Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2772
“Set the trumpet to your mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed My Covenant, and trespassed against My Law. Israel shall cry unto Me, My God, we know You!” Hosea 8:1,2.
WE do not use instrumental music in the worship of God because we consider that it would be a violation of the simplicity of our worship. We think it far better to hear the voices of Christian men and women than all the sounds which can be made by instruments. Yet I am sure there is no Christian here who would object to a minister who can play well upon an instrument and, indeed, a minister is good for nothing if he does not know how, spiritually, to give forth instrumental music! A true minister of Christ should know how to blow the ram’s horn so that the walls of Jericho may be made to tremble and fall. He should understand how to play the harp, so that when any of you are disquieted, he may be to you as David was to Saul, and may drive away the evil spirits that trouble you. He should be able, also, to play upon the timbrel, and to lead you forth, sometimes, in the sacred song of joy and thanksgiving. He should be able to go forth like Miriam and cry aloud to you, and ask you to follow him while he says, “Sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously.”
His sermons should often seem to you to fulfill that exhortation of David, “Praise you the Lord. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals.” The minister of the Gospel should also understand how to blow the silver trumpet to proclaim that the year of jubilee is come and that the ransomed debtors may once more receive their lost inheritance. And there is one instrument upon which he should be well skilled and which he should often use, namely, the trumpet. I do not mean the silver trumpet, but the war trumpet—that clear, shrill-sounding instrument that gives the certain sound whereby men prepare themselves for the battle.
I have to use that trumpet tonight and, in explaining my text, I will speak of several things that are hinted at here. First, there is a command to the Gospel minister—“Set the trumpet to your mouth.” There is, secondly, the particular reason for this command, in order that he may warn God’s people—“Because they have transgressed My Covenant, and trespassed against My Law.” Then, thirdly, there is another special reason appended, because God was about to execute judgment upon these sinners—“He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord.” In the second verse we find our fourth point—the blessed result of the blowing of this trumpet—“Israel shall cry unto Me, My God, we know You!”
I. First, then, here is A COMMAND TO THE GOSPEL MINISTER—“Set the trumpet to your mouth.” The Hebrew has it, “Set the trumpet to the roof of your mouth.” Set it to your mouth. Keep it there—do not put it up sometimes and then take it down again—but have it always in readiness, so as to sound the note of alarm. Set it to the roof of your mouth—blow with all your might and let men hear that the alarm comes not merely from your lips, but from within your mouth—from your very heart! With such earnestness shall you sound the trumpet of warning.
What is meant by the minister setting the trumpet to his mouth? I think just this. In the first place, that when the minister is dealing with the souls of men, the tone which he uses should be very decisive. He should not set some little Jew’s harp to his mouth, so that people hardly know whether he is making a noise or not—he should blow a trumpet and produce a decisive sound so that men may know what sin is reproved—what virtue is commended. They should never have to ask themselves, “What does the minister mean? Does he really intend to condemn sin, or does he palliate it?” The
declaration should be decisive, as the sound of the war trumpet is. When men hear that trumpet sounded in the East, they do not ask themselves, “Does that mean dancing? Is that the sound of them that make merry?” But they say at once, “That means war! We are sure it does. Let us prepare ourselves for the battle.” So should it be with the message of God’s servant. He has not to say, “If this,” or, “if that,” but to set the trumpet of Gospel warning to the roof of his month and give out a note that none can mistake.
For the text means not only a decisive sound, but a clear sound. Of all sounds, perhaps that of the trumpet is the clearest and so should it be with the message of Christ’s servant. It should not be indistinct and full of hard words that cannot be understood. It should not be a piece of music, the tune of which is so difficult that no man can possibly follow it or even know what is meant by it, but it should be the one, two, three notes of, “Awake! Awake you sleepers! What are you doing?” Or this yet more solemn note, “Awake, you dead, and come to judgment!” “Prepare to meet your God!” There should be something so clear that the moment the minister’s statement is heard, those who are willing to understand it should have no difficulty in knowing its meaning.