09.12.07
“FEAST OF TRUMPETS!”
I Corinthians 15:51-53
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
John had enlisted in the army. During his first day of military service he had been subjected to rigors he never could have imagined in his wildest nightmare. He had arrived at his new post in the early morning hours after a long flight. All day long he had been marched to–screamed at–and exercised to almost complete exhaustion.
His bed had never felt so good. He had just piled into bed when his drill sergeant appeared at the entrance to the barracks and demanded that everyone get out of bed and stand at attention! He had found a ball of lint on the floor and demanded that they get down on their hands and knees to clean every square inch with their bare hands.
It was after midnight before the sergeant finally stomped out after telling the men how miserable they were and that they would never amount to anything! The men wearily got back into their bunks and almost immediately were sound asleep. It seemed like only a few moments (actually about six hours later) when a horrendous sound was heard. It was their corporal blowing a trumpet to mark reveille. That trumpet was to sound each morning at 0600 during his basic training and prepared him for the trials of his training.
The trumpet has always been used to sound the alert and call people to action. God established this fifth of the seven feasts, Rosh Hashana or Feast of Trumpets, to call His people to spiritual attention. The Day of Atonement was just seven days away and people needed to get their lives ready.
There are some today who ignore these seven established Feasts without realizing their spiritual impact. If there was ever a time when we needed a trumpet call of God’s warning, it is in our day and age. The signs of His return which Jesus gives us in Matthew 24, read like the morning newspaper. The time is near!
The Feast of Trumpets signaled to the people that hearts had to be changed. As Jesus told the Parable of the Ten Virgins, He was teaching the necessity of being ready when our Bridegroom returns to call us to be with Him. They knew that the bridegroom would return unexpectedly just as we know that our Bridegroom will arrive unexpectedly.
Our Bridegroom paid the price for our sins when He died on Calvary. Those who are wise and receive Him into their life will be saved. Those who neglect His great salvation will be lost. Now is the time for action. God’s Trumpet call is sounding to awaken us from our slumber and get ready. Listen! Can you hear it?
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
- -Â - Pastor Cecil