The Feast of Trumpets Pictures A Time of Great Hope!

Well, brethren, this is the day, the Feast of Trumpets. It's a pivotal holy day and a master plan of God. For 6,000 years, man has reaped the consequences of a sinful lifestyle. As we look at the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets, we can see the man stands poised, ready to destroy all life on this planet. Let's take a look at Matthew 24.

We were there for the offeratory, but let's take another look at it. Matthew 24.

Matthew 24, verses 21 and 22. For then there will be great tribulation, such as not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. We can go on and on about this.

About what's going on. I think the last time I was here for Trumpets, I gave all of you a handout. It was a chart where we went through all the seven trumpets, the seven last plagues, and some more information in addition to all of that. Kind of the beat-and-bust-them prophecies of the Bible. We're not going to do that today.

We're going to take another look at something else. Because God does have a plan for mankind. It does begin with Passover, but when we come to trumpets, there's another aspect. We can always talk about the seven trumpets and all of that, but there's something else that's ushered in on this day. Let's take a look at Jeremiah, chapter 29. Jeremiah, chapter 29, and verse 11. Jeremiah 29, verse 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

And that all begins in earnest when Jesus Christ returns on the last trump to establish his kingdom. What a wonderful blessing it is to have hope. We live in a world that doesn't have hope, a world that in many ways is hopeless. Yet we have a future to look forward to, a wonderful and a beautiful future to look forward to, and it begins with the return of Jesus Christ. I'd like to center our thoughts today on that. Over the course of the last year, we've had our share of trials and tribulations.

Some of you are going through your share right now. If you're not, you will be. That's just the way life goes. But notice what Jesus Christ, how he began his ministry over here in Mark, chapter 1. We've covered this in the past, but it's always a good place to start when you're talking about the ministry of Jesus Christ. It's very succinct. Mark, chapter 1, verses 14 and 15.

Now, after John was put in prison—so we've got a time element, John the Baptist being put in prison— Jesus came to Galilee. We've got a location. Preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. Here's what he taught. Here's what he preached. And saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Repent and believe in the gospel. Brethren, you and I, we believe in the gospel. The word gospel is Strong's number 2098.

2098. I want to read you a definition from the lowanite Greek-English lexicon. And I quote, In a number of languages, the expression, the gospel, or the good news, can be rendered the news that makes one happy, or information that causes one joy, words that bring smiles, or a message that causes the heart to be sweet. Now, that's some powerful stuff. Those are really powerful, positive things for us to be thinking of.

The exegetical dictionary of the New Testament, looking at the word gospel in the Greek, the way it was used by those who were not religious in the day, in secular Greek literature, the word gospel in the original means news of victory. So Jesus Christ came preaching news that makes one happy, information that causes one joy, words that bring smiles, a message that causes the heart to be sweet, and news of victory.

So God is very much wanting us to understand and appreciate not only all the prophecies we went through last time I was here, and the prophecies we'll be going through as we go through and work our way through the book of Isaiah and other books as they come in contact or relate to and touch on the message Isaiah's talking about. But we have a message here that God is giving to us, a message of immense hope. Now, to this point in God's plan of salvation, we've primarily been dealing with Christians.

We've got Passover, where a new life is given to us as Christians made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We've got Unleavened Bread, how we as Christians, how we as believers, are to live that new life in Jesus Christ. We've got Pentecost, Pentecost showing us the power with which we as Christians, we as believers, can live this new life in Jesus Christ.

But beginning with trumpets, God begins to turn his attention more to the rest of the world, and dealing with the rest of the world, revealing himself to them, starting to work with them in a very special way. They share the same great message of hope that we've come to appreciate and to love. Today, brethren, my point is very simple. My point is this.

If you're taking notes, you want to write something across the top of your page, it would be this phrase. The Feast of Trumpets pictures a time of great hope. The Feast of Trumpets pictures a time of great hope. We've looked at all the beat and bust and prophecies and times gone by. Those are still relevant. Those are still true.

Those are going to come to pass. There are some dark times before the return of Jesus Christ, to be sure. But we want to take a look in general past that. Now, I do want to set the stage by turning over to Isaiah 24.

Isaiah 24 sets the stage for the return of Jesus Christ.

As we get to this, as we're going through the book of Isaiah, I'll continue. This is going to be some time before we get back to this section of Isaiah, as we go through our series, sermon by sermon. Here in Isaiah 24, verse 1, So here we see the hand of God in terms of natural disasters, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions. And that's in addition to what mankind is doing to himself. Verse 2, So what verse 2 is getting at is all the earth is involved. You've got all these pairings. No matter what end of the pairing you happen to be, or if you're in the middle of the pairing somewhere, the whole earth is involved. God is no respecter of persons. God is all-inclusive. He's all-inclusive with his blessings. He'll be all-inclusive with his spankings as those become needed.

Verse 5, This is the reason why the curses are falling upon mankind. Mankind is not obeying God. Because of that, they can't be blessed. They're living under a curse. Verse 6, Now we talked about that when we were going through Isaiah a few days ago. Talking about perhaps nuclear holocaust. Talking about what we read in Amos chapter 5 verses 1 through 3. Maybe only 10% of the world's population lives through the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord into the Millennium. So this is what we're looking at in terms of the setting of Jesus Christ returning. Verse 7, Dropping down to verse 11, So, So, So, Now, When Christ begins to establish the kingdom, all things are going to change. But just prior to his coming, gloom is very much pervasive. Verse 17, So, So, So, no matter which way you turn, it gets worse. Worse and worse. The windows from on high are opened. Tornadoes, hurricanes, as a result of that, the windows from on high being opened, rains, flooding, all of that would take place. The foundations of the earth are shaken. You know, earthquakes, again, volcanic eruption. Notice what it says here in verse 19. Notice what it says here in verse 19. The earth is violently broken. The earth is split open. The earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a hut. Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, and it will fall and not rise again. So many things are happening prophetically. To planet earth, that planet earth itself is knocked off, perhaps, perhaps knocked off its access. So, again, this is the context of our Lord Jesus Christ returning on the last trump. Enough of that. Enough of the negative. We've had enough of that. My first point here is this. The hope of the Christian is the resurrection from the dead. That's our hope. The first resurrection. The resurrection from the dead. If you would turn over to Job, Job chapter 14.

Job chapter 14. The book of Job is perhaps the oldest book that was written in terms of when it was written. It was written before Genesis. You know, Genesis talks about all those early things, but this book is older. Job chapter 14, verse 14. Job asks the question, if a man dies or if a woman dies, shall he or she live again? Very important question. Not too many days ago, I did a funeral up in Wisconsin. Not too many days from today, I'll be doing another funeral over in Joliet. These are the kinds of things that people think about when you're looking at a casket. When you're thinking about a person that perhaps you've known for years and years, and they're gone. Now, we are fortunate because we understand the truth of God. But so many people don't. And yet, this day, Trumpets represents a time when God is going to start opening up the minds of those who didn't understand, and give them understanding. So, Job asked the question, if a man dies, shall he live again? And then he answers it. All the days of my hard service. Life's hard. It's difficult. I will wait till my change comes. The resurrection. You shall call. God will call. And I will answer you. You shall desire the work of your hands. Brethren, how beautiful is this that God with his tremendous love for us as Christians. You know, we have had our brothers and sisters that we love so very much die into faith. We miss them. We miss coming to Sabbath services and seeing them, and hearing them, and hugging them, and shaking their hands. And yet, as much as we miss them, God misses them even more. Because, despite the fact that we have our share of love, compared to God's love, it's hardly comparable. God with his great love can't wait to resurrect the saints. Can't wait to talk again to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and the prophets. Can't wait to talk to Peter and Paul, the people we know that you've loved here in this Chicago congregation. People that spent hours upon hours on their knees talking to God. He misses those conversations. And yet, he will call, and we will answer. Because God has a desire for the work of his hands. Let's take a look at a prophecy. I've covered this before, but we're going to cover it again. Isaiah chapter 60. Isaiah chapter 60.

Again, the context here is the return of Jesus Christ on trumpets. Very positive. Isaiah chapter 60 verse 1. Arise, shine, for your light has come. Now here's an Old Testament prophecy about your resurrection. And all of us are going to be resurrected, because it's appointed unto all men once to die. All of us in this room are going to die. Even if we are alive at the return of Christ, we will momentarily die and then be resurrected. So we're all going to face death. It says, arise, shine, for your light has come. We will be glorified spirit beings at the return of Jesus Christ as we are resurrected. And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Now notice the context, verse 2. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth. As we understand, as we go through all the preceding trumpets and all the things that are happening on earth, the earth is full of darkness. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people. Spiritual darkness, the people. But the Lord will rise over you and His glory will be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light and the kings to the brightness of your rising. Now I don't know about you, but I look forward to that time. I very much look forward to that. I look forward to a new body. I'm tired of the old body.

I was giving a sermon talking about this a number of years ago, and I said, this is back in my more rotund days, and I remember saying, I'm tired of looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy.

My daughter was in the audience, and after services, Danielle came up to me and says, you know, Dad, you really don't remind me of the Pillsbury Doughboy. I thought, isn't that sweet? There's my beautiful little daughter. She thankfully takes after her mother, but big blue eyes, blonde hair framing up your pretty little face. She said, no, Dad, you don't remind me of the Pillsbury Doughboy. Your heart's just pounding. She said, no, you actually remind me more of the Michelin Tire Man.

Sometimes, from the mouth of babes, we get humility. But we look forward to that time. And how about our kids? How about our kids? Let's say, you know, you've got little ones. We've got plenty of families here with little ones. What happens when you're resurrected with your physical little kids? What happens to them? Well, Isaiah, chapter 61, gives us a bit of a clue. Isaiah, chapter 61, verse 9. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, in their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed. Who better to raise children and grandchildren than a spirit being full of love and understanding, compassion, mercy?

That's what we have to look forward to with the return of Jesus Christ with the first resurrection. Psalm 16.

Psalm 16.

Psalm 16, starting in verse 7, here, going through the end of the chapter. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night sessions. I have set the Lord always before me because He is at my right hand, and I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope.

Rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul and seal in the grave, nor will you allow your holy one to seek corruption. You shall show me the path of life in your presence as fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Yes. This is one of the things that you and I as Christians look forward to on this day of trumpets, this feast of trumpets. We look forward to with a great deal of hope for the first resurrection, for our resurrection, for our being glorified. Not that we just love glory for the sake of glory. We want to be glorified so we can be even better servants. More loving, more compassionate, more wise, more giving as fully God beings, Spirit beings. We move on.

There's another hope that you and I can look forward to on this feast of trumpets. Point number two, we can rejoice in the hope of those who are going to be called. Those who are going to be called with the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. They're not called now, but they're going to be called. Remember, trumpets points to God working with man, man who isn't yet in the church. Human nature is a pretty tough nut to crack. Let's take a look at Revelation chapter 9.

Revelation chapter 9.

This takes place after the first six trumpets. A lot has happened on planet earth. A lot of bloodshed, a lot of death. Very dark times on planet earth. God is, like we've talked about regarding Isaiah, God does these things to want people to see their sins and repent, to come to Him. So here in Revelation chapter 9, verse 20 and 21.

We can't repent of their murderers or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Human nature is tough. Satan has got his hands all over human nature.

We move forward in the story of Revelation chapter 16.

Revelation chapter 16. We're now in the time period of the last trump. We're going through the last plagues. The seventh trumpet being broken down into seven last plagues. After four of those seven last plagues. Revelation chapter 16. Verses 8 and 9.

They blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues. Shows you the depths of the darkness of the human condition.

After the very last of the seven last plagues. Chapter 16 verse 21. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.

The point being, brethren, that mankind simply is not on his own going to yield to God. The establishment of God's kingdom on earth is their only hope. Your resurrection, along with Jesus Christ returning, is their hope.

Their hope for peace, their hope for happiness. Interesting prophecy over here in the book of Zechariah. Let's turn back there.

Zechariah chapter 8 verses 20 through 23. After Christ returns and begins to teach, after you and I have begun to teach, it's not going to happen overnight. The Bible talks about if people don't respond and come up to the Feast of Tabernacles, they're not going to get rain. But notice those who do respond. Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 20. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, People shall yet come, inhabitants of many cities, the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord, and seek the Lord of Hosts. I myself will go also. Yes, many peoples in strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem, and pray before the Lord. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.

Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you. Much different than today, where people want to talk about God's law being done away.

You know, God could just have easily said here, taking the hand or taking the sleeve of a Gentile man, saying, Hey, we're Sunday school. Not doing that here. Not doing that here. Let us go with you, where we have heard that God is with you, learning the things of God. Micah, chapter 4.

Micah, chapter 4, verses 1 and 2.

Now shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, in the word of the Lord, from Jerusalem. And that's a reason why people will start to change. Because the Spirit of God will be moving, interacting. As the millennium progresses, they'll be seeing how the earth is being replenished, how the earth is being healed, how people are being healed, how human nature is changing, because there is no Satan and there are no demons to interfere with the plan of God at that point. So here we have another hope. Not only the hope of the saints to be resurrected, but a second hope. The hope of those to be called the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth during trumpets. Point three.

We've talked about the people. We've talked about the people who are now in a church, people who are going to become a part of the church. But there's another hope that we look for on trumpets, and that's the hope that the earth has. The hope that the earth has. The hope that a dying planet has.

The establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. We read in Isaiah chapter 24 about all that's taking place on planet earth. We didn't read all the scriptures in Revelation that talked about don't hurt the trees, don't hurt the grass, because there comes a point where the ecosystem is so injured, if any more of the greenery were hurt, people simply couldn't get a breath. Simply couldn't get a breath. The earth, at the time of the return of Jesus Christ, is about ready to give out.

And yet with the return of Jesus Christ, that comes to an end. And now there is hope even for our planet. Let's go to a prophecy in the book of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel chapter 47.

Ezekiel chapter 47 and verse 1.

Then He brought me back to the door of the temple, and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east, and the water is flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. So there apparently is a literal river flowing from the temple in the world tomorrow. A river, a physical river, physical water, but it symbolizes something. It symbolizes the living waters of God's Holy Spirit. In your notes, you might want to jot down John chapter 4. John chapter 4 verses 10 through 14.

And also, John chapter 7 verses 38 and 39, where Christ talks about living waters, and He refers to living waters as a type of God's Holy Spirit.

Continuing on in chapter 47, verse 2, He brought me out by the way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway, the faces east, and there was water running on the right side. And when the man went out to the east with the lion in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters, and the water came up to my ankles. So every so often, He's going to measure this water coming up to His ankles. Verse 4, He measured one thousand and brought me through the waters, and the water came up to my knees. He measured one thousand and brought me through the water came up to my waist. Verse 5, He measured in one thousand it was a river that I could not cross, for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river which could not be crossed.

Now, here we're looking at, brethren, not only a physical river that gives life and sustenance and healing, but we're also looking at the idea of God's Spirit coming in measure, in greater and greater measure, as the people begin to obey. Who does God give His Spirit to? Acts 5, 32. God gives His Spirit to those who obey Him. And as people become more and more in line with the teachings of God, God's Spirit flows greater and greater into their hearts and to their minds. Verse 7, Chapter 47. When I return there along the bank of the river there are many trees on one side and on the other. And in verse 12, along the bank of the river on this side and that will grow all kinds of trees used for food. Their leaves will not wither, their fruit will not fail, they will bear fruit every month because their water flows from their sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for medicine.

Boy, I tell you what, those are days to look forward to. Speaking as an individual who's been on pharmaceutical since I've been 28 years old.

My brother died in 1980. He was 36 years old, died of a heart attack.

And I thought, well, since my family history, my grandfather and father dying of heart attacks at age 55, both of them, uncle of 58, better take a look at myself. And when I went in to see my doctor, I wasn't overweight. I mean, I was in really good shape. I was 28 years old, I wasn't overweight, and my blood pressure when I went to see the doctor was 160 over 100. Randy, we've got to put you on some medication. This is not good. And so I've been on blood pressure medication since I've been 28. I'm 29 now.

It's been a rough year. It may look like I've gone through more years. This last year has really been hard.

But here we see hope for planet Earth. Not only for Christians in the first resurrection, not only for those that are going to be called during the millennium and last-great-day periods when that time comes to them, but we see the Earth itself becoming a Garden of Eden, being healed. Isaiah 41 Isaiah 41, verse 18. I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree and the myrtle and the olive tree. I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this. The Holy One of Israel has created it. The Holy One of Israel. I look forward to the time when this Earth is just one beautiful location. You know, I don't know what you're like, but I know that when I come in after a hard day of snow blowing, and I sit down to relax and watch a little TV, and maybe there's one of those sandals commercials, with the beautiful water and the beach, I'm thinking, as I've said in the past, why am I living in Illinois? When we've got places, places that are so gorgeous, but in the world tomorrow, again, it's going to take a while. This is going to happen overnight. The Earth is going to be very chaotic at the outset. But after many generations, the Earth is going to be a beautiful jewel. And you're going to be a part of that reconstruction. You're going to be a part of that even helping with the physical aspects. That's the hope that we have, even as we look at the world itself. Let's look at Amos chapter 9.

We read chapter 5 earlier, and that's a desperate time. Let's take a look at the very end of the book of Amos. Amos chapter 9, starting here in verse 13.

So here we see a time that's just so magnificent for planet Earth, where the plowman overtakes the guy who's sowing seed and so on and so forth. How beautiful is that? How beautiful is that to think about the hope for Earth, a dying planet? And lastly, point four. Not only do we as Christians have hope, not only those who don't know the truth yet will have hope, not only will the Earth have hope, but the whole of the universe, brethren, the whole of the lifeless universe, that vastness of space that is dead, that will have life. And that will have life. Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and whatever God creates, He creates in great beauty, infinite beauty, beauty in such detail that we can hardly comprehend it. But then we see verse 2, The earth became without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. So the earth became chaotic, empty, waste. You know, we've got Star Wars, and in the movie Star Wars in that series, you've got a spaceship called the Death Star. Well, the individual who really was a killer of planets was Satan the Devil. He really was the one who wanted to kill the whole universe. Now, he's going to be set aside throughout the course of the whole millennium and the last great day. He's not going to have opportunity to hurt people in those times. But also, the universe, we see where that's going to be taken care of. We see that in Revelation chapter 21. Let's go to the other end of the Bible. Revelation chapter 21.

Revelation 21, verse 1. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea.

Again, we don't know what God has in mind for us as a family. You know, the plan of God is not explicit after a certain point. But what's God going to do? What do you think God's going to do with a new universe? Well, there's all sorts of speculation. There's nothing explicit in the Scripture. But here we're going to have, you know, is God a wasteful God?

Does God love big families? Yeah. What are the reasons why we limit families today? Well, economic reasons, physical reasons. But those don't apply to the great God. God's not physical.

You know, as a speculation, might God just take this new universe, these new heavens, and continue to populate it with spirit beings? No, that's a speculation. I label it as such. But, again, we see this part explicitly that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Verse 2, Truly something to be joyous over, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Then he, verse 5, Let's combine this idea here, what we see in 2 Peter chapter 3.

2 Peter chapter 3.

2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 13. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 13.

Last scripture for today, brethren, over in Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2.

Daniel chapter 2, verse 44.

And in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people. No, it will be given to you. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forever. So, brethren, this day, this feast of trumpets, pictures a time of truly great hope. Hope for us as Christians. Hope for those who we love who God has not called at this point. Hope for our dying planet earth. Hope for a dead universe. This day, the day when Jesus Christ comes, the day when Jesus Christ establishes His kingdom on planet earth, is a tremendous celebration of hope. I think today, in Chicago, has been a good day. A very good day. Catch you all at dinner.