For Whom the Trumpet Sounds

Thank you so much for that beautiful special music from the Garden Grove Choir. So here we are, afternoon of this first Fall Feast, and we're inaugurating this period when, if we would have been ancient Israelites, we would all be together. People loved to fellowship at that time. Everybody took their tithe to the feast, the second tithe, and just shared with everyone all the portions. So God is a God of family. He is developing a wonderful family and is calling us to be part of his family in the kingdom of God.

As you have seen today, we have heard a lot about the meaning of this day of God, which is called the Feast of Trumpets. And I'd like to share with you another perspective that you will probably find novel and new because God's word is inexhaustible as far as all the angles you can focus in on. And here's another one that he shows in his word that has to do with the Feast of Trumpets. And it's something that maybe we haven't quite looked at it, but it's in the Scriptures.

And I'd like to begin with a poem that I've enjoyed. This was by a 17th-century poet named John Donne. And he wrote a poem called, No Man is an Island. Many of you will recall that famous poem, and I'd like to just read some parts of it. He says, No man is an island. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore, never ask to whom the bell is tolling, for it tolls for you. Probably you've heard it, probably it has in your teenage years, or you probably remember that poem. And so I'd like to change that a little bit and name it, For Whom the Trumpet Sounds. Not the bell that is tolling, but For Whom is this feast of trumpets, with its trumpet sounds that is very important in the Bible. Who is that for? Notice in Psalms 81, verse 3, I'll go ahead and read it. Psalms 81, verse 3, it says, Blow the trumpet at the time of the new moon, at the full moon on our solemn feast day.

And today, it is a full moon out there. And so it's a new moon. Well, it's just the way it's set up astronomically. It's the beginning of a new month. So it's called the new moon, not the full moon. That's when it is in its plenitude. But right now, yes, it is the beginning, because at the feast time and the fifteenth month of the seventh month is when you see the moon, its fullness.

Right now, it's just beginning. This is the beginning of this very special month. And we are called pilgrims that are on a spiritual journey toward the kingdom of God. It's not just a physical life that we are living. Most people don't know where they're headed. They just go through the motions of life. Well, ours is a spiritual pilgrimage. It has meaning. We know the end result is to be part of the kingdom of God.

That is what our goal is, as Christ mentioned, that seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And everything else will be added. God will provide for the rest. Let's look in Hebrews 11, because here you see that the men and women of faith in Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, they saw themselves as pilgrims on a spiritual journey.

Life has a goal. It has direction. We are headed somewhere. And hopefully to be able to be part of that future kingdom of God. Notice in Hebrews 11, verse 13, it says, These all died in faith, not having received the promises. They didn't inherit the kingdom of God because the kingdom of God has not come, but they qualified for it. They finished the race and they actually are going to be rewarded when they are resurrected.

He says, but having seen them afar off the promises, what God said was a goal. And it says, we're assured of them, embrace them, and confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They confessed. This isn't our world as such. This isn't we are in the world, but we're not of the world's values. We're not part of this world system that is under the sway of the deceiver. Satan. He has invented all of these false religious systems to camouflage and to obscure and hide the truths of God.

So the world is deceived. They don't understand it. They don't even know that they are deceived. He goes on to say, for those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland or a kingdom. And truly, if they had called in mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return, to become citizens of that country. But now they desire a better that is a heavenly country because it's a kingdom that is going to be coming.

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. And that New Jerusalem is going to be coming down. That is the ultimate manifestation and fulfillment of the kingdom of God. It's not when Christ comes. That's not the complete fulfillment. It's when Jesus Christ gives the kingdom over to the Father and God brings down the New Jerusalem. And that's when the kingdom of God is truly fulfilled. So there are steps toward that aim and that goal. And in the Bible, as others have mentioned already today, trumpets mean to get our attention. They sound to get our attention, to wake up.

The sound of communicating something important. They didn't use the trumpets just for playing around. They did not use it as a plaything. No, this was very serious. People knew when those trumpets sounded, something important was about to occur. God set it up for them. Let's go to Numbers 10. Numbers 10. Again, this has been alluded to in the other messages, but we really haven't read it ourselves.

It's always good to read the Scriptures for yourself. Numbers 10, verse 1, And the Lord spoke to Moses, the Lord, as we know, usually in this context of the Old Testament, it's talking about the one who became Jesus Christ, the I AM. He's the one that communicated directly with the prophets and with the different patriarchs. Verse 2, it says, Make two silver trumpets for yourself.

You shall make them of hammered work. You shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. Then it goes on and says, verse 2, verse 3, When they blow both of them, all the congregations shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. This would be the case for the Sabbaths. They would blow and everybody would show up.

The whole congregation. Verse 4, But if they blow only one, not two, trumpets, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather together. So when one sounded all the leaders and the congregation would come together. Going on to verse 9, it says, When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets.

And you will be remembered before the Lord your God and you will be saved from your enemies. So actually it was a way of comforting people because God was going to be their salvation. He was going to intervene. Verse 10, it says, Notice it's a day of gladness, of joy, not of sadness.

So it's important that people knew when the beginning of the month was. All Israel was involved in counting these days. So instead of many of the nations that were in their ignorance, and most of them did know what they were doing, except that their leaders told them. But here in Israel, you could have every beginning of the month the new moon, and people would count out the days, and they knew. Well, the trumpets, they are trumpets is coming. See, it was for everybody. It wasn't something imposed on the people by the leaders. I mean, the leaders themselves were obeying God. God is the one that set up the rules. And so it's nice to know that people had ownership of this. They were responsible for keeping these feasts, and they would teach their children how to count these days. Continuing on, it says, I am the Lord your God. So it's almost like God is saying, I'm signing this. This is a law not from man, but from God. And so God set it up. It was a way to heed the sound, to organize the people, to communicate information, and to get people's attention. And trumpets are symbolized as waking up signals. These are sounds to wake the people up, so we can all do things together. Wouldn't it be great? If we could just have the entire Church of God community, we could all gather together. Unfortunately, that's not the case, but we do what we can. And as Paul said, some preach out of discord, others according to accord and harmony, but he says at least some of that truth is getting out to the world. In Romans chapter 10, let's go there because the trumpet sound has to do with teaching God's way of life, getting people's attention, to wake up, to do things God's way. Notice in Romans 10 verse 14, it says about the people in general.

And then it goes on to say, verse 17, so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So a way of looking at the trumpet is to get our attention. And God's word is a way to get the attention of people to look at what God expects from us, to wake us up out of our complacency, to see what we need to do in our lives. Now, from the time of Adam and Eve, did they know that God's word was like a spiritual trumpet sound, where God was calling them to his way of life? Did they heed that spiritual trumpet sound? No, they didn't. They followed the deceiver. They followed the wrong one, sort of like the Pied Piper. They got distracted. They didn't realize that, yes, God was calling them to his kingdom. If they would have just followed and heeded, God would have revealed all of these wonderful things to them about the feast days and the plan of salvation. Adam and Eve could have been the first to teach their children the way of God. But no, they followed after Satan, the deceiver. They were smitten by Satan's offer of independence from God. They got distracted, disoriented, disquieted, and diverted. And so Satan diverts people from God's paths. People are so wrapped up in the din and the sound of this world and society, they don't hear that spiritual trumpet, giving them a chance to call them to God's kingdom. Unfortunately, so many just refuse to heed that call.

There are those that did. Let's go back to Hebrews 11 and look at some examples of those that did heed God's call to attention. Those that kind of woke up and said, I'm not going to do it following the world's ways.

I want God's word to guide me, to wake me up, to lead me like trumpets that show us where we should gather, where we should go. Hebrews 11, verse 7, it says, It says, He heard that spiritual trumpet sound. Among the midst of all that din and noise of the world, people get caught up in it. No, he was able to distinguish. No, this is God calling. Yes, he's calling me to be part of his kingdom, and he heeded the call. It says, Following God, don't get distracted, don't get diverted by all of these tinsel decorations of the world. We have just recently seen a couple of these awards ceremonies, and a lot of people get caught up, and look what happens here in the little west of us, a place called Hollywood. What kind of world do they live in? Do you think they can hear the trumpet sound? Amongst all that noise and all of those celebrations and vanity and frivolity? No, until the true trumpet will sound, the physical trumpet, and then we'll see when they have to hide over there in the mountains of Hollywood, because everything is going to come crashing down on them. We'll see then whether they listen when that trumpet sound happens. Right now, the world isn't listening. They're too busy following all these Pied Pipers. The story of how the Pied Piper of Hamelin came into town, because they were having a lot of rodents, and he said, well, I'll take care of the rodents, but you're going to have to pay me a certain amount. And he, with his flute, played, and he took all the rodents, all the rats and mice and everything out of the town. And then later on, the people didn't pay him. And as a vengeance, then he played his flute and took all the children and led them away to destruction. And so they talk about the Pied Piper. It sounds good, but it can be very destructive following that type of sound and music. Going on here in verse 8, it says, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called. See? He was called. He heeded. He heard that spiritual trumpet sound. To go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. God didn't give him a map. But he trusted in God. See? He shut out all the noise in the world, all the Pied Pipers of the world, and said, No, this is the true God. I'm going to obey him. I'm going to follow his sound, the trumpets leading me to that coming kingdom of God. And now you've seen a lot of tragedies in the world. We're probably going to see a lot more. And what does Christ talk about? The tragedies that happened in his day? Let's turn to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13, verse 1.

Jesus was there, and it says, And so the historian Josephus mentions this. There were some Samaritans, some Galileans, that had gone into an area. They hadn't sought authorization from the Romans. They were going to do some sacrifices on their own. And Pilate sent armies, and they massacred all of these people. It was a big tragedy at that time, and they told them that was the news of the day. And what did Jesus say? And Jesus answered and said to them, Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. You are what is described in the book of Revelation as those who dwell on the earth, which talk about people that are unconverted. They are unrepentant and unregenerated people. And so the Bible talks about this, just like the tragedies going on in the world. You think these people died in the earthquake there in Mexico because they were worse than others? Or how about the ones that died in the different hurricanes in Puerto Rico now? You think they were worse? No. He says, look, if you don't change and heed that trumpet sound, you're all subject to dying from all the things that are happening on this earth. There's nothing that can rescue you. And so he just says, look, you need to heed that spiritual trumpet sound. Or not, you're part of that world that you are subject to the accidents and tragedies and vicissitudes of life.

Continuing on in Joel 2, verse 1, I will read it to you from God's word version. It says, blow the ram's horn in Zion. The word is shofar, which is the ram's horn. It says, blow the ram's horn in Zion. Sound the alarm on my holy mountain. Everyone who lives in the land should tremble because the day of the Lord is coming. Certainly it is near. And for that generation that starts seeing many of these end time events slowly happening, we know these things are getting nearer.

And who will stand in that day? That was what Dave Markham asked. Well, I'd like to answer who will stand. He mentioned basically the answer about those that have faith. But let's go to Revelation because it's interesting that right after it mentions that, it gives the answer right here in the Bible. Notice in verse 16, talking about all of these different people, and this is talking about society as a whole. And then it says, verse 1 of chapter 7, Then I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the living God. In other words, God is authorizing this. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, do not harm the earth and the sea or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And the first group, 144,000 of those that are heeding the spiritual trumpets call, and they are sealed from the wrath of God to come. Because as we have already seen, these other seals that have been opened, they're partial punishments and catastrophes. But with the seventh seal, that has to do with the seven trumpets and then the seven bowls. See, that's on the entire world. And so God has to protect his people, those that have heeded the spiritual trumpet, the call, and they have become God's servants. So all of chapter seven talks about the different people that are his servants during that time. In Revelation 8, in verse 1 and 2, it says, when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. It was so astounding. Even the angels were just awestruck by what is about to happen. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne. Again, God listens to his people. God knows what is happening at that time. Notice what it says in verse 13. And I looked and I saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth. Again, commentators of the book of Revelation mentioned that where this term, those who dwell on the earth or the inhabitants of the earth, it's not talking about the converted people. It's talking about those that have refused to repent, those that are still hardened in their lifestyles. And these are the people that these trumpets are going to blow on physically and cause these great world-shaking events. It says here, woe because of the remaining blasts of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to sound.

Now, what about those who have died in the faith, who have heeded the trumpets call during their lifetime? Again, it's not a call that God physically sounds a trumpet, but spiritually, he is calling a person to him. The person awakens from this sleep in the world, awakens from this false value. He wakes up and realizes what is really going on and starts following God. Notice what it says in Revelation 14 verse 12. It says, here is the patience or perseverance of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Here are identified God's true servants. They're keeping all ten of those commandments of God. They're keeping the Sabbath. They're keeping the Holy Days. They're keeping this day because this is part of God's commandments. It's based on the fourth commandment, which is holy time. We should remember the Sabbath and the annual Sabbath. They're all holy time. He says, verse 13, then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, right, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works. Follow them. And so, yes, there are going to be people that are going to suffer during that period of time that have been faithful. But those who have fallen asleep, see, they're arresting in the Lord. They are going to await that trumpet sound and awaken from the dead and be transformed and be part of the kingdom of God. Notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 51, very important scripture during this feast of trumpets. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 51. It says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. This is really the word of revelation, something that was not known in the past. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. And then it says, For the trumpet will sound. It has to. It's programmed by God. And the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. So with that trumpet sound announcing Christ's descent, people are going to awaken, and they're listening. The first things they're going to listen, they're still listening to those trumpet sounding. And they will know that they're going to be part of the resurrected into that first resurrection. And they're going to rise up to meet Christ in the air as he comes down to the earth. They're not going to lose that opportunity, that moment in history when Christ comes as a savior, as the king of kings, to establish his kingdom. They're going to be on it at the beginning. Isn't that wonderful to know about these that are asleep in Christ?

And we know as we go to the Feast of Tabernacles, the opportunity to hear the wonderful truth that mankind is not lost, that the great majority will have an opportunity to heed the sound of the spiritual trumpet in that second resurrection. They will have a chance to be part of the kingdom of God.

So we need to ask ourselves, how are we doing? It's a time to examine ourselves, to prepare for these wonderful feasts. We only have 10 days left for the Day of Atonement when we cleanse ourselves and we put ourselves in the proper frame of mind to go to the Feast of Tabernacles, to fellowship in a clean spirit where our heart, our conscience, our minds are clean and are able to share the wonderful promises, the wonderful goal of being part of that kingdom in the future. We need to prepare for these coming oasis of the fall feasts, to unite, to encourage, and prepare for that final trumpet sound. Let's read 1 Peter 4 as we finish. 1 Peter 4, verse 17. 1 Peter says here, What happens if none of these first fruits make it into the kingdom? What's going to happen to the rest of the world? No, it's so important for God's people to make a good showing, to show God they persevered. They heated that spiritual trumpet to the end of their lives. They didn't let all the noise and confusion of society detract them from going forward, putting the kingdom of God and His righteousness first. So, brethren, on this day, the trumpet is sounding mostly for all of us, as a reminder of that coming kingdom of God and our chance to be part of it. So let's remain faithful to the end. And for whom does this trumpet sound now? Brethren, it's sounding for us.