Hearing Voices

        How are you at recognizing voices? We were standing in line at a cafeteria yesterday and from behind, I heard a voice and I knew who had that voice. In this case it wasn't a voice that sounded like a trumpet but a man who can really play the trumpet. We talked briefly about voices and I thought about it for the rest of the afternoon and it did remind me of the scene in the Book of Revelation where John hears a voice. In this case, John says it was a voice that sounded like a trumpet. 1:10-11 says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” 

         In the passage for today, the Apostle John has the opportunity to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, he stood for a moment but then fell flat on his face. He did so not out of just fainting, but because of Who he was standing in front of. John gives us a word picture of what he saw when he looked at the person with the voice. If you were to paint the picture it would look very different from the description that Josephus writes about or that which has been painted over the years and that has become so popular. There is a basic difference between the Jesus of the time of grace and Jesus of the time of judgment. Every aspect of the description reminds us of judgment as seen in this passage. John had no other thought but to fall on his face in front of the Mighty Eternal God, the Lord Jesus Christ. John probably just had time to hear the opening set of instructions and while seeing Who was speaking, John fell on his face before Him. There is a difference between meeting Christ in the period of grace and meeting Christ in the period of judgment. One thing for sure, you can easily determine that the Apostle John had respect for the Person Who was standing in front of him. There are those today that refer to the Lord Jesus Christ in a disrespectful manner. For many people, their only reference to the Lord Jesus Christ is when the use His name in vain. Titus reminds us that the grace of God has appeared to all men and we have seen that and experienced that in the Lord Jesus Christ. The majority of people still fail to acknowledge Who He is. Some day, the period of grace will cease and the world will be confronted with the Lord Jesus Christ that John saw in the opening passage from the Book of Revelation. How will you respond when you hear the words of the LORD, when He says, “Come unto Me...” Will you recognize Who it is that is speaking to you? How would you feel if the only time you heard the LORD speak, they were the words, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” We can often recognize a voice and know who it is that is speaking to us because of our relationship with that person. We have often spoken with them in conversations and even in our memories, we can still hear their voices. How are we at recognizing the Lord Jesus Christ when He speak to us? We are living in a day when there is more disrespect for authority and it shows by our actions when we are confronted with that authority. Respect if not being taught by parents or by our education system and so it carries over into our relationship with God. How do you respond when you hear a voice? How do you respond when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to your heart through the Word of God. Praise God today for the relationship that He desires to have with each and everyone of us. Second Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”