“For the Lord himself shall descend from heavenwith a shout, with the voice of the archangel, andwith the trump of God: and the dead in Christ

shall rise first:”

ChurchLiving

Feast of Trumpets

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Feast of TrumpetsThis series of lessons has been designed for private study or classroompresentation. The purpose of this foreword is to explain certain conventionsutilized throughout the program. The overall concept is to begin with the basicconcepts necessary for the new convert to understand and progress towardmore complex doctrine. The lessons are numbered in order to maintain theproper sequence of study.

When Scripture references are encountered in the text, various actions arerecommended. When in parenthetical bold (Genesis 1:1) the verse is to belooked up and read right away. Frequently, the next textual statement willcomment on that verse. Reading verse and text in proper order will enhanceone’s understanding of the verse. Direct quotes from Scripture will be “bolditalicized and contained in quotation marks” and, unless otherwise noted,will be from the King James Bible. When the reference is in parentheticalnon-bold (Genesis 1:1) it is to provide the Scriptural basis for the statement ifconfirmation is desired. References in blue Genesis 1:1 will be listed in thelesson section entitled FURTHER STUDY.

FURTHER STUDY is the “homework” section. Its purpose is to encourageBible study at home. The referenced verses have a short summation to assistthe student desiring more knowledge about a subject to find what they arelooking for.

The DISCUSSION QUESTIONS section is primarily for classroom use.Open discussion with the exchange of ideas produces growth for all involved.Most of the time the answer is contained in the referenced Scripture butsometimes the question is offered for open discussion. Even in private Biblestudy, analysis of the question and the search for its answer can be rewarding.

This work is offered to anyone with a desire to better understand God’s Word.It is our hope and prayer that the person studying these lessons will come awaywith a better understanding of God’s will and a closer walk with our Lord,Jesus Christ.

With Loving Concern for all those seeking God’s MessageThe Church of God Rocky Mount

Rocky Mount, Virginia

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with ashout, with the voice of the archangel, and with thetrump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”

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For nearly 6,000 years, eversince the sin of Adam, God hasallowed us humans to reap theconsequences of going ourown ways. Man now standspoised to destroy all life on thisplanet. And unless Jesus Christreturns to earth to restore thegovernment of God and put anend to warfare, not a singlehuman being would be leftalive!

In God's 7,000-year MasterPlan of salvation, the first6,000 years have been allottedto man to do as he wills. Dur-ing these 6,000 years, civiliza-tions have developed based on

the way of Satan, who sits onthe throne of the earth.

Christ, at His return, will endSatan's rule, and begin 1,000years of God's rule, the ruleof the Kingdom of God onearth. A new civilization basedon God's law will grip theearth. Peace, happiness, andprosperity will soon be every-where!

God begins His annual festi-vals with the Passover, whichreminds us that the Messiah's--Christ's--sacrifice makes itpossible for the firstfruits to beforgiven of their sins.

Next comes the Feast ofUnleavened Bread, picturingthe continual need for God'speople--the firstfruits--to putout the "leaven" of sin fromtheir lives and to obey God.

Then the day of Pentecost, thefinal spring festival reveals thatwithout the Holy Spirit it isimpossible to please God andovercome our sins.

But the firstfruits will not bereaped into God's Family untilthey are "born again" (John3:3-8)--resurrected andchanged into spirit. That willnot occur until Christ comesagain--and that brings us to thenext festival, the Feast ofTrumpets!

The Feast of Trumpets is, in asense, the focal point, the cen-tral, pivotal Holy Day in God'splan. It not only pictures theterrible time of misery and warto befall this generation, butalso the intervention of Christto save the living from annihi-lation and to establish theKingdom of God on earth. Italso pictures the coming ofChrist to resurrect the firstfruitsfrom the dead.

As the disciples saw Christ as-cend to heaven in A.D. 31, twoangels told them that He wouldcome again (Acts 1:11).

Christ came more than 2,000years ago as a humble messen-ger to announce the good newsof the coming Kingdom ofGod. But this time, when Hereturns, He will come in all thepower and supernatural gloryof God's Kingdom! Instead ofsubmitting to death as the sacri-ficial Lamb of God for our sins,Jesus Christ will return to earthto put an end to sin, forcibly!

Christ's return, announced bythe last trumpet, will usher inthe Millennium--the 1,000-yearperiod when He and the resur-rected saints--the firstfruits--will rule on earth. Then willbegin the great spiritual harvestinto God's Family.

During the Millennium allmankind will learn God's truth,

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Feast of Trumpetsand be offered, freely, salva-tion and sonship in God'sFamily. Most will choose toobey God and will be born intothe Family of God.

Members of God's Church to-day rejoice on the Feast ofTrumpets because they lookforward to the return of JesusChrist when they will be madeimmortal, and will rule andreign with Him on the earth.

Then, there will come peace,happiness and joy--worldwide!

But this utopian world tomor-row will not happen immedi-ately. Satan must be put away,restrained from influencing hu-manity. Only then can theworld have peace. This event ispictured by the Day ofAtonement. The next lessontells us all about this festivaland what it pictures in God'sMaster Plan of salvation.

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1. What is the sign that will announce the return of Christ--is itthe loud sound of a trumpet? Matthew 24:30-31____________________________________________________

2. Did Jesus say that the coming Kingdom of God would beestablished on earth during a time of world war?Matthew 24:3, 6-8, 21____________________________________________________

3. Will this time of world war be the time when man finally hasthe power to wipe out all life from the face of the earth?Matthew 24:21-22____________________________________________________

4. Did Jesus promise to cut short this time of great tribulation forthe sake of a small group of people called the "elect?" Verse 22________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What will happen when the seventh trumpet sounds and thethird woe begins? Revelation 11:14-15 Who will then be giventhe kingdoms or governments of this world? Verse 15________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What will be the reaction of the nations of this world?Verse 18________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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7. When Christ returns to earth with the shout of an archangel andthe trumpet of God, what will happen to those who have faithfullyobeyed God's government?I Corinthians 15:52; I Thessalonians 4:16-17________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. When will this change to immortality occur--will it be at thesound of the last trumpet? I Corinthians 15:52____________________________________________________

9. What is this change that will take place? Verses 53-54 Whowill experience this change from physical human flesh to immor-tal spirit life?Verse 52________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. What is said of those who will be in the first resurrection?Revelation 20:6; 3:21______________________________________________________________________________________________________

For a more in depth study of this annual HolyDay see Lesson 4 of the Holy Day Series.

Feast of Trumpets

27 Brookledge LaneRocky Mount, VA 24151

Phone: 1-888-898-7698