Robert Dick - Feast of Trumpets - The Best of Times & The Worst of Times

good morning to everyone here and uh to all of you who are on line by means of the camera it's good to see those of you that are here and to know that those who aren't are tuned in for this special holy day listening very carefully to the words on the special music those that reflect the meaning of this day very enjoyable also this time of year those who bring in the glory of the fall flowers it's always something special on the day of trumpets to see the last of the beautiful foliage before all of that is gone and we transition beyond that season you know when you've given this particular message meaning of the day message for the feast of trumpets for many many years over over time as you prepare certain things begin to appear over and over and over and over again and i'd like to pose a question to you in that particular context as you look at the feast of trumpets and i look at an audience that has also been keeping this for decades in many cases what single characteristic best describes the day of trumpets what carry what single characteristic best describes the day of trumpets i remember the first time that i gave a sermonette as a young minister at a combined church service so there were multiple church areas that were together and i was assigned to sermonette and i spoke on the feast and an evangelist came to me afterwards and he just very politely and gently said as a assessment of my sermonette he said you need to remember that this is the day of trumpets not the day of trumpet obviously a lot of years have gone by and i haven't forgotten what he said this is the day of trumpets the single characteristic that best describes the day of trumpets is contrast it is a holy day that pictures the most radical contrasts in all of human experience when i look at the feast of trumpets i'm reminded of the opening phrase from charles dickens the tale of two cities for those who have read dickens or those familiar with dickens there's probably nothing more closely identified to charles dickens in his writings than the opening phrase to the tale of two cities it was the best of times it was the worst of times these words graphically describe the day of trumpets now dickens was writing about the city of london and the city of paris at the time of the french revolution and so his comment was focused on the city two great cities the city of london and the city of paris during the time of the french revolution but what he said about those two cities in his opening paragraph fits the day of trumpets literally like a tailor-made glove and i expect in the resurrection there will be conversations and dickens with his greater knowledge will understand that he better described the day of trumpets than he described london in paris at the time of the revolution probably all of you are familiar with that short opening phrase but do you know what follows it let me read you charles dickens assessment of london and rome and it will be the assessment of the day of trumpets it was the best of times it was the worst of times it was the age of wisdom the age of foolishness it was the epic of belief it was the epoch of incredulity it was the season of light and it was the season of darkness it was the spring of hope in the winter of despair we had everything before us we had nothing before us dickens just described the day of trumpets this morning we're going to let charles dickens unwittingly walk us through the meaning of the day of trumpets i'd like you to turn back to romans chapter 8. dickens began his famous tale of two cities by saying it was the best of times romans chapter 8 makes the following comments the apostle paul said to the church of god in rome that i consider in verse 18 that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which god shall reveal in us for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of god he goes on in verse 23 to say and not only they but we also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we ourselves grown within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption the redemption of our bodies paul told the romans that the entirety of god's creation is literally sitting on pins and needles waiting for the day when they will see the expectation actually materialize that happens at the blast of the seventh trumpet you know there's a place in revelation that says referring to the throne of god that it was surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand angels and thousands and thousands just that scene alone was over a hundred million how many hundreds of millions of angels there are i have no way of knowing nor do you but they all sit like the proverbial child on christmas eve eagerly waiting for the next morning when they can run downstairs and open their presents only this isn't magnitudes more than that for the day when they can see we human beings changed into sons of god you know the apostle john said we don't know what we will appear like at that point in time but what we do know is that we will appear like him well that's as good as knowing what we will look like it is the best of times all of god's plan has been moving along narrowing toward a point of focus that takes place when the seventh trump sounds and you and i and the twinkling of an eye are changed from flesh and blood to spirit beings there is no better time it is the worst of times matthew 24 i don't even need to turn there because this one you all know so well and it's been it's been touched on earlier i'll give you the place matthew 24 21-22 when the disciples were asking jesus christ tell us the signs of the end of the age and of your coming jesus christ said to them in matthew 24 21 and 22 that the condition of this world is going to come to the place if it were not for the elect's sake there would be no flesh saved alive if it were not that god has an elect this world will wind itself down to the place where it will destroy itself and christ assures his disciples in matthew 24 21-22 that i will not let that happen that is the worst of times jesus christ is going to snatch this world from the brink of jumping off a suicidal cliff of self-destructing of reaching such a case of chaos and anarchy that man is ready to push the ultimate button that will remove all humanity off this earth and christ says for the elect's sake i will not let that happen that is the worst of times you know it can't get any worse came real close with noah real real close with noah but this is worse revelation chapter 11 revelation chapter 11 gives us a window where we can look at the two of them in concert revelation chapter 11 verse 15. as we walk through this brethren i'll just i'll just give you a heads up uh i i told my wife i said you know this has been one of the easiest sermons i've ever prepared because every single solitary scripture is at the time i don't have to try to make a scripture fit the time they're all there and so we simply get to walk through scriptures all related specifically on target to the day of trumpets verse 15 then the seventh angel sounded the last of the trumpets and there were found and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ and he shall reign forever and ever and the 24 elders who sat before god on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped god saying we give you thanks o lord god almighty the one who is and who was and who is to come because you have taken your great power and reigned the nations were angry and your wrath has come at the time of the dead that they should be judged and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name small and great and shall destroy those who destroy the earth the best of times the worst of times dickens went on to say it was an age of wisdom and an age of foolishness the day of trumpets marks the dawning of the day of wisdom as we've already seen in the previous scripture all of us and not just us human beings but all spirit beings eagerly await the sound of the seventh trumpet and the return of jesus christ but in the context of what we're talking about right now an age of wisdom and an age of foolishness let's look at the context daniel chapter 12. as the book of daniel is closing wrapping up there are some summarizations and in daniel chapter 12 in verse 1 daniel records the following at that time michael shall stand up the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since time was or since excuse me since there was a nation even to that time and at that time your people shall be delivered every one who is found written in the book and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life some to shame and everlasting contempt and those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever at the time of the sounding of the seventh trump and the resurrection of the saints daniel is allowed to see that many who are wise shall shine like the firmament as john said we know that we will appear like him we know the apostle paul as he wrote to the corinthians said the wisdom of god is the foolishness of this world and to god this world lives in foolishness at that time at the revealing of the sons of god the wisdom of god that paul talked to the corinthians about will begin to shine and the age of wisdom will begin christ will bring his way the saints will assist and wisdom will dominate dickens said at that point in time it would also be an age of foolishness or dickens said that in contrasting london and paris i'm simply saying to you what he said about those two cities fits beautifully the day of trumpets the wise shall shine as the firmament what about foolishness what about trumpets and foolishness jeremiah chapter 4 those who are familiar with the signs of the end of the age the kind of conditions that there will be well instantly as they begin to read the scriptures that i'm turning to right now in jeremiah chapter 4 see all of those identifiers that are identical with the day of the lord jeremiah chapter 4 and verse 23. i beheld the earth and indeed it was without form and void and the heavens they had no light i beheld the mountains and indeed they trembled and all the hills moved back and forth i beheld and indeed there was no man and all the birds of the heaven had fled i beheld and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the lord by his fierce anger as you read about the day of the lord as you read about the trumpet plagues and as you read about the seven last plagues this is what it's describing so we have a setting we have a say we have a a setting where this earth is shaking and trembling where everything has devolved into total chaos but in that setting what was the state of man well the state of man is described in the verse that precedes it for my people are foolish they have not known me they are silly children or as the margin says they are foolish children and they have no understanding oh they are wise to do evil but to do good they have no knowledge as we move to that point in time god's assessment of his people are they're foolish they are silly children utterly and totally foolish oh yes they have become very wise on how to do evil but how to do what is right they are clueless an age of wisdom and age of foolishness dickens went on to use the term the epic of belief and the epic of incredulity two words epic much more familiar incredulity not really a part of most people's vocabulary so a little bit of definition is needed an epic is a description of a period of time in history that is marked by notable events or is marked by particular characteristics and so you have a condition and a condition that lasts a certain length of time and when that becomes a defining element in human history that block of time where you can see a consistent characteristic or a notable series of events would be an epic dickens spoke of an epic of belief let's go back to where we were with the sermon at first thessalonians chapter four it is to the thessalonians that the apostle paul paul speaks of and gives both encouraging and and cautioning words about this time yet ahead of us that we celebrate today as the feast of trumpets first thessalonians chapter 4 verses 13 through are classic funeral scriptures pointing to the day of trumpets trumpets is that time or that epic marked in a particular way so let's look at first corinthians chapter four beginning in 13. but i do not want you to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep must you sorrow as others who have no hope for if we believe that jesus christ died and rose again even so god will bring with them those who sleep in jesus for this we say to you by the word of the lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the lord will by no means precede those who are asleep for the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of god and the dead in christ will rise first then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and thus shall we always be with the lord today is the day that those who believe will receive their reward all of those who have believed god and have formed their conduct their way of living their actions their attitudes all of those form because they read in god's word that these are the things that i instruct you to do in the way that i instruct you to live all of those who have believed you know there's there's believing which is head nodding and then there is believing which is demonstrated by how you live your life all those who truly believe will be transformed at the sound of the seventh trumpet there is no time like the day of trumpets that could be called the epoch of belief what we talked about to begin with that all of creation earnestly waiting an expectation for the revealing of the sons of god and they will know that those who rise are those who have lived their belief and that will be its marker the epoch of incredulity not a common word is it those of you that love words would know what it means and the majority of us would say well it's not good whatever it is but i'm not exactly sure what it is incredulity is the state of being unwilling or unable to believe something we live in an age of incredulity science and education are working themselves to the bone media along with it and we can spread it out beyond that to destroy every single solitary sense of belief in god that there is it is an epic i've said to four or five people during the period of covend that the thing that has struck me probably as much as anything else is that aside from because they don't count the string of religious channels the 700 club and all the individual preachers preachers put the preachers aside in the common society in the common conversation in the common dialogue from the very time this pandemic began i have not personally you may have but i'm not i have not personally heard anyone place on the table could god be involved with what is currently going on god's not even on the table you've got head banging and fighting and name calling and fist shaking and every sort of chaos but god is not in the dialogue we live in the epic of incredulity and i've got bad news for you brethren it's only going to get worse 2 thessalonians chapter 2 is where paul told the thessalonians if you think it is bad now just hang on because it's going to get a supernatural assist 2 thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 1 now brethren concerning the coming of our lord jesus christ and our gathering together to him we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter as from us as though the day of christ had come let no man deceive you by any means that the day and that day is this day the day we're celebrating that that day will not come unless a falling away comes first and that the man of sin is revealed the son of perdition what's the highlight what's the highlight of that time when the son of perdition is revealed what's his focus what's the societal response verse 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed whom the lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming so he gives the beginning and end in one verse he's going to be revealed and oh by the way at the end of it all he's going to be utterly destroyed but in between the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan with all power signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved so you've got a tailor-made leader for a tailor-made society his whole mission is deception and he has a society that is ready to welcome him with open arms because they want absolutely nothing to do with the truth for this reason god will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they may all be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure and unrighteousness it is the epic of incredulity and it will reach its apex when the man of sin with the power of satan brings what god refers to through paul's writing as a strong delusion upon a world that we've already described earlier very wise in doing wrong and very foolish in doing right and it is all the ingredients for mixing up a batter and baking a cake of an epic of incredulity dickens went on to speak of a season of light and a season of darkness you know brethren we come we come and we celebrate this day and we know there are seven trumpets and we know that one two three four and five six are not trumpets you really even enjoy reading about i i don't i don't enjoy reading about trumpet one two three four five six i can't even wrap my head around how one two three four five six can be survived but as i said regarding the evangelist who walked up to me as a young minister remember this is the day of trumpets the season of light is described in isaiah chapter 60. isaiah chapter 60. right in the meat of the messianic prophecies just a whole body toward the end of the book of isaiah of beautiful second coming of christ prophecies and this is one of those isaiah chapter 60 the verse three first the first three verses arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the lord is risen upon you for behold the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people but the lord will arise over you and his glory will be seen upon you the gentile shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising this is a phenomenal day brethren something that we yearn for and we look forward to because the light you know we have the glory of christ coming we have the glorification of the saints so that they shall shine like the stars of heaven and they shall be like christ but light as we read here in isaiah chapter 60 is both literal and metaphorical this world lives in darkness and yet i can look outside through the back door and it's a beautiful really bright and sunny day that required me to put on my sunglasses to come down from vancouver but i'm looking out into a world that is muddling in darkness because of its rejection of the way of god christ's return will not only be a time of literal shining but it will be a time of shining light in dark places spiritually many in this room have grown up in the church but for those of you who did not grow up in the church you can all remember that day and time when you blinked and said how did i not see this as as god opened your eyes to begin to see the truth you shook your head and said how how did i not see this why have i not been able to see this i open my bible and there it is how have i how have i not been able to see it the beginning years of my ministry was spent the majority of the time visiting new prospective members this was in alabama mississippi southern georgia and the panhandle of florida so deep in the bible belt that everybody was evangelical clear up to here and we started they'd start studying and see the sabbath and to make it as simple as possible you'd simply pick up a calendar and hold it up in front of them and say which day is the seventh day of the week well i be it's saturday i never thought of that now with god opening their mind now that the last day on that calendar was saturday finally meant something to them it was a great delight to do that because i had grown up in the same darkness and was totally convinced growing up in that darkness that i was living in the light and only when god called could i could my family shake their head and say how how did we not see it what an awesome time it will be when trumpet comes and the season of light starts the trumpets that are before the seventh trumpet are the greatest season of darkness that's ever existed the greatest season of darkness that ever will exist those of you who are good at bible study bible understanding and bible memorization if i ask you which is the day of the lord book in the bible you could already start turning because the day of the lord book in the bible is the book of joel and so as we turn to the book of joel and as joel describes the earlier portion of the day of trumpets this is joel's description the joel is not unique we we already we already have plowed this ground two or three times before we even got here and we could plow it a lot longer than joel but joel being the day of the lord book gives us a stronger focus and so joel chapter 2 and verse 1 blow the trumpet in zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of the land trump tremble for the day of the lord is coming for it is at hand in the general sense of the word brethren the day of trumpets and the day of the lord are the same they are the same general period of time how does he describe it a day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness like the morning clouds spread over the mountains a people come great and strong the like of whom has never been nor will ever be any such after them even for many successive generations he goes on in verse 30 and he says and i will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth blood and fire and pillars of smoke the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and terrible day of the lord and it shall come to pass that whatever call whoever calls on the name of the lord shall be saved the heavenly signs that are that transition from the first five seals of revelation and set the stage for the day of the lord the seventh seal the blowing of the seven trumpets from that time of the heavenly signs all the way through the trumpets is truly the greatest season of darkness that has ever occurred we're sharing photographs with somebody here a week ago we were simply i was talking to somebody saying uh and you're part of the in your part of the west uh how are how are you dealing with smoke issues right now and one of them was saying well the wind is blowing been blowing the other direction so it's not so bad another said let me show you show you on a cell phone and i looked at it and i said you know when the fires were fire were blow were were burning on the southeast side of portland and the winds were just right i said our subdivision up in salmon creek was darker and gloomier than i have ever seen in the entire time i've been in the northwest and for two days in a row i took pictures of the houses and of the subdivision because just from the smoke of that fire there was a gloom throughout the entirety of the day that was palpable you could literally feel it and that's child's play compared to what the day of the lord is going to be like it will be a season of light as christ returns to both visibly be seen and to begin to bring man out of the darkness of his morality into the light of the way of god and it will be a season of darkness leading up to that it will be the spring of hope and the winter of despair first peter chapter 1. and as again as i said to you earlier we don't we don't really have to work with any of these scriptures they're all planted in the time period that we are celebrating right now first peter chapter one peter in his salutation to the people to whom he is writing making a generalized statement makes a beautiful general statement that covers this time and the fact that it is the spring of hope first peter chapter 1 verse 3 blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you so as he spoke to his congregations he says through the death and the resurrection of jesus christ there is reserved to you something that is incorruptible it can't change it is guaranteed you take you take all the guarantees that this world can offer the guarantees of a government for its currency the guarantee of somebody of goodwill that i will back up my promises there is nothing on the face of this earth that can pair with god's iron-clad guarantee of our inheritance he said it is incorruptible it is undefiled and it doesn't fade away he didn't stop with one description he said look what i've guaranteed you that i will deliver on the day of trumpets is unperishable that's the marginal rendering of incorruptible it is undefiled and it doesn't fade away you know every time i buy a tool or an appliance and i look at the guarantee i look at how it fades away not really it's 100 guaranteed for x period of time and and then it's uh and and then the value is uh determined based on where you know you get a tire with a 60 000 mile guarantee read the small print we will replace the tire for the next week or two and then as the tread wears we we prorate it and by a certain place in time we just smile at you and say there's not enough tread the guarantee doesn't work anymore god says my guarantee doesn't change it doesn't alter it doesn't fade you know brethren the apostle peter to the congregation said this is the spring of our hope this is when it blossoms this is when we see the shoots come up and when the blades come up the beauty of the greenness the day of trumpets is the spring of our hope for the world around us it is the winter of their despair revelation chapter 6. revelation chapter 6 we're going to look at the sixth seal of revelation which is the heavenly signs that introduce the day of the lord that introduce the trumpets so here's the introduction to trumpets revelation 6 beginning in verse 15. and the kings of the earth the great men the rich men the commanders the mighty men every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand it doesn't matter whether you're rich whether you're poor whether you own everything whether you own nothing the heavenly signs that realize the next step is the appearing of christ says find a cave and hide i frankly hope the rocks fall in on top of you because it's better than facing the face of him who we are going to have to face because the question is which of us is going to survive the great day of his wrath and who will still be standing when he appears you see brethren for you it is the spring of hope for the world around us it is the winter of despair he went on to say as he was summing it up we have everything before us we have nothing before us just as charles dickens contrasted london and paris so god inspired daniel in multiple places to contrast the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of god daniel to multiple monarchs interpreted what god had said and god gave daniel a summarization you see to every to every person that daniel went what god was revealing was the gentile governments that will exist from the time of babylon until the time of jesus christ's return and he said i'm going to give you the whole picture from right now you nebuchadnezzar all the way to the very last one and then i'm going to tell you how it all ends and he not only had to say that to nebuchadnezzar he had to say it to monarch monarch it was always the same message never changed what daniel had to say and we will read two instances in daniel 2 and daniel 7. is if you are a part of those who believe in the coming of jesus christ you sit even right now saying i've got everything before me and if you were a part of this world and this is what you love and this is your whole being you will say i've lost everything it's all a matter of who you are which side you're on which side of that fence you stand on when christ returns daniel 2 this is the first of the summarizations this is that summarization that took place when nebuchadnezzar saw the image that was made of multiple medals and asked for an interpretation and daniel gave it to him starting with you nebuchadnezzar are that head of gold and then there is silver and then there's bronze and there's iron and then there are ten toes of iron and mirey clay and here's how it all ends daniel 2 verse 42 and as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile as you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay they will mingle with the seed of men but they will not adhere to one another just as iron does not mix with clay and in the day of these kings the god of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall not be left to other people it shall break in pieces and consume all the kingdoms and it shall stand forever you have all the contrast sitting right there in those two verses for the kingdoms of this world and this society there's nothing when this day comes there's nothing to look forward to from where they see the world for how they see the world for how they live their lives there is nothing to look forward to for those who are ready to enter the kingdom of god it's inadequate to say they have everything before them it it doesn't it doesn't even begin to touch it you know that's the front end of the millennium but the millennium the millennium is a preschool the new jerusalem comes down at the very end of what we celebrate each year in the fall god comes down and lives with man man continues on for all eternity we have two little windows one says eye is not seen nor ear heard what god has in store and the other is in hebrews where it says what is man that you are mindful of him that's probably the best window we have to look through you made him for a little while lower than the angels but you have put all things under his feet and yet not yet we're a puny scrawny indefensible being in the face of many many of god's created creatures nobody wants to stand and face a tiger a lion an elephant a rhinoceros to be sat on by hippopotamus to have to wrestle with a gorilla or even a chimpanzee if you know how strong a chimpanzee is and yet we rule them all but that's kindergarten he says i have placed all things under their feet science works with all their might to build a bigger and bigger telescope to find a further and further place in the universe and every time they find a bigger one they simply find a farther place out they don't have the ability to see the end because they don't have an end and it's yours all of what it is for all of time how better can you describe we have everything before us daniel 7 a revelation to another monarch we've moved from the babylonian period to the persian period and the persians are reminded of the same awesomeness of god's plan daniel 7 15 my daniel was grieved in my spirit within my body and the visions of my head troubled me and i came near to one of those who stood by and asked him the truth of all this and so he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things these great beasts which are four are four kings which shall arise out of the earth but the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever even forever and ever so he's he speaks of the same thing he spoke to nebuchadnezzar here in a much more abbreviated form it's not four kings individual but four successive kingdoms and he says at the end of it all they will all be deposed and the saints shall possess the kingdom forever even forever and ever and he goes on to verse 26 but the court shall be seated and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it forever there's nothing left before the world and then the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven heaven shall be given to the people the saints of the most high his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him you know charles dickens addressed a very very small and limited window both in time and in geography with american geography so to speak you could throw a rock between london and paris you could put both london and paris and the state of oregon and have room left over and wonder what to do with it dickens described a small piece of geography in a small period of time and i can't help but wonder and muse what it would be like to sit down with him in the resurrection and say let me read to you from the bible about the day of trumpets you you wrote the tale of two cities you wrote about the wrong time you see the day of trumpets will indeed be the best of times and the worst of times the age of wisdom and the age of incredulity or the age of wisdom in the age of foolishness it'll be the epic of belief in the epic of incredulity it will be the season of light and the season of darkness for you brethren it will literally be the spring of hope and for the world the winter of despair and as we begin these fall holy days we rejoice in the day of trumpets because we have everything before us and we see sadly a world that has nothing before us dickens statements fit beautifully the celebration that we are celebrating today

Channel: United Church of God Portland

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Length: 53min 50sec (3230 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 08 2021