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[0:00] I'm going to go to 1 Corinthians 15. As I'm talking on this theme this morning, the last trump or the last trumpet. It's not Mr. Trump. It's the trumpet. The last trumpet as it reads in 1 Corinthians 15. So we're just going to go through that together. 1 Corinthians 15 from verse 51 it reads and you can read along and follow there.

[0:22] Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep but shall be all changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

[0:40] I know these verses that I'm reading are often referred to by preachers at a funeral. As we see the loved one in the casket, if they've trusted the Lord, it says that one day that they shall be raised incorruptible.

[0:54] This mortal body they'll leave behind and they'll be given an incorruptible forever body. And so, and it talks about the twinkling of an eye in this kind of instant, this instantaneous moment at the last trump, the last trumpet.

[1:08] For the trumpet shall sound. Then it reads on verse 53, for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written.

[1:26] Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.

[1:38] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

[1:50] For as much as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. So we see here verse 52 talks about this trumpet, this trumpet sounding.

[2:02] It tells us verse 52, the trumpet shall sound. Now, I brought along a little object lesson here. This is a shofar. And Julie and I were blessed on a trip of a lifetime.

[2:16] We visited Israel and we walked the streets of Jerusalem and we found a shop that was selling some shofars. And so we got this shofar. I've given it to my dad now because he plays it so much better than me.

[2:30] Oh, no, we won't worry about the sound effects this morning. No sound effects. You've got to just use your imagination this morning. But we see the shofar, the trumpet. Of course, I'd imagine in the temple days it would have been much bigger.

[2:44] This is just a mini version. There's some shofars that are really long and tall, very large, much larger than this one. But the trumpet in the Bible has got this significant symbolic meaning through the scriptures.

[2:58] And so the trumpet, the shofar, is connected with the biblical feast of trumpets or Rosh Hashanah. And so there's a period of repentance in preparation for the Day of Atonement.

[3:09] So trumpets are very significant. We see it's spoken of there in Leviticus 23, as this occasion is of the Feast of Trumpets. It says, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying in the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, and holy convocation.

[3:31] In other words, a holy meeting as the people gathered at the sound of the trumpet. And the trumpet was used also to announce important events. God told Moses to make two trumpets of silver.

[3:44] It says, Numbers 10, verse 2, Of a whole piece shalt thou make them, that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly and for the journeying of the camp. So it's calling together the people as they assembled, as they went in their journeys.

[3:59] And another thing about trumpets is that trumpets also represent God's voice. We see that in Exodus 19, verse 16. It says, So again, it's a repeated theme through the Bible.

[4:19] The trumpet is very significant, very telling, very important. The New Testament also has the special significance about the trumpet in the context of the end times.

[4:31] Of course, in the Old Testament days, Numbers 10, verse 9, for example, Israel sounded the alarm when the trumpets were sounded. It was meaning that they were under attack.

[4:42] We could think of the end times of this time of conflict. We see in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51 again, it says, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, it says, At the last trump, do-do-do.

[4:55] I won't try to make the sound, but it says that that sound, the sound of the trumpet, it says, The dead, all those who have died in Christ, they shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

[5:07] So we'll be changed. Amen? So you might be trying to change that body that you've got right now, trying to improve on it. Well, I can tell you there's an extra special improvement. An extreme makeover is going to happen when that body's going to come out of the grave.

[5:21] Amen? Out of the dust, out of the grave. It's going to come out, and it's going to be incorruptible, because we shall be changed. In the blink of an eye, it's going to be this instantaneous radical transformation.

[5:33] A much better job than you can get through any kind of diet or working hard out at the gym. There's going to be a twinkling of an eye. There's going to be a trumpet sounding. There's going to be a change happen.

[5:44] And it says, The trumpet shall sound. And we see the trumpet has a role, too, in assembling God's people, as we can see at the setting of the end times. We see that in Matthew 24, verse 31.

[5:56] It reads about the sound of a trumpet again. It says that he'll send his angels with this great sound of a trumpet. They shall gather together his elect, the people of God.

[6:06] It says, From the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other, they'll be gathered together at the sound of a trumpet. We can anticipate what a glorious gathering and fellowship that will be.

[6:17] And the people of all ages who love Christ will gather together and be as one body. And we'll be summoned, it says, to the heavenly banquet time, the heavenly banquet table.

[6:27] And likewise, the trumpet sounds at the time of the rapture as well, which is also at the time of the resurrection. We read a familiar verse, I'm sure. 1 Thessalonians 4, it says, And then it says, And then it says, So it's telling us there of the resurrection time, of the rapture time.

[7:11] We should be living in anticipation, as it were, listening out for the sound of the trumpet, making preparation for the last trump. And the last trump serves as a signal both of the resurrection and the rapture and judgment.

[7:25] Trumpets also tell of the last day's judgment. Again, Revelation 8, verse 6, it tells of the trumpet judgments. In Revelation 8, verse 6, it says, The seven angels had the seven trumpets prepared, and they prepared themselves to sound.

[7:41] So Revelation speaks of what we call the trumpet judgments. And trumpets, again, they're the stirring call to be alert. Think of it, brothers and sisters, as we approach the end days.

[7:52] And I believe we're approaching the end days. Certainly we're closer today than we were yesterday. We don't know. We don't set dates and times about these things. But we trust the Lord that Christ is coming, and it's closer today than it was yesterday.

[8:05] And it tells us that we should watch because we don't know what hour our Lord to come. Are we spiritually prepared for those last days, that final stage?

[8:18] Another truth about the trumpet, the sound of the trumpet, is the sound of the trumpet is the sound of triumph. As we read there about the twinkling of an eye, that we shall be changed, the dead shall be raised.

[8:30] It says that death is swallowed up in victory. And in Hebrews 11.30, it says that it was by faith that the walls of Jericho fell down. And it's interesting, in Joshua 6, verse 20, it tells us, as they encircled the city of Jericho, it says, As the people shouted, and the priest blew with the trumpets, and it came to pass, the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout.

[8:57] Now, you know, us Baptists can shout now and again too, can't we? We could do better than that. We could shout with a great shout. Amen? We could, hey! Imagine what you would shout like if they were standing around the city of Jericho.

[9:11] How loud would you shout? The people shouted with a great shout, and it says, the wall fell down flat, and they took the city. So the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted, and it was a jubilant time, it was a victorious time.

[9:24] And likewise too, we can think about, when our Lord comes, it's going to be a time of victory, isn't it? The victory came as the people heard the voice of the trumpet. But it's interesting in 1 Corinthians 15, as we started with, that this whole passage, this chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, starts off by outlining the gospel.

[9:43] And that's what we're here for us. We come around the Lord's table, we think about what our Lord has done. 1 Corinthians 15, Paul tells about what the gospel is.

[9:53] And he says, I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. And that he was buried, and that he rose again, the third day, according to the scriptures.

[10:08] Paul goes on to elaborate about the resurrection, how that Christ is risen from the dead. See 1 Corinthians 15. Notice here it talks about Adam.

[10:20] It says, as in Adam, that's all of us, we're all sons of Adam. Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. In Adam all die. Adam sinned, disobedience fell on planet earth, on every human being.

[10:34] In Adam all die. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God in Christ shall all be made alive. That tells how at the end, it says, he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall put down all rule and authority and power.

[10:49] Now, it's interesting how 1 Corinthians 15, just as a column and aside here, it talks about a number of last things. The time was come when the last Adam, the last Adam, it says there in verse 45.

[11:07] It says, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. So we see the time has come when the first Adam came, death came. When the last Adam came, he was a quickening spirit.

[11:19] In other words, a life-giving spirit. The first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last man, the last Adam, was made a quickening spirit. It's talking about Christ as being the last Adam.

[11:31] The first Adam, full of sin, caused death, the curse, the fall. The second Adam, the last Adam, is speaking of Christ, our Lord. He's the perfect man, the God-man.

[11:44] Very man, very God, perfect man, the perfect God, the last Adam. So we can trust him today. That's what we're on about today. We're talking about him, our saviour today.

[11:55] This is his table for you, the last Adam. And notice also verse 26 talks about another last thing, talks about the last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death.

[12:06] Now, death is very real. I was at the bedside of a man who, I don't think he's got long to go, but he knows where he's going. But he's full of joy in Christ.

[12:18] And I prayed with him, he prayed with me. He knows where he's going. And for him, we know that the last enemy, death, has been destroyed for him in Christ.

[12:29] And we know we had our brother Dennis' funeral on Monday, just gone. Now, again, he had the assurance of where he was going.

[12:40] The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Friends, death is very real. And we experience it every day. We hear of loved ones passing away. And that's all the more reason why we're listening for the sound.

[12:53] The trumpet shall sound. Amen. Resurrection day, the rapture. It says that in the twinkling of an eye, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

[13:09] And we'll just continue to talk about this truth, that there's the last Adam, there's the last enemy, and we see the last trumpet. The last Adam has come.

[13:20] Christ has come. He's fulfilled everything that had to be done to save us. And that's what we're here for today, to remember his death until he come, until he come. And at that coming, we see the last enemy that shall be destroyed.

[13:34] The last enemy shall be destroyed. Death will be no more. It says there'll be no more death, no more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain. The last enemy shall be destroyed. Death, it will be no more.

[13:46] And then it says the last trumpet shall sound. Now Christ is coming. It says do this until I come. There's that kind of context. There's a kind of bracket around it. How long are we going to do this for?

[13:57] Until he come. Until he come. So friends, we're looking for that last trumpet to sound. And at the back of the book, we have some last things the Bible tells us of. We've heard about the last Adam.

[14:08] We've heard about the last enemy, death. We've heard about the last trumpet that's going to sound at the final point. And we see in the word of God, right at the back of the book in Revelation 22, we see a number of last things.

[14:25] So just to touch on that while we're just being waited on. In Revelation 22 verse 18, it says, I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.

[14:36] If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And I was talking to someone lately about the Book of Mormon, for example, and the so-called prophet Joseph Smith.

[14:49] He's actually added to the Bible. It's called the Inspired Version. And he's got whole lines, virtual chapters of prophecies about Joseph Smith coming, strangely enough, that are in his Bible that he's put together.

[15:01] Woe to him. Woe to him. If any man shall add unto these things, this blatant falsehood. And it reads on verse 19, And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

[15:20] So it's saying here, the last warning, you could say. The last warning. Don't mess with this book. Don't mess with the Word of God. Take it as read. Take it to heart. Read it.

[15:30] Obey it. Find its truth. And live it out. Don't tamper with the Word of God. Many are doing that today. There's some strange version called the Passion Version, I believe, where they've totally spiritualised and paraphrased it such that it's completely changed the Word of God.

[15:45] We're not to toy with the Word of God. We're not to trivialise it. We're to take it very seriously. The last warning. Don't toy with this book. And then in verse 17 at Revelation 22, God gives the last invitation.

[15:58] And the spirit and the bride say, Come, let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will, let him come. Let him take the water of life freely.

[16:10] Verse 17 of Revelation 22, you could say it's the last invitation. Now, when we're going door knocking and we talk to some people, you know, honestly, some people just slam the door.

[16:23] They won't even hear a word, even though we're just gently urging them and pointing them to the Saviour. I wonder sometimes, have they missed that last invitation? The last invitation.

[16:35] Perhaps that was their last invitation. Perhaps that was their last opportunity to trust Christ for their salvation. Friends, we should take it very seriously. We don't know when the last invitation is going to be.

[16:47] And it's the same with me. Could this be my last sermon? You know, could this be the last time I have to beseech you, to urge you, to beckon you, to come unto him?

[16:57] The last invitation, we should take that very seriously. By God's grace, we can hear the last promise too. The last promise is the promise of his coming. It says, He which testified these things saith, Surely I come quickly.

[17:10] Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. He's saying he will come quickly. Now the sense of it there is that he'll come, it will be sudden. The coming of Christ is going to be sudden. It's going to catch some people on the hop.

[17:22] It's going to be something that's sudden. It's going to happen in that sense that it's quickly. It's going to come. He's going to come in a sense that suddenly he's going to appear. He's going to come. And people are going to be caught out because they're not going to be ready for his coming.

[17:36] The promise of his coming, the last promise. And it also includes the last prayer. We see the last prayer. Oh, thanks, brother. We see the last prayer.

[17:48] Really, it's the second to last verse of the Bible. And John the Revelator says, Even so, come, Lord Jesus. It's the last prayer. That's a good prayer to pray, isn't it? You don't have to pray a long prayer.

[17:59] You can say, Even so, come, Lord Jesus. That's a good prayer. Amen. So it's the last prayer in the Bible is, Even so, come, Lord Jesus. It says that the trumpet shall sound. And friends, have you received his invitation?

[18:12] We can get an invitation in the mail, And we can forget to RSVP. We can kind of put it on the shelf, And we never make that response. We don't say yes.

[18:24] The last invitation is for you today. He says, Whosoever will, come. Whosoever will, come. And we can respond, Come, Lord Jesus, to me.

[18:37]  I trust you as my Lord.