The Trumpet

The great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come, who were ready to perish. Isaiah 27:13.

One trumpet has been blown, at the giving of the law, on mount Sinai: the voice of it sounded long, and waxed louder and louder. It made even Moses to fear and quake exceedingly, and all the people tremble. Soon, very soon, (who knows but it may be the next moment, in the twinkling of an eye?) the last trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised. (1 Corinthians 15:52.) Tremendous voice! most solemn sound! The prophet asks, “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?” (Amos 3:6.) If the alarm of war, and the approach of an enemy should be sounded in the dead of the night, what fear and terror would seize us! Must we hear the sound of the last trumpet, calling us to judgment? Blessed, eternally blessed be our God, for the blowing of this great trumpet: it is the sound of great love: it proclaims salvation—to whom? Even to great sinners: such as see their sins so great, that they are READY TO PERISH. The sound of this great trumpet expels the legal fears of the first, and the awful terrors which arise in our minds by the sound of the last trumpet; for it proclaims, that “the great God is our Saviour, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13.) Our Judge is our Advocate, our Saviour, and Friend. Do we see ourselves ready to perish, without hope and help, in and from ourselves? Are the curses of a broken law upon us, and is the glittering sword of justice brandished over us? The great trumpet sounds, COME, come to Christ, ye sinners, who are ready to perish, and must perish if ye do not come. Saith Jesus, “ALL that the Father giveth me, SHALL come to me.” (John 6:37.) Therefore, this great trumpet of gospel salvation shall not be blown in vain. Those who never saw themselves ready to perish, can hear neither music nor charms in its sound. It is foolishness to them. But to sensible, perishing sinners, it is a joyful sound to their ears: it proclaims victory over sin, the law, Satan, death, and hell, through Jesus, who loved us, and gave himself for us. Nor less doth it proclaim holiness and happiness. For it calls us to war with our sins—to enjoy peace with God—and to walk in sweet fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3.) This great gospel trumpet, like those of old, is all of a piece, (Numbers 10:2.) It does not give an uncertain sound: but it proclaims a free, full, and finished salvation by Christ, to the glory of God, Yea, and Amen.

The gospel like a trumpet, shrill
Doth pierce us to the heart,
Awakes our souls, subdues our will
From all our sins to part.

Tho’ in a lost and fearful state,
We to the Saviour come:
He never says, ‘It is too late,’
But always finds us room.


- William Mason, A Spiritual Treasury For The Children of God, Volume 2, September 2