Simply the Bible Blog

I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” (Revelation 1.9-11, NKJV)

Alone and in exile, John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. The Holy Spirit was ministering to this troubled and isolated disciple of Jesus. We’re not completely sure what John meant by “the Lord’s Day.” Some say it was Sunday; others say that John was in the Spirit unto the Day of the Lord (the Second Coming). Either way, while others may have shunned and forgotten John, the Lord loved him. Jesus came up behind John and spoke to him with a loud Voice, like a trumpet.

John heard the Voice at a time he did not expect. Often it is at the most unexpected times that we hear the Voice. I have never heard it as a loud trumpet, but I have heard it as a soft whisper–so delicate that it is easily mistaken for my own thoughts. Some people are in the depths of sin when they hear the Voice. Mary Magdalene had seven demons possessing and controlling her when she heard the Voice. Saul of Tarsus was filled with self-righteous fervor and indignation against disciples of Jesus when he heard the Voice. A woman who had been caught in the act of adultery was facing execution by stoning when she heard the Voice. Have you heard the Voice?

Jesus said:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10.27, NKJV)

If you are one of His sheep, you will hear the Voice. But it helps to be “in the Spirit.” It helps to quiet ourselves from the noisy and incessant demands of life. Be still and know that He is God (Psa 46.10). John knew he was powerless to change his circumstances. When the efforts of flesh have failed, when we have died to what we can do, when we yield control and are filled with the Spirit, then we can hear the Voice.

Stop and pray:

“Lord, help me quiet myself and worship you. Help me give to you the cares of this day. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Help me hear your Voice.”