In 1 Corinthians 2:9,10, the Lord declared that there is an experience in Him which eye has not seen, no ear heard, nor even entered into the heart of man. It is not something that we could have imagined because we, as human beings, are so bound by our own human sense of everything that is existing today that we limit God to what He can really do for us. The apostle Paul saw the glory and desired to partake of it.
Phil. 3:12-13 He was moving towards it; he wrote about it: that there remains, according to Hebrews 4:6, a people who are going to enter into that glory, the fullness of it, and attain to it at the end time. In the last days, God is raising up a people who will possess everything for which Jesus Christ has paid the price.

Ephesians 4:12,13 Many read these verses and never believe that what they say is going to happen: "... Till we all come in the unity of the faith..." God is looking to perfect us so that we can "...all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." People say, "I thought I got filled with the Holy Spirit. " No, you received the earnest, and the earnest is the pledge, the down payment on the purchase price. There is something more that's going to happen to a people who will believe God for it.

KEEPING APPOINTMENTS: Feasts unto the Lord:

The Bible speaks of three feasts: Israel was called to worship God in the Passover, Pentecost and tabernacles. The traditional teaching is that the first two feasts, Passover and Pentecost, are for the church and that tabernacles is a feast that will be entered into by a natural people and a natural nation. I do not believe that God is interested in a natural people or a natural nation. People have been taught to believe that Jesus will return at any minute to rapture the church and the program of God will move to natural Israel. This is not true for several reasons. First of all, God fulfilled all His promises to Israel, according to Joshua 21:43-45.

In Matthew 21:43, Jesus told the Jewish nation that the kingdom of God was being taken from them and given to a nation that will bring forth the fruit of it. The apostle Peter got hold of that and said that we are that chosen generation, that royal priesthood, that holy nation. 1 Peter 2:9

Some will say, " What about Abraham's seed? " Galatians 3:16 declares that the promises given to Abraham were given to Abraham and his seed (singular)"...thy seed, which is Christ." Galatians 3:29 states, " And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. " Paul then states, in Galatians 6:16, that we are the Israel of God. There are many more scriptures concerning this. The most important thing to remember is that the church is the program of God, and everything that was written about Israel and by the prophets was written for our learning. (1 Corinthians 10:11; 1 Peter 1:10-12) . God's purpose in this time is to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. (Acts 2:17)

Another important truth to realize is that Jesus Christ is not coming back any minute. He is coming, physically and literally, but, before He does, there will arise a people on earth who will, through His power and fullness, conquer every enemy.

(Hebrews 10:12,13; Ephesians 4:13; Psalm 110:1; 1 Corinthians 15:25-28)

I want you to see that there were occasions when God had Israel keep divine appointments. These were God ordained, feasts. Deut. 16:16 Notice how specific God made His details, He said whom He wants, who He wants it, what He wants, when He wants, and even what to bring. In Leviticus 23 there is an outline of the three feasts. The first feast is the feast of Passover and it has three parts to it: the feast of Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, and the feast of the sheaf of the first fruits. The Passover took place on the, fourteenth day of the first month of Israel and it speaks to us of a new beginning. That is what God said: if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, he has a new life, he starts all over again.

Christ is our Passover lamb, that is what Passover means. The feast of unleavened bread, which began immediately after pass-over, typifies the bread of life, forsaking of the old ways and eating the pure word of God. The sheaf of the first fruit typifies Christ, the first fruit from the dead, but it also speaks of those who are identifying with His death and waking in the newness of life today, with that resurrection power working in us.

The second feast, which stood by itself, was called Pentecost. This took place fifty days later, or in the third month. It was in the third month that God gave Moses the law. That is what Pentecost really means: the writing of God's laws on your heart and mind. It means walking in the power of God, walking in the gifts and walking in these by the love of God. Now, most folks stop here, but, you see, the Bible states that these are foundations. These are merely the first principles and we should go on to the full growth. We should go on, beyond the first principles, into the fullness of God.

The next feast following Pentecost was the feast of tabernacles; this feast can also be divided into three parts. It begins with the feast of trumpets. Trumpets, in Scripture, speak of the proclamation of a message. God is proclaiming, in our hearing, that it is time to leave Pentecost and come into union with Him in its fullest sense. It is right here that we make a decision.
Joel 3:14 God is blowing a trumpet and revealing His word.

* To order your copy of "Blow the Trumpet in Zion" by Peter Demetris simply E-mail: pastorpeterd@comcast.net