The Book of Hosea opens with a clear command to the watchmen that God has placed over Israel.
In the face of the impending destruction and devastation that would accompany the Assyrian army as it forged ahead into the land of those that God loved…
The Command for the Watchmen is simply this…
Set the trumpet to thy mouth!
The answer for the impending doom that will arrive with the Assyrians is simply to set the trumpet to thy Mouth.
And the watchmen are bidden to send out a sound that will save their generation…!
Here Hosea leaves no time for preparation,
He does not cry build a wall
He does not warn them to assemble an army
But simply to set the trumpet to their mouths…
The situation has gone past the point of biding time…
The impending devastation is but moments away there is no time to build walls… or assemble armies.
God’s command to his prophet is simply to sound the trumpet.
Warn the People… Send them the Message.
Walls will not protect them and armies will not save them… they need to hear the sound of the trumpet.
They need to hear the clear Signal of the truth of what is and what is to come...
And So God commands his Watchman to Set the trumpet to his lips.
This certain sound is the lifeline of the huddled masses…
This blast of the horn is the last resort of
Multitudes who await a sound that will save them.
Imagine the consequences of Hosea’s disobedience to the command of God.
The truth that the Assyrians approach is certain… But while this truth may be certain
Until Hosea sets the trumpet to his mouth, this truth cannot Help them.
It may be true but with no trumpet to tell the story, it can never save the people.
Imagine the consequences of the Silence of the Watchman…
It is with the bloodshed of multitudes in mind that God tells Hosea to Sound the Alarm.
Without this trumpeter of truth, thousands will die at the hands of the Assyrians…
Multitudes more will be captured, children will be parentless…
Mourning will hang like a dark cloud over the fields of the slain… as family member find their loved ones have perished.
All hinging upon one blast of a trumpet of truth!
Ladies and Gentlemen I submit that when God spoke to Hosea he understood the ramifications of a muted Message…
He understood the consequences of a silent sentry.
And God’s Message to his man was to Set the trumpet to his Mouth!
Ladies and Gentlemen the message has not Changed…
God’s command is still to Send out a message to those at deaths door…
His command and Call has not Changed…
But Jesus stood on morning of ascension at his Last meeting with his disciples and declared…
Go ye into all the world and Preach… the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And the same God sends the Same message to his watchmen over the world… Set the trumpet to thy Mouth!
Preach the Gospel! Carry the Message…
Paul echoed this commission to timothy…
Preach the Word be instant in Season and out of season…reprove rebuke and exhort!
I submit that the Message Must Go Out…
The trumpet Must be Heard by a world waiting for the answer.
Multitudes are waiting to hear a certain sound…
Our City waits to hear the Gospel of Good tidings..
Our world is awaiting the Day the watchmen will set the trumpet to their lips and send out the Message!
The Message must be heard!
Dr. John A. Howard, president of Rockford College,once said: ’Truth is outraged by silence.”
I would push the envelope however and Say that Truth Is Crippled By Silence.
the Gospel was placed in the apostles hands in Mark 16:15 when Jesus charged them to Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.
The Trumpet Was placed in their hands, it was entrusted in their Care
This trumpet of truth carried the perfect timbre and tone…
Its piercing message of clarity could endure any obstacle before it.
Its sound is unstoppable, the clarity of the message is pristine and perfect for the purpose of the Watchmen.
And the trumpet of truth was placed in the hands of the apostles.
The bible says of this truth that it would endure to every generation…
It was more than a manmade religion… but it is able to endure
This trumpet of truth was perfectly tuned to the need of a dying world…
It carried the tone of Redemption…
And the Sound of Deliverance!
Within this unconquerable message is the revelation of the Oneness of God…
In this truth is the revelation of Jesus Christ as everlasting father, and indwelling spirit…
The Blast of the trumpet of truth reveals that there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved…
All the power of the cross of calvary is in this truth…
The renewal of the waters of Baptism in Jesus Name is in the truth…
The infilling of the holy ghost for a world separated from the presence of God is in this Truth.
And Jesus Placed the Trumpet in the Watchmens hands…
It was perfectly atuned for the song of redemption…
Its tone was perfectly suited to the melody of Calvary…
And Jesus placed the Trumpet of truth in the apostles Hands…
And his Command was clear…
Go Ye into All the world and Preach the Gospel…
Woven into the words of Jesus are an assurance that this Trumpet was more than a mantle piece… or table dressing.
It was more than a conversation starter to be admired and placed in a Hallowed Museum Hall.
No this Gospel and trumpet of truth was more than that…
But its responsibility came with the Charge…
Go Ye therefore and Preach the Gospel!
Ladies and Gentlemen God has given this church a charge as the watchman of our city…
And he has placed in our hands a message that cannot be conquered…
He has given us a Message that is unparalled
This Gospel can reachest the darkest parts of our city…
Its clear call pierces to heart of the Darkest Sinner…
This Message has the ability to Save our City…
Reach our Neighborhoods…
It has the power to set the crooked ways straight…
It has the power to bring revival to this City.
I submit that this truth we have been given is worthless without a Voice…
Indeed it can endure, It will Survive and no one has the power to change it…
It is impenetrable and unconquerable ….
But the Glorius Gospel we have received Is Immobile…
It cannot complete its perfect work without a voice…
No Trump can be Heard without a Watchman to Sound the Alarm.
Isa 59:14-16 proclaims the Tragedy of Untold Truth
14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor:
And Isaiah Reveals that Truth Demands a Man…
Truth Requires a Voice…
A Trumpet is Useless Without Watchmen to Set the Trumpet to their Lips!
I have come to Charge the Church of God…
Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth!
As great as the Gospel was Jesus needed the Apostles to Go into the World and Preach it…
As beautiful as the Gospel was, it was useless without a voice to proclaim it and to Preach it.
It was not enough that he place this Trumpet in their Hands…
But at some point the message required them to Set the Trumpet to their Mouths!
And God understands where Hosea stands…
For the Lost and dying ever to be prepared for the coming day of Judgment
The Trumpet must touch the Prophets Mouth!
Ladies and Gentlemen the Charge is clear in the word of God…
We Must not be satisfied to Hold the Truth in our Hands… But we must at some point consider the masses waiting for the Certain Sound of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
And God saw the impending doom awaiting the children of Israel when the Assyrians would come in Judgement
And with Divine exclamation God cries out in Desperate appeal to the Prophet…
Set the Trumpet to thy Mouth…
Tell them the only message that can save them…
Sound the Trumpet of Truth for the endangered multitudes!
The Book of Genesis gives the detailed account of the Fall of Man …
It was this fateful chapter of scripture that would set the tepid tone for the rest of the history of humanity.
6 scriptures… the soul of every man woman and child are corrupted in the first 6 verses of Genesis Chapter 3.
Gen 3:1-6
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And innocence ends… purity is defiled…
Adam and eve know now what evil is because
Their innocence has been invaded by the darkness of Sin.
The perfection of creation is corrupted by Adam’s failure…
The earth begins to groan…
Men will be born to evil
Rape, Jealousy , hatred, Murder… Adultery…
Abuse
Broken Hearts and Captive spirits are born here.
Death barges into a world of life and takes over…
And every sin is made possible courtesy of Adam.
Adam was the watchman… the overseer of the beauty of God’s creation..
Gen 2:16-20
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
And Adam was charged as the watchman over the earth and over his wife….
The trumpet was placed in his Hands….
Yet in the 6 verses of Scripture you hear the voice of Satan questioned…. The Voice of Eve compromising…
But Adam’s voice is absent, his trumpet stays in his hands…
Eve offers him the fruit of the tree … and Here is his opportunity to set the record straight…
Here is his chance to sound the trumpet of truth…
Here is his opportunity to save children from the evil intentions of child molesters…
Here is his opportunity to save every victim of violent crime…
Here is his chance to end the pain of hemorrhaging marriages…
This is the chance in one fell swoop to block pain, suffering, and sin…
And Courtesy of Adam’s silence the world will suffer and the earth will groan and God’s heart will break ….
Brought to you as A Courtesy of Adam’s silence.
The truth is in his hands… but he never set the trumpet to his Mouth.
With the message God had given him he could have sounded the alarm and saved the world!
But Adam failed his Post as a Watchmen, He had the trumpet but he never set it to his Mouth!
CLOSING
In Isaiah 62 God shows Isaiah a different Kind of watchmen on the wall…
In Contrast to the silence of Adam God describes watchmen whose voices will not be silenced …whose trumpets sound continually to an unsaved City
And God speaks to his beloved city that is lost…
6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
And God shows Isaiah the perfect picture of a Watchmen fulfilling his charge…
Their voice refuses to be silenced….
Their Trumpet is continually lifted to their mouth…
They Give No rest … Until Jerusalem is established…
Until their City is made a praise in the earth.
They are consumed with the cause of their city…
They sit atop the walls, their message ringing loud and clear until their city is saved…
In contrast to Adam they will not hold their peace….
They will not set aside their trumpets until Revival Comes…
They Have Set the trumpet to their Mouth….
They have received the Charge….
They are consumed with the call.
Ladies and Gentlemen The trumpet is in Our Hands…
It is the charge of the New testament Church….
To Preach the Word… To Spread the Gospel…
Until Our City becomes a praise to God…
Until God establishes our city as a stronghold of God!
And the Message is the same as it was to Hosea…
Set the trumpet to thy Mouth…
Until our city is saved from its sin… keep on witnessing…
Until it is established in Revival… keep sounding out the message.
God is looking for watchmen that are consumed with the cause of their city…
God is searching for Men and women who refuse to be silenced until their families are saved….
Set the Trumpet to thy Mouth!
Rom 10:13-18
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
