And this is Leslie Curran saying hello and welcome in the Savior's name to our gospel broadcast. I'm glad you're joining us today, and here to let the Bible speak is the Reverend John Greer. Once more, I want to welcome all of our listeners.

It is a joy to have you tuning in today to this particular program, and we encourage you to listen in week by week. And as the gospel goes out through this particular station, we pray that you will be blessed and that the Word of God will come with freshness and power to your heart. We come to preach the Word of God.

Our purpose in being on the airwaves is to declare the message of the gospel and to bring to you the great news of salvation in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So we come today to Revelation chapter 1 and the verse number 10, where we are given these words by the Apostle John, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. And then verse 12, I turned to see the voice that spake with me.

Now, John was a prisoner in the Isle of Patmos. It's from that isle that he writes this book of Revelation. He enjoyed great and rich spiritual experiences as he was on that island, a little barren piece of rock, really.

And there he was given a revelation of the glorified Christ. Christ ascended, Christ exalted to God's right hand and reigning as the one to whom all power in heaven and on earth has been given. Now, at the time of receiving this revelation of Christ, John being a prisoner was banished for his faithfulness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Christ, but he was not severed from the Lord.

He was not prohibited from having fellowship with heaven. And on that lonely island, he entered into the closest communion with the Savior that he had ever had before. When we think here about his words, we find that it was due to the work of the Spirit that was going on in his own heart that he had this blessed communion.

It says in verse 10, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. And because he was in the Spirit, he heard the voice of the Lord, and he was attracted to that voice because we're told that he turned to see the voice that spake with him. This is interesting because here we notice the personification of the voice.

I turn to see the voice that spake with me. Notice the verb here, he turned to see, not to hear the voice. And obviously, John was using the term as standing for the person who is speaking.

The voice is personified, and that person is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the voice because he is the Word of God. In Genesis 3 verse 8, we read, and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

A very interesting verse because, again, the voice is personified. A divine person came into the garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were hiding themselves. And as he came, he came walking in the garden, but we're told this, the voice of the Lord came walking.

So, again, we see this idea of the personification of the voice. And what we're being shown here is the great truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who comes to men with a message from God. This is really what is being said here.

This is what is being shown in this particular way as John turns to see the voice that was speaking with him. Christ is the Word of God. Christ is the voice of God.

There is no understanding of divine truth. There is no grasp of divine revelation except through the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus is the only mediator between God and men.

And as such, one of his offices is the office of the prophet. And as prophet, Christ comes to men to reveal to them the will of God for their salvation. And therefore, when John saw this voice in this great vision, he was seeing the one who is the prophet of his people, the one who declares God's way of salvation unto men.

That is what Christ still does to this very day. He is going forth in this world as the voice of God, and he is proclaiming the message of salvation, and he's calling men to come unto himself and unto his Father and trust in the atoning work of the cross. And the voice of God, of course, is heard through the preaching of the Word.

Christ the voice is going forth through his servants, through preachers, through missionaries, through faithful churches, through those who give out a gospel tract, those who raise up their voice in the open air and declare the Lord's Word and the Lord's truth. This is how the voice is being heard today by men. I say to those who are saved, who listen on today, do not be discouraged in your labor for Christ, but carry on.

Carry on spreading the gospel. Carry on giving out the tracts. Carry on witnessing for the Savior everywhere you can in every way that you possibly can, because in that way, the voice of the Lord is being heard through you and by your instrumentality and by your ministry.

So we have here the personification of the voice. The voice is Christ

“In this sermon, Leslie Curran introduces Reverend John Greer, who preaches from Revelation 1:10–12 about the voice of the Lord heard by John on the Isle of Patmos. Though imprisoned and isolated, John experienced deep spiritual communion with Christ through the Holy Spirit. Reverend Greer explains that the “voice” symbolizes Christ Himself—the Word of God—who reveals divine truth and salvation. The voice is described as commanding like a trumpet, calling God’s people to attention; clear like many waters, rising above worldly noise; conquering like a sharp sword, representing the power of God’s Word; and compelling, drawing people to listen and respond. The message urges believers to continue sharing the gospel faithfully so that the voice of Christ may still be heard through them, calling others to salvation by His grace.”

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in all his glory, and he is speaking from heaven, and thank God this is still the case to this very day. Then look at the particulars of the voice.

We find here that the whole scene that begins to unfold in verse 10 contains a number of references to the voice that John heard, and in what he heard there were different particulars presented all about this voice in order to show to us something of the whole scene and the whole message that is being brought before us. It is a commanding voice. We find in verse 10 that he says, I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet.

In Scripture, the trumpet is often used as an instrument for giving commands. In Acts 19, 16, and 17, we read of the trumpet at Mount Sinai when Israel was summoned to come to meet with God and receive the Ten Commandments, and all the other laws that were given through Moses at that particular time. Then we read further on in Numbers chapter 10 of two silver trumpets that were made by Moses that were used to call Israel to worship, that were used to call the nation to march to war, that were used at various feasts, that were sounded out at the opening of the temple doors every day.

Those silver trumpets were used in a variety of ways. They were used in the fiftieth year at the time of the Jubilee, and therefore the voice that John heard was great and was like a trumpet blast commanding attention as we see illustrated in all these ways that I've mentioned here about the trumpets in the Old Testament. So the voice and the trumpet are linked together.

And will that not be the case when the Savior comes again? We find in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16 that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. When the Lord comes, it will be a commanding voice because there will be the blast of the trumpet. Now, the Bible tells us that this will all happen at the coming of the Lord as we see there in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16.

Over in 1 Corinthians 15, 51 and 52, we have a parallel passage. Again, it's talking about the resurrection of the Lord's people, the coming of Christ, and it mentions the trumpet. And it says there, the last trumpet.

And we are shown therefore that when the Lord comes and the trumpet blows, it will be the final trumpet. There won't be any other trumpets after it. It's called the last trumpet.

In Matthew 24 and 31, we read of this trumpet again, where it says that the Lord will send his angels to gather his elect from the four winds. And it tells us that it will all happen at the sound of a trumpet. And there in Matthew 24, it says immediately after the tribulation of those days, he will send his angels.

And therefore, at the close of the tribulation, the Lord will come, the trumpet will sound, the commanding voice will be heard, and God's people will be gathered unto him. So you bring those three passages together, 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, 1 Corinthians 15, 51 and 52, and Matthew 24, 30, 31, and you will discover that the thing that connects the three passages is the trumpet, the voice like the trumpet. As we see in Revelation 1 verse 10, Christ will come with the sound of the trumpet, a commanding voice, to call his people unto himself and to have them with him forevermore.

The last trumpet will sound one day and the saints will be gathered. It is not only a commanding voice but a clear voice. Verse 15 says it's like a sound of many waters.

Now, the sound of many waters is distinguishable above every other sound or noise. Maybe you've had the privilege of visiting Niagara Falls, and if you've been there you will have noticed this, that all around you there is the din of traffic and the chatter of people and the bustle and the hustle of all that's going on in such a situation. But above it all, you will have noticed the roar of the falls.

It's always there. It dominates the entire scene in terms of what is being heard, and therefore when it says here that the Lord's voice is like a sound of many waters, what's being said is that the Lord's voice rises above the babble of this world and makes itself known in decisive tones. God is speaking.

God is the one who has the clear voice of authority and power and who sounds out his truth, and we are to listen for that voice. It's a conquering voice. Verse 16 says that out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword.

This, of course, is the Word of God that conquers the hearts of men and also brings judgment upon the ungodly. And then it's a compelling voice because John heard this voice and he was compelled to turn and to listen to what was being said, and therefore we are shown that God compels men to listen and to pay heed to his truth, to his dear Son. May you hear today.

May you listen carefully. May you be saved as you hear the voice of the Lord. May you turn and seek after the one who is personified by that voice, and may you this day be brought to Christ and be saved by sovereign grace.