ARE YOU READY FOR THE TRUMPET TO SOUND?
I Thess. 4:13-18
INTRODUCTION:
1.) Last week I looked with you at the question: “When will the Lord return?”
2.) I gave three answers to that question:
A.) N o one knows about the day or hour.
B.) The day of the Lord will come suddenly, and without immediate warning.
C.) We must be ready for the Day of the Lord.
3.) Today, I want to focus some more on the third answer I gave last week that we must be ready.
4.) Are you ready for the trumpet to sound?
I.THE SOUNDING OF THE TRUMPET PROCLAIMS THAT GOD IS IN CHARGE.
1.) There has never been a time when God did not have the control of this world.
A.) from the beginning of creation God has had supreme control and command of this world.
B.) It is amazing to look at the annals of history, and see how that God has worked through nations, and peoples totally
unaware of His existence, to accomplish his purposes.
C.) We can particularly see this through the coming of His son, Jesus the Christ.
2.) Since the fall of man, evil has prospered, and it seems that the world has only gotten worse.
A.) There have been many times in the history of the world that it has appeared that God was either absent, or not caring what happened on this planet. aa.) Yet God has revealed his control in the past when He destroyed the world of Noah’s day with a flood.
ab.) God showed that He was in control in the past when He brought fire and brimstone from heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorroh.
B.) One of the great challenges must be for God to be completely in control, while allowing free-will, and the wickedness of man.
3.) There have been times it has appeared that Satan has been in charge of this world.
A.) Wickedness has always seemed to have an upper hand.
4.) The sounding of the trumpet proclaims the Supremacy of God Almighty.
A.) When the trumpet sounds all will bow before the presence of God, and all will forever know that God is in control
B.) Through the ages man has rejected God, scoffed at God, mocked, and ridiculed God.
C.) The sounding of the trumpet will put all in perspective, as to who is really in charge.
ca.) God Almighty, and his Christ will be shown to be the Supreme Rulers of all creation.
cb.) Phil. 2:9-11
D.) Though a terrifying sight that day all will bow before the presence of God and His Christ.
da.) The wicked will bow with the Righteous.
db.) The Faithful will bow with the faithless.
E.) The Christian, the Agnostic, the Atheist the young, the old, the rich, the poor, and every person who has ever lived will all bow before the presence of Jesus Christ, and God Almighty
F.) Before God's throne there will be no distinction, all will bow together to worship the One who is God Supreme.
II. THE SOUNDING OF THE TRUMPET DECLARES ETERNITY HAS BEGUN.
1.) There is a limited time for this world to endure.
A.) This world as we know it will not continue indefinitely.
aa.) God has already declared that this is the case.
aa-1.) 2 Pet. 3:10-12
B.) At the close of the Great Comission Jesus gave us His assurance that He would be with us always until the end of the age or time. (Matt. 28:20)
C.) In the parable of the Harvest, Jesus described the harvest as the “end of the age.” (Matt. 13:39)
D.) There are other passages we could look at, but these show that there will be a point when time will end, and eternity begin.
2.) God has scheduled a moment when time shall cease, and eternity begin.
– Acts 17:31
A.) The date when God's trumpet blast will begin eternity is known only to God.
aa.) Jesus said: “No man knows the day or the hour…”
B.) Many have speculated on it.
3.) When eternity begins, any unfinished plans for time will be forever done, and forever uncompleted.
A.) Every day we all make plans, and set dates on our calendars; we set goals for times and dates yet future.
B.) One day that trumpet will sound, or we will go to be with the Lord.
ba.) None of us know which will come first.
ba-1.) Will the trumpet sound and Christ return?,
ba-2.) Or will we go to the grave?
bb.) Either way, the plans we have made but have not completed will never be finished..
bb-1.) We might have scheduled car appointments, hair appointments, or plan to get groceries that day.
bb-2.) But when the trumpet sounds all plans of earth will be immediately finished and forgotten.
bc.) Now is the only time we have to count on. Neither this world no anyone in it is guaranteed even one more day to work, to plan, to create, or to give our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ.
bc-1.) James 4:13-17
III. THE SOUNDING OF THE TRUMPET SUMMONS MANKIND TO JUDGMENT AND HIS ETERNAL REWARD.
1.) The Judgment will be a fearful time.
A.)Throughout history the sounding of the Trumpet often has brought man to fear.
aa.) Amos 3:6
“When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble?
B.) When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai, to meet with God, the presence of God brought thunder and lightening.
ba.) There was also a trumpet blast indicating God's presence, and that filled the people with fear.
ba-1.) Exod. 20:18
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance.”
C.) We can be sure that the day the Trumpet of the Lord sounds to summon mankind to the judgment will be a day of fear unlike any other that has ever been.
2.) The judgment will be a Revealing time.
A.) The secrets of our lives will be revealed and judged.
aa.) Rom. 2:16
ab.) Matt. 10:26
"Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”
3.) The Judgment will be a sad time.
A.) For those who have never accepted Christ before that moment, the judgment will be the saddest of all days.
B.) Nothing could ever be sadder or more painful than to stand before God Almighty and have him say:
“Your name is not found in the book of Life. Depart from me, I do not know you.”
C.) None of us can imagine the devestation of those words or being eternally separated from the presence of God.
D.) Even for the Christian the Judgment will be a time of sadness as we see friends and loved ones sentenced to eternity in the place of torment prepared for Satan and his demons.
da.) There is nothing that could break our hearts more than seeing loved ones sentenced to an eternity in hell.
db.) The Bible tells us that when we get to heaven God will wipe away every tear.
dc.) Rev. 21:4
dd.) I want you to notice the time when this will take place. This will happen after the Judgment when we are in heaven.
dd-1.) This sounds like there will be tears when we first get to heaven.
4.) The sounding of the trumpet will (for the Christian) be a time of celebration.
A.) For the Christian it will signify that our battle with Satan and his forces are over.
B.) For the Christian it will be a time of celebration when the angels come to t ake us to be at home with God. ba.) Matt. 24:31"And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
CONCLUSION:
1.) Today as we leave here we know that one day the trumpet of the Lord will sound.
2.) Of this reality, there is no question.
3.) But what does remain as a question is our own readiness for that day.
A.) Are we ready for the trumpet to sound?
B.) Today we need to not only have that knowledge, but also the assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ.
C.) If as you examine your life you have to answer that you are not ready if the trumpet of the Lord should sound today hear and Heed the call of Christ today.
D.) In faith, surrender yourself to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in the waters of baptism.
