Listen for the Sound of a Trumpet

Listen for the Sound of a Trumpet

 

“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 we shall always be with the Lord.”                                                                     I Thessalonians 4:16-17

             Every day the news shows us how close we are to approaching the ‘last days’ as we know them from the Bible.  The surrounding countries of Israel are pushing harder and faster to break into war and Armageddon is on the horizon.  We can ignore the signs, or we can realize the truth and warn others about what is coming.  The Bible tells us what we should be doing: “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand.”   Joel 2:1 

            This type of ‘Trumpet’ is to warn people of a terrible time coming on this earth; a time that we have never had to deal with, nor are prepared for. It will be a time of war; a time of terror that should fill us with fear.  There is another kind of ‘Trumpet’ which calls people to gather together. When the trumpet sounds in the sanctuary, it is time for worship:  “Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!”  [Psalm 150:3]  However, this ‘Trumpet’ sound in I Thessalonians is the Trumpet of God and warns us that he is coming for us.

            Yet, people are not seeing or hearing the warnings all around them.  They are doing exactly what the Bible says they will do in Matthew 24:37-39; “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” 

            Just recently, someone said to me, “It hasn’t happened in 2,000 years so why think about it now?  My answer is that of all the prophecies in the Bible, almost all have come to pass.  Time means nothing to God; if he says he’s going to do something he will do it.  I Corinthians 15:51-52 says this:  “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”  It really is a mystery that only God knows when and how it will happen, but it will happen when you don’t expect it.

            If you read your Bible, you have read about the ‘end times’ and the ‘Trumpet’ blowing.  Here is another warning, “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”   [Matthew 24:31]

            All these things are going to happen suddenly.  Some years ago we had a Women’s Conference with Lois Baker and Kay Rindahl.  Lois theme for that year was “Suddenlies”.  I have never forgotten that teaching.  It came to my mind recently because so many tragedies have happened suddenly to families and friends this past year. A woman jogging down the road from her home was shot and killed.  Did she ever think she would suddenly die that day?  A father with a wife and young children went to work that day; did he think a tree would fall on him and take his life?  A young woman went to bed that night and never woke up; did she ever think she would die that night? 

            These things are called ‘Suddenlies’ and that’s what is going to happen when God, the Father, tells Jesus, His Son, “Go bring my children home.”  Then God’s trumpet will sound and suddenly those who have been waiting and listening will rise in the air and be with Jesus for ever and ever.  Those who haven’t been waiting and watching will not be taken up with Jesus. They will be left behind.  Was it because they were having too much fun or too busy; maybe they just never thought about it at all and didn’t want a relationship with the Lord. 

            At this moment it’s not too late to change and no one can promise you will even have tomorrow. Ask the Lord to forgive you for all the sinful things in your life and for Jesus to come into your heart. Ask the Lord to take you with Him when he comes.  Live for Him and live forever!