to enter into this world away from the womb, my dog even knew that he was coming. She, I've said he, the dog, she knew. There are signs that labor is approaching. And just like that, we see this analogy. When we see the signs and the times, we should not be ignorant with what is happening. Verse 4, but you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that the day should overtake you as a thief. Paul is trying to encourage them, yes, it's going to come on people without understanding. It's going to happen right in the moment. It's going to be like a thief in the night you're not expecting it, but to those who are not of the darkness, we recognize those signs. We recognize so that this day should not overtake us as a thief. And then he gets a little bit into the warnings and the admonitions. Continuing the thought, you are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and not be sober. Or, excuse me, be sober. Good laugh, Dr. Dunkel. We should be sober. The warning there is that we don't sleep like others.

Now, you don't have to raise your hand if you have a bad sleeping schedule or not, but he's not obviously talking about our physical sleep, is he? He's talking about the spiritual analogy that we should not be asleep as so that we don't recognize the signs of the times. We know the warnings. We see the trends. Our Lord and Savior has taught, has been revealed to the church. There are signs of his return. We can recognize on a fruit tree when the fruit starts to ripen that the harvest time is coming. Similarly, we should be able to see the signs of his return and recognize that it is near. We should not be like those who sleep and are unaware or those who get drunk. Verse 8 or verse 7, but for those who sleep, sleep at night and for those who drink are drunk at night. Well, sure, we have a physical application there, no doubt, but we see the spiritual analogy not to be in a stupor where we're not recognizing what God is doing in our lives and also not distracted or not without self-control that we are likened to the drunkards. Preparing is important for what God is saying here. Verse 8, but let us who are of the day be sober. Be sober. We can, I like to think of sober sometimes and within these contexts as self-control.

We have to make sure that we are of a self-control or walking circumspectly. Being aware of what is going on around us. The warnings we see all throughout scriptures to be controlled. Circumspect with our lives. Aware of what's happening, not distracted by all the things that don't truly matter.

We can hold our place here in 1 Thessalonians. We'll come back to verse 8. Let's go to Revelation 16. Are we watching? Are we being circumspect with our lives? Are we preparing for the inevitable return of Jesus Christ? As we heard in the sermonette, God's promises are sure He is returning. He will send His Son. And there's warnings all throughout the Bible that we are to be preparing, preparing for this coming time. Revelation 16, verse 15.

Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments. Lest he walk naked and they see his shame. A warning there to be watching, preparing, keeping the garments. All throughout even Revelation, but in other places we see a connection with garments being symbolic of the righteous acts of the saints, the preparation of those who walk according to righteousness. Yes, a connection with justification, with the spring holy days, with forgiveness of past sins. But then the Spirit, the power of God to then walk in a newness of life and to strive after the ways of God, keeping our garments unspotted. You know, religion, that term for religion is used only, I think, three times in the New Testament. And I think only one of those times is a positive sense. The rest are false religion. And one of those positive senses is in James, where it says, what is pure and undefiled religion? Well, one, visiting widows and orphans in their times of need really brings in the family dynamic, making sure that we're there for one another. But number two was keeping oneself unspotted from the world. Brings in that language of those garments, keeping ourselves unspotted, watching, as Jesus Christ is quoted saying here, Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest they walk naked and they see his shame. If we go back to 1 Thessalonians 5 on the importance of preparing throughout our lives, we recognize the principle of preparing for the weekly Sabbath. The same translates to preparing for God's important appointments, and then specifically for their meanings in fulfillment. We go back to 1 Thessalonians. I know it's somewhere around here. Do you ever do that? Go back and forth, back and forth. I wanted to look around, see how many people have Bibles and how many people have digital Bibles. So turn or scroll to 1 Thessalonians 5. Verse 8, back where we left off, he says, so be sober, so self-controlled, not like drunken, uncontrolled.

And he says, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet of the hope of salvation.

Because along with this idea of preparing, making sure that we're preparing our hearts and our minds, there's also this admonition that we need to be preparing for battle. We see this connection throughout Scripture where Paul brings in these analogies of physical armor, helmets, breastplates, shield, belts, shoes, all sorts of elements. Ephesians 6, he does a different breakdown and different connection. But we see we are indeed called to wage war. But the truth with that is we're not called to wage war like those around us. There was that hymn we sang just moments ago where it says, those that have trust in bombs that shower, I think, shower through the night, destruction. We don't trust in those bombs. We're not building up a stockpile of weapons or armory, but what are we preparing for? We're preparing for the spiritual battle that we're already engaged in. He says it a little bit differently here than in Ephesians 6, but he says, putting on the breastplate of faith and love. Faith, important aspect of pleasing God. In fact, so important that the writer of Hebrews says, you cannot please God without faith. Love, growing in godly conduct, character, for God is love. The love of God is those who keep His commandments, right? Our love of God is keeping His commandments. We see these connections then. And then the hope of salvation. I love the way that that's always pinned. This hope of salvation. It's like a helmet. You put it around your mind. It protects you. You try to keep you from those negative thoughts. Those thoughts that keep taking you to the place where you don't want to prepare. You put off what we are called to do. When we think about preparing for the weekly Sabbath or the holy days, we should be preparing our minds and our hearts, ready to learn, ready to serve, and ready to apply what we have heard. In the opening prayer, I believe—was it Mr. Metzl? Did you give the opening prayer? Mr. Metzl mentioned, please help us apply what we learned today. I believe he said that in the opening prayer. A very good reminder that what we're learning each Sabbath day, we're learning from God's Word, we're learning what to do, how to grow, and then we have to apply those things. Because the Apostle Paul also mentions, knowledge without love is nothing. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. That is growing in godly character. So, ready to apply what we learn in these upcoming appointments. As we consider the meaning of trumpets, which we'll talk about more as we get closer to trumpets, we can ask ourselves again the question, am I preparing for the return of Christ? Am I preparing for the return of Christ? Am I heeding the warnings all throughout Scripture of the bride making herself ready, keeping myself unspotted from the world? Am I heeding those warnings? So, the rest of the sermon will consider this aspect of staying sober and forgetting not the purpose and forgetting not our purpose and our fight. What is God doing in the church? What is he desiring for the church? How does he want the church to prepare?

We can look around all around us. That didn't sound right. We can look out all around us. That's probably not good enough either, but hopefully you get my point. We look all around us and we see that there's a lot of chaos going on around us. You can look on the world stage. You have wars and rumors of wars, strife, conflict, turmoil. We live in the United States. You can see a lot of strife and turmoil within the United States. We're coming up to another election in the fall season, a time when different parties will try to grasp on to the idea that many people are searching for hope and searching for meaning in this life. One of the growing trends is a spirit of apathy all around us, a lacking of a desire for what's my purpose here? What does all this mean?

Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing with my life? You know, these are questions that the church has long understood. We've often asked those very important questions. What is man? What is man? What is God's purpose for man? Why am I here? Because God has indeed revealed why mankind is unique and what God is truly doing. You see, the political world around us is latching on to this feeling of discontent all around us. Many individuals saying, well, how can I really help or change what's going on around me? One of the saddest mindsets that we can fall into is the mindset that really my actions don't mean anything or don't really cause any change around me. Reflecting a little bit on the lyrics of that song, it read a little bit from the similitudes right after the Beatitudes. They took some creative licensing there with the way it was rendering or rendered in the New King James, but the idea of letting your light shine. We recognize that God's light does indeed shine from us or through us, if you will. Great examples to those around us. Our actions do have impact on those around us, but just not in the ways that the political world would have you think. Our life does matter. Preparing in the way that God is asking us to prepare is saying, okay, consider your life, consider your ways, consider what you're doing in this life. Even if we think about, okay, maybe I don't have neighbors right next to me that can... the line in the song even it talked about that they may see the light and they'll glorify God in heaven because that's the goal, right? Not to point back on yourselves, but to reflect God's nature to those around us. But say we don't have neighbors, say we don't come across those around us in everyday life, we have the aspect of even our prayers. In my notes, I have the quotes, just prayers. Sometimes we can feel that way because we're just... sometimes we're disconnected from the meaning of prayer, what that may be, because we go through ups and downs in our lives, different challenges. But the prayers of the saints do have incredible impact concerning the return of Jesus Christ. We'll turn to James chapter 5 for a moment.

We can see elsewhere as we're turning to James 5, we recognize that the prayers of the saints, the prayers of the righteous do avail much. Revelation 8 talks about the prayers of the saints rising up like smoke coming before his throne, like incense, excuse me.

In James chapter 5, we recognize this here where God is taking note of those who are crying out, whether it be the righteous or those who are just victims of injustices all around us. God is taking note. He is the ultimate avenger. He is the one who will set right all the injustice. He will bring justice. There will be a time of reigning justice and peace.

James chapter 5, we can see this in verse 1, a bit of the unrighteousness that exists all around us, the unrighteousness that exists all around us. James chapter 5 and verse 1, come now you rich, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded and the corrosion will be witnessed against you and you will eat your flesh like fire. Now there's a lot being said here, and it's not really the point of the sermon today, but we recognize that there are a lot of riches in this world. But those riches are just temporary. Gold and silver are thought to be by many as great standards of wealth. But we can even see that even the gold and the silver is thrown on the streets when the times get to that point, and they're eaten by the moles. Isaiah 2 refers to that. Revelation speaks to those who throw their gold and the silver in the streets as nothing. Here in this section we have the injustice done from those who oppress.

Verse 4, Indeed, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields which you kept back by fraud, they cry out. And the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabooth, or the Lord of all creation, I believe.

You see, God is taking note of the injustices all around the world. And those who cry out, He takes note. He takes note of the cries of those who are oppressed. We can think of this if we take the context within the saints, those who are oppressed as the household of God, He definitely takes note. He recognizes when those who are oppressed, and He'll set right all the oppressed and the injustice. He'll bring that to righteousness later.

Verse 5, You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury. You have fattened your hearts, as in the day of slaughter. You have condemned. You have murdered the just. He does not resist you. And then James brings it back to the household of God. He says, Therefore, be patient, brethren. Isn't that difficult? I don't see Mr. Edding here anymore. He was here for morning service. But if you guys were here between the services, we had a little reception. Mr. Edding did ask for a prayer of God's blessing, as we're kind of into a new chapter, right, as a new pastor here. And one of the things he asked for in that prayer was patience. And I appreciate that very much.

Because that's something that I've had to grow with over the years. I have a running joke with those in New England, and now with you all. If there's just one thing that you'll remember of my words in the next few years, one of my favorite words or phrases in the Hebrew is, Arek Appaium. Who knows what that means? Just show of hands. My wife and my kids, they don't count. They do count. It means long of nose. Long of nose. Now, not like Pinocchio, but like that's the phrase of the word that means long suffering or patience.

Have you ever been in those intense moments where you're so frustrated? What happens? Your blood starts to boil. You get red in the face. And what usually helps with calming yourself down? A long nose. Not literally a long nose, but a long breath.

He says, My dear brethren, be patient. In these times of suffering, in these times of oppression and unrighteousness, be patient. Be patient for the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the urny and the latter rains. Recognizing that God has everything in control, He brings the early rains in the fall, the later rains in the spring, He nourishes the ground, He brings up the fruit. And just like that, we can recognize that there will come a time when the unjust will be turned into justice. God will take care of all the unjustice.

Verse 8, You also be patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Well, that speaks so closely to prepare, prepare your hearts and your minds. As we're coming to God's appointments, whether it be trumpets, atonement, tabernacles, or the eighth day or the last great day, we prepare our hearts to understand the words that are being said. We prepare our hearts and our minds to apply God's word in our lives and grow in understanding.

For He says, the coming of the Lord is at hand. Verse 9, Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge is standing at the door.

My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. It can be hard to be patient when suffering. It can be hard to be patient in general.

But the admonition all throughout the Bible is, be patient, prepare, consider the times that are coming. Be patient and endure like the great examples before us. Verse 11, Indeed, we count the blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. That's something that we can take incredible encouragement from, that God is merciful and long-suffering, patient with us. As a father of two young boys, I'm reminded of that daily. Because when I get very irritated with reminding them of the same thing over and over, I remember, wait a second, that's probably just like God and me. And so I remember to be long-suffering. We know that the long-suffering the Lord is toward salvation. And so as we're preparing for these days, we remember to prepare our hearts, be sober, and never forget the purpose that God is doing in our lives, preparing us to one day serve as helpmates to Jesus Christ in the millennium. As was mentioned, as the firstfruits, I think Mr. Japheth, if I said that right, Ken Japheth, I think he said in his sermonette, as a priestly service, rendered in New King James, kings and priests, this idea of reigning with Christ for a thousand years, a great opportunity that we are being conditioned for. And the experiences we go through in this life, Apostle Paul mentions that the suffering, the trials that we go through, are great opportunities to learn how to comfort and encourage all those who will come after us, those who have gone through great turmoil and trial and, you think about the end times and some of the things that people will have to go through, or the things that many have gone through their whole life and have died, never understanding the truth that God has to offer. We'll be there, God willing, to help support those individuals.

What is my purpose here today? As we're preparing for these upcoming days, we always need to remember, why did God call me? What is God doing in the church today? Because we are indeed in a time where wickedness thrives. It seems like unjusticness, if that's a word.

We see a time when unjust rulers, let's change that, we see that wickedness is abounding. And it sometimes seems like wickedness will win. Seems to be the case.

But we recognize that wickedness does not prevail. We turn back to Psalm 7 for a minute. Psalms in chapter 7, in the seventh Psalm, wickedness will not prevail. We recognize that God has a plan. And you and I, our purpose within that plan is we are being called to prepare ourselves for this coming time of righteousness, to be that mini example in today's world, whether we have influence on our neighbors or those around us to just be that little hope that they see at times. But that's not really the purpose. The purpose is to be preparing, preparing for that coming time. Psalm 7, verse 11. We recognize that wickedness does not prevail.

Verse 11. God is a just God, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

If he does not turn back, he will sharpen his sword. He bends his bow and makes it ready.

He also prepares for himself instruments of death. He makes his arrows into fiery shafts.

Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity. Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. He made a pit and he dug it out, and has fallen into the ditch which he had made. That's the truth behind wickedness and iniquity. They won't bring success. It doesn't bring longevity. The wicked will dig a pit to catch their enemies, set the snare. But what ends up happening in the long run? They fall into the pit themselves. They catch themselves into the snare, because they don't recognize the destructive nature with what is defined as sin. They bring forth iniquity and falsehood. Verse 16. His trouble shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealings shall come down on his own crown. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. God will not allow wickedness to prevail, but instead bring righteousness, love, and joy, and peace. We're coming to a time where we get to observe the fall holy days, trumpets, atonement, tabernacles, last great day, and we get to recognize the incredible meanings that what these days look towards. An opportunity where Christ will come, and he will be placed on his throne, and he will bring in justice and peace and love. And you and I, God willing, will be there to serve and to help those who live through the millennium and live through that thousand years and then be ready for all the rest who get raised from the dead. Our purpose in this world is not to necessarily fix the perverse systems around us, not that we can't have impact on our neighbors and those around us.

Our purpose is not to be entangled in those systems, but to look eagerly forward to the coming of the kingdom of God. I'm reminded in Daniel, you see the statue of the nations that would come after Babylon. Do you remember the statue I'm referring to? Okay. All the ABC students probably haven't gotten there yet. But surely we've seen the statue. We have the gold head. I'm not going to mention all the medals, but you get all the way down to the feet, the mixed materials, and then you see a vision of what? A stone. A stone coming, made without hands, strikes the statue, destroys the statue, and what happens? Well, a mountain, symbolic of a nation or a government or a system, it builds up from the statue. Is that right? The feet grow into just a better feet, a better statue? No. It's a completely different mountain. It's a completely different system. We're looking forward to that coming time when it's not just a replacement or a tweaking of the United States government we're in, or if we're in Europe or different places, we're not looking for just small tweaks. We're seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, His ways. We're preparing ourselves for that world, striving to live as much as possible in that mindset today. You and I, those who have been baptized, have committed ourselves to being under that authority today, striving to live those principles. I keep going back to the special music. The Beatitudes. I've heard ministers over the years refer to those as kingdom characteristics, because those are characteristics of those who are striving for the kingdom of God.

Our purpose is to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, our relationship with our Lord and Master, our knowledge and understanding of His ways and how He lives, how He lived in the flesh, how He lives now. Emulating that. The world is readying itself for war after war, strife after strife, division after division. You and I are also preparing and building up our armaments for a different type of battle, because we recognize that our battle is not of the flesh and blood. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. As we're preparing for this day of trumpets, we recognize that on one hand it's a day of judgment, a day of battle. The blowing of the trumpets had many meanings throughout the Old Testament, but the end of that time is the return of Christ and the establishment of His reign. And then, of course, atonement, the binding of Satan. And so forth the other days. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, we recognize that you and I are already engaged in a battle, or we should be, but our battles are not like the fleshly battles around us. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. You and I, we are still in these earthly tents. We see our flesh and blood, we're still decaying, getting older, but we're not called to fight like the rest of the world. Though we are flesh, our battle is not of flesh. You and I are called to the perfecting, the preparing of the hearts and the minds so that we can reign with Jesus Christ in the world tomorrow.

This even connects back to earlier in Paul's statements where he says the breastplate of faith and love that we read. We have the other section in Ephesians 6, the other armor of God, connecting back even to the helmet of the hope of salvation. Verse 3. Our war is not fleshly wars. Verse 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.

Okay, well that still sounds kind of like a normal battle, pulling down strongholds, breaking against castles and fortified cities. But then he describes it a little bit more. Well, we have this wonderful armament, these weapons of mighty God.

Verse 5. For casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity, into the obedience of Christ. And that's where the real battle lies, isn't it?

I can't help but think of the connection to the helmet of the hope of salvation. Well, you're, we're trying to bring every thought into captivity. Well, what helps with that? The helmet! That protects the brain, which we know there's a spiritual component there. But the thoughts, you're bringing it into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That's very, that's easier said than done, isn't it?

But you bring it back to what Paul says earlier about being sober and how I've connected that to self-control. There's different nuances there. Self-control, an aspect of God's providing through his spirit. Making sure that we can control.

It's hard to control our thoughts, isn't it? Sometimes we can be led down the rabbit trail. Well, what if this? What if that? And that can lead us into a downward spiral.

Or what about we connected back with James 5, where James says, don't grumble against one another. How many times have we had that unrighteous judgment towards one another? Maybe we don't have all the facts. It can be so easy to make that judgment in the mind.

And Paul says, bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That's the business. That's the war that we're engaged in. Paul understood that so clearly. He says, I find that there's this war now within my members. That's elsewhere. There's this battle that's going on. And you and I have the weapons of God to tearing down all the strongholds, bringing every thought into captivity. And there are ways that we can do this. Well, sometimes it's meditating on the good things, not allowing ourselves to meditating on the negative. Philippians 4, he says, think on these things. And he lists a lot of good things. Whereas humans, we often tend to meditate on the bad things. And then that leads to anxiety and stress. We continue reading here in 2 Corinthians 10, in verse 6, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. When we think about how this works, we have the armor of God. We have the tools that God has given us. We have the warnings in the Bible of how not to behave. And our sermonette we learned, recognizing the true calling and the inheritance that is in front of us, not taking that for granted. We protect our minds by putting on the hope of salvation. One of the things that helps us so much in times of discouragement or maybe times of mourning. Maybe you lose a loved one, a loved one dies. It's good to mourn. It's good to mourn for the loved ones that have died. But the warning there is don't mourn like those without knowledge. There's a hope of the resurrection. And without that hope, we are so...

I want to say pitiful, but that's not it. Pityable, I think, is what it is. We recognize that there's a hope there, and so we mourn with knowledge. We protect our minds with understanding God's truth. This, of course, is connected with different analogies, Ephesians 6, with the different parts of the armor of God. You see, when we're thinking about preparing for God's appointments, whether it be a weekly Sabbath or the holy days, it's more than just preparing physically for the days, but preparing for what they spiritually mean. When we prepare for the weekly Sabbath each and every week, yes, we prepare the physical aspects, but we're preparing ourselves for what the fulfillment is, the coming of that rest in God's kingdom. When we think about trumpets, are we considering, am I preparing for the feast of trumpets? Am I preparing for what this day pictures? Let's go to Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19 in verse 6 through 9. Revelation chapter 19 in verse 6, are we preparing for what this day pictures? Verse 6 of Revelation 19, and I heard, as it were, a voice of great multitude, as the sound of many waters and the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. 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 prepared.

Much like a bride preparing herself for her wedding day, we see this connection with the return of Jesus Christ. The marriage of the Lamb has come. His wife has made herself ready. Verse 8, and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. You and I have the tremendous blessing to be covered by the sacrifice of Christ, justification, being forgiven of those past sins.

Then, as we strive to live a newness of life, we're constantly working out that salvation, striving to do what is right, living by those righteous acts, symbolic then of these clean and bright garments. Am I striving for perfection in my life today, or am I being slowly slumbered into a stupor? The coming of the Lord is as a thief in the night to those who are in darkness.

But thankfully, brethren, you are not in darkness. We are sons of the light, as we read at the beginning, if we walk in the Spirit, if we are in Christ. The Feast of Trumpets is mankind's greatest turning point. On one hand, we do see wrath. We do see punishment for those who will fight against the return of Christ. But on the other hand, the saints are celebrating the greatest victory of all the ages. As we're concluding now, I'd like to turn to a final verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 and verse 50.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. There's an essential change that must take place, isn't there?

Nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

We look forward to this time when we are changed, the greatest victory.

Verse 14. Not that the changing is the victory, but he says here in verse 54, so when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your sting, O Hades? Where is your victory?

Verse 57. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is part of those mysteries that the world does not fully understand. The Church has understood the mysteries that God has revealed. God reveals his salvation plan through the Holy Days. We are privileged to be able to understand those days, but also to observe them with purpose and direction, and this requires preparation. Verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain if in the Lord. When we think about the upcoming day of trumpets, and we think about all the meanings throughout scripture about trumpets being used as signs or callings of warnings and assemblies and times of war, times of warnings, we ask ourselves, are we hearing the trumpet call in Zion today? If not, we better wake up.

We better be about the business of preparing our hearts and our minds, being about the business of preparation. See, because it's very clear, the day of the Lord is at hand.