By J.C. Philpot
Preached on Lord's Day Morning, August 1, 1852, at Eden Street Chapel, Hampstead Road
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem." Isaiah 27:13
How continually in the prophets, and especially in Isaiah, the expression occurs--"The day of the Lord;" and sometimes, in a briefer form, as in our text, "In that day." Great and memorable events are almost always connected with "The day of the Lord," and "That day."
There must then be something very noteworthy in the expression as it occurs so continually, and events so great are connected with it. And as, besides this, our text may be said to hinge almost wholly upon it, it may be desirable to spend a few moments in examining the meaning of the expression.
The words convey with them this idea, that it is a day or season for we need not limit it to a period of twenty-four hours' duration in which the Lord will be everything, and in which he will so conspicuously manifest his greatness and power, so emphatically make bare his arm, that it will be a day wholly Ins own; in other words, a day in which man will be nothing, and God "all in all." The leading idea then of the expression is, that it is a day of power. But when we come to examine the context by the various passages in which the expression occurs, we find that it is sometimes spoken of as a day of great trouble and distress, and sometimes as a day of great mercy and deliverance.
Thus we find in one of the prophets--
"Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?" (Am. 5:18, 20)
And again,
"The day of the Lord cometh; for it is nigh at hand: a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains" (Joel 2:1, 2).
We find also this declaration, "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it" (Jer. 30:7). In other passages, and by far the moat numerous, we find the day of the Lord spoken of as a day of special deliverance. "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah." "In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me."
So in the text, we read, "It shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown;" the trumpet of deliverance.
But how can we reconcile these two different meanings of the very same word, and make the scriptures harmonious and consistent when the day of the Lord is sometimes spoken of as a day of distress, and sometimes as a day of deliverance, sometimes as a day of misery, and sometimes as a day of mercy? There is no great difficulty in reconciling them. The day of the Lord is, that special time or season, when the Lord puts forth his hand, and manifests his almighty power. It is then equally "the day of the Lord," when he brings down, and when he lifts up; when he puts his hand to wound and kill, or to heal and make alive. Thus gracious Hannah, in her sons of deliverance, ascribes both of these works to the Lord. "The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up."
As both works are his, the day is also equally his. But we may also reconcile the conflicting passages by observing that the day of deliverance to God's friends is a day of desolation to God's enemies, as the Red Sea bore striking witness. The prophets too, had doubtless reference to that great day which is still in the future--when there will be a greater manifestation of the power of the Lord than earth has yet seen.
But not to dwell longer on this point, let us come at once to our text, in which, I think, we may observe three distinct things;
I. The blowing of the great trumpet;
II. The characters in whose ears and hearts this great trumpet is to be blown;
III. The effect which the blowing of the great trumpet produces upon them.
I. There seems to be some reference here to the blowing of the trumpets of which we read in the law of Moses. God, you will remember (Numb. 10), bade Moses construct two silver trumpets, which were to be sounded on all great and solemn occasions.
"Make thee two trumpets of silver; 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 camps." These trumpets were sometimes to "blow an alarm." "And if you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God."
Thus every day of gladness, every solemn festival, and every new moon were to be hailed with the sound of the silver trumpet. But there was one occasion on which, in a special manner, the trumpet was to so blown,--the day of jubilee. We thus read (Lev. 25:9), "Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of jubilee in the margin, 'the trumpet loud of sound,' to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land." In the text there seems to be an especial reference to the blowing of tins great trumpet in the beginning of the jubilee, for the special mark of that trumpet was that it was "loud of sound, and was blown throughout all the land."
Looking at it then in a spiritual and experimental light, the blowing of this great trumpet must certainly mean the preaching of the gospel, the sweet melodious sound of sovereign grace, the proclamation of mercy, pardon and salvation through the blood of the Lamb. No other explanation can be tolerated for a moment, for no other parallel can be found to the jubilee trumpet, at the sound of which every captive Israelite returned to his city and his family, every debt was cancelled, and every mortgaged acre reverted to its original possessor.
This great trumpet is then spiritually blown when the gospel is faithfully preached. But be it borne in mind, that though man may put this trumpet to his lips, it is the Spirit of God who must blow through it. It is he that must make it speak: it is he must who make it give forth its charming notes, for no sounds but his reach the heart.
II. But with God's blessing we shall see more clearly what are the notes, the sweet melodious sounds of this great trumpet, when we have viewed, as we proposed, the characters for whom it is specially sounded. These are ranked under two classes--"Ready to perish," and "Outcasts." As the trumpet is sounded especially for them, we gather by fair implication that it sounds for them only. Indeed, none other require it; none other care for its melodious sounds; on every other ear its notes do but jar discord.
But what a strange position must they be in, in soul experience, before their ears are opened to hear the notes of this gospel trumpet. "Ready to perish!" Many of the Lord's poor family are here; and indeed, they are all here until they hear the trump that bids them believe, rejoice, and live.
1. Some are "ready to perish" under convictions of sin, under deep distress and anguish of mind. They feel in their consciences that God is angry with them--that burning drops of his displeasure are falling into their souls. When the guilt and burden of sin are thus laid on their conscience they must needs feel "ready to perish," for what is there before them but the pit? "Ready to perish" indeed they are, for as David said of himself-- "There is but one step betwixt them and death."
2. Others of God's people, after the Lord has revealed himself to their souls, and given them to feel their interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus realize a blessed assurance of his mercy, are yet through the power of temptation often "ready to perish." Some doubt this statement. But look at David's case. Had not David received from God a solemn promise that he should sit upon the throne of Israel? Yet, when Saul was pursuing him, "David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul." But had not God given him a testimony that he should not perish? Had not Samuel anointed him with the sacred oil, and did not David then believe as firmly as in his own existence that he should sit upon the throne?
Now no man can have a stronger testimony nor a firmer assurance of his spiritual salvation than David had of his temporal salvation, for in promising him the throne, God certainly promised him deliverance from Saul. And yet David feared he should perish by his hand. Why then should not the same fears work now in the heart under similar circumstances? If David's faith could fail, who shall say his own may not? David's assurance was overborne by the imminence of the danger; and so after the Lord has assured him he shall sit upon the throne of glory, a real child of God may, through the power of temptation, the assaults of Satan, and the fiery darts that are cast into his mind, be brought into such circumstances as to feel as much ready to perish in soul as David did to perish in body.
3. Again; If the Lord permit any of his children, and he does sometimes permit them, to go astray from him, to wander after their idols, and get into a cold, dead state, they may, and often do have many doubts and fears, whether they have not been deceived and deluded altogether, and whether they are not now abandoned to their own ways. Filled with fears, these are ready to perish: they are, in their feelings, upon the brink of perishing. They will not, and cannot perish, for they are held up by the purpose and grace of God; but as in themselves without help, as, like Ephraim, having "destroyed themselves," they are "ready to perish"--all but perishing.
Now, it is for these that the great trumpet is to be blown; and it needs must be a great trumpet, for they are great sinners: it must needs proclaim mercy in very loud tones, for sin, carnality, and Satan have so stopped their ears that they need a very powerful note to pierce them and reach their heart.
