May God be pleased to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word let us turn to the
first chapter in the book of the Revelation and we'll read
verses 17 and 18 the book of the Revelation, chapter 1 and
reading verses 17 and 18 and when I saw him I fell at his
feet as dead And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.
I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. This was a very special day in
the history of the world. It was a special day when, as
we're told, the Lord came and appeared to John the Apostle
when he was on the Isle of Patmos. and he spoke to him and gave
him this what this book is called the revelation God gave to him
a revelation of those things which are to come there's many
things of course in this book which are not clear, but nonetheless
we do have a little insight into those things which are to be
realised as the world progresses towards that time when time will
be no more and also the glories of that place of glory where
the Church of God will go and on the other side the terrors
of that place which we refer to as hell where all those who
are lost will go so God, in his goodness and providence given
to us this account and John was able therefore to make a record
under the Spirit of God to that which is good and that which
is true and we're told, he tells us, I was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet
and it's just interesting for you younger ones that this is
I think the only place where we read of the Lord's Day because
of course in the Jewish time and in the Old Testament and
in the New Testament really until now the command was to keep the
Sabbath day which was of course the Saturday but then when the
Lord Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week
it has been referred to as the Lord's Day And therefore the
day which is kept as a holy day has changed really from the Sabbath
day to the Lord's day. And here we have then a confirmation,
if you like, of that in this account when John was blessed
with seeing this vision, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.
And I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, saying,
I, Milford, 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. and he lists them, the seven
churches and as I'm sure you know in the next two chapters,
the second and the third of Revelation there is the message that John
was given to give to each individual church and of course each message
was different because he addressed the particular church with their
particular situation but nonetheless they weren't then to consider
well that's all I need be concerned about because he was told write
in a book and send it unto the seven churches so therefore all
the churches were to receive the message that the apostle
was to write down and give to these seven churches and of course
it's wonderful that we have this instruction and well I have gone
through them years ago but we also have preached from them
to some of the churches from time to time and they are very
instructive and they are very direct and having then told John
who he was to write to He was then in this position, and he
says, and I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, he then tells
us, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clove of
the garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with
a golden girdle. and his head and his hairs were
white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as flames
of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned
in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. So
there was a description of this view of the Lord Jesus in this
situation. And then, he tells us, and he
had in his right hand seven stars. And out of his mouth went a sharp,
two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shining in its
strength. And with that sight, it was such
a glorious sight that we read what happened to him. And when
I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead." It was such a sight. He realised how small and how
insignificant he was. And we have other instances in
the Word of God. Daniel we can read of, Joshua
we can read of, just to name a couple, but there are several
instances when the Lord appeared to people and the effect was
they fell down upon their face it was such a powerful position
they found themselves in and therefore they fell down and
so John was no different he fell at his feet as one dead and then
the Lord very graciously came and laid his right hand upon
me saying unto me fear not I am the first and the last and it's
very good and gracious of our God to record a statement like
that because in our lives today although unlikely that we would
ever have a vision like that yet there are those times when
we are fearful of what may occur fearful perhaps of the future
and to think that we have such a gracious and compassionate
God who spoke to John and speaks to his people still today and
in a very special way he laid his right hand upon me saying
unto me, fear not well we do need sometimes in our little
lives words like that to encourage us to fear not and there are
of course many words especially perhaps in the prophecy of Isaiah
to encourage the church of God and to not therefore be fearful
but indeed to fear not and in Isaiah and in chapter 41 we can
read in verse 10 these words fear thou not Fear thou not. He was fearful, you see, for
the position that had been described to him in the previous verses.
Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I
am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. So we see the graciousness of
Almighty God to actually speak such words and we should realise
what a blessing it is because we are little unworthy sinners
specks of dust, as it were, in this vast earth and yet Almighty
God takes notice and comes and addresses us in a singular way
And you may say, well, I don't think it ever speak to me like
that. Well, it may be that when you
read the Bible, when you read the word of God, and you may
be fearful, you may come to a verse like this. And you read it. And you realise that it's there
and it has an application to your heart, to your life. And
what a blessing it is, how encouraging it is. Well, no doubt the Prophet
needed such words of encouragement. And perhaps we need, sometimes
in our lives, such words of encouragement. And quite clearly, the Apostle
John needed such words of encouragement in his life. And so these words
were spoken to him. And he said, And when I saw him,
I fell at his feet as dead, and his right hand upon me, saying
unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth
and was dead. As you know the Lord Jesus Christ
did die upon the cross at Calvary. He was dead for those three days
and nights, but He was raised from the dead as the first fruits
of the resurrection. And therefore, these words were
so true, as He said, I am He that liveth and was dead, and
behold, I am alive for evermore. No more to die. just to complete
this chapter the last verse tells us the mystery of the seven stars
which occurs earlier in this chapter the seven stars which
thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks
the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the
seven candlesticks, which thou sawest are the seven churches. Of course, the picture here was
Jesus in the midst of the seven churches. So that really is a
very wonderful and a very encouraging picture for us today, to realize
that Christ is in the midst of the churches. And therefore we
can believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the midst of us
here. And what a mercy and what a blessing
and what a favour that is. So I'm sure we can understand
how the Apostle John in this situation was so struck by the
appearance of the Son of God that he fell down at his feet
as dead. And the Lord graciously then
laid his right hand upon him, saying unto me, Fear not, I am
the first, and I am the last. The Lord Jesus Christ ever was,
and ever will be, the Eternal God. It's a great blessing when
God gives us gives his church faith to believe such a great
and wonderful truth because we are humans and we like to be
able to fathom everything work it out understand it touch it,
if you like and logically understand what's being described but the
truth is that you and I cannot understand such a truth as this. I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive for evermore. This great God always was, we
can't understand. Is, we can understand. Ever will
be, we can't understand. And what a blessing, therefore,
if God gives us faith to believe such a tremendous truth. And it is true because otherwise
God would not be God. If God had suddenly appeared
through some kind of strange phenomenon, there wouldn't have
been that blessed divinity. that we see in Almighty God so
it should be an encouragement to us as we read a statement
like this to believe the wonder of God's Word and to understand
and stand amazed at the wonder of God Himself and then you see
as we go on, and we won't go through it tonight, but to think
that there is God the Father and there is God the Son and
there is God the Holy Spirit and they're one person and they're
equal, they're co-equal it's amazing for our little minds
to try and assimilate But that is the truth and sets forth the
greatness of Almighty God. And to think, therefore, that
that God, as He is, three in one, is in every place in the
world, knowing what happens everywhere, and knowing what you and I think,
is just beyond our minds to comprehend, therefore, the greatness of God. But may such a truth have a gracious
effect upon us to make us realize that we do have to deal as little,
poor, weak sinners of the earth with such a great God. This God
who has said quite clearly, I am alive forevermore. He's not going to disappear. And he's not going to change
his mind. So read in Malachi these words,
I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And you may say, well, I don't
think that's very encouraging. Well, it should be encouraging
because if God could change his mind, he could say, well, everyone
is going to be cast into hell because no one deserves any mercy. And we couldn't disagree with
that. And yet if God gives us this faith to believe the greatness
of God and coupled with that the mercy of this great God and
also joined with that the love of this great God to unworthy
sinners it's wonderful to meditate and to think therefore that you
and I today are so wonderfully privileged to be able to come
to our God and of course the Word of God sets it before us God the Father God the Father
is a holy a holy God in heaven and we cannot therefore really
approach unto our Father directly, but we can approach through the
merits and through the intercession of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews
especially chapters 9 and 10 set before us the glorious position
that the Lord Jesus Christ takes as the High Priest and we have
the picture of the High Priest through the Old Testament the
High Priest of course was a very special person Aaron was the
first official high priest and here it was that under God's
ordination he would go into the Holy of Holies that holy place
in the tabernacle after it was erected and that was the place
where once a year he went into that place not without blood
and there was the Ark of the Covenant and on the Ark of the
Covenant there was the Mercy Seat and overshadowing the Mercy
Seat were those two cherubims and we know the Lord came down
in the cloud and met with the great and glorious High Priest
on the great day of atonement when he came to present the Israelites
and to confess the sins of all the Israelites and to seek for
forgiveness. And we see then that wonderful
picture of the high priest. And that of course followed for
hundreds of years. The high priest carried on the
son of the high priest the eldest son of the high priest took the
high priest's place and so it continued until until the time
that the Lord Jesus Christ came now, the Saviour he carried out
in his life all that his father gave him to do and The Lord Jesus Christ then died
upon that cross at Calvary. And whereas there was that requirement
for blood to be shed from the animals which were sacrificed
and offered up on the altar, the Lord Jesus Christ offered
up himself. And he shed his precious blood,
which was far, far more valuable of course in the blood just of
those animals which were sacrificed and because of that because of
the Lord Jesus' perfect sacrifice there was no need for any more
sacrifices and the Lord Jesus Christ then took the position
of the High Priest that one that had always been since Aaron,
now the Lord Jesus, took his place in glory. And we have a
picture really in the tabernacle and also in the temple. the Holy of Holies was a place
which was basically a cube, it was the same length and breadth
and height and it was very magnificent it was all faced in gold and
it really represented in a very poor way but it did represent
heaven that's where the high priest naturally went into on
that great day of atonement but when the Saviour died upon Calvary's
cross. And when He rose from the dead,
a conqueror over sin, death, hell and the grave. And after
those 40 days, He rose into glory, there to sit on the Father's
right hand as our glorious High Priest, to intercede for us today
and every day. And we see then the relevance
and the importance and the wonder of it and therefore all through
those Old Testament days there was that wonderful picture but
it was fulfilled through the Lord Jesus Christ when he was
offered up once once was sufficient he didn't have to be offered
again and therefore he is now in glory on his Father's right
hand. Whenever we pray to our Father
in heaven, our prayers are only accepted through the Lord Jesus
Christ's merit. And we must always remember then
As we pray to God, we should always come and say, for Jesus
Christ's sake, and our prayers might be accepted. Well, so we
have God the Father, and we have God the Son, and we have God
the Holy Spirit. The blessed Spirit of God confirms
and confers to us the great and glorious blessings of the Gospel,
and speaks to our hearts, and reveals to us the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the greatness of the Godhead. Well, just in a few words really
I've tried to summarise the great picture of Almighty God. And
of course, the words are very, very poor and very feeble, and
don't really convey the greatness of God. But here was the Apostle
John on this remarkable day on the Isle of Patmos, blessed with
this vision. and blessed to see the Lord Jesus. I'm blessed to hear these words
and to realize the importance of them. I am alive for evermore. How true that is. How wonderful
it is. But if we're able in some measure
to appreciate, therefore, the greatness of God, and to think
of his amazing mercy and his wonderful love to his people,
to his church. And surely we are here tonight
and I hope we're here tonight because we hope and we pray and
desire that we might be one of those for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ did die upon Calvary. And one of those for whom he's
gone to glory and gone to prepare a place in glory for us. And as we're told, he will come
again on the day of our death or when the Lord returns and
receive us unto himself. that where he is, there we shall
be forever. Forever. I think it was John Owen, that
great theologian, in years past, who on his dying bed, I think
he said something like this, the last words he spoke, eternity,
forever, forever. It's good sometimes to just ponder
these things. On the one hand, it's very solemn.
On the other hand, it's very blessed. to think that if we
are the children of God, that one day we shall arrive in heaven
and there will be no parting. We will be there with this God,
this great God, who we relive in the Word of God. And we will
be there because of His love to us, Not because we earned
our place there, but because, amazingly, He had reserved a
place for us. I love the word in Romans that
tells us God has reserved a place for His people. That means nobody
can take it. If a seat or a place, perhaps
a seat in a train or something, somewhere else is reserved for
you it is reserved for you and if you have usually a ticket
to demonstrate that seat is my seat it's reserved for me and
to think that in this glorious picture of heaven there is a
place reserved for us for all these people no one else can
come and take our place. And the Lord will receive us
in the exact second that he had determined from eternity. And that again is quite an amazing
meditation, isn't it? To think that God has determined
precisely that time when he will receive his people unto himself there won't be any lack of accuracy
it won't be that the Lord's forgotten us and oh I've forgotten that
person no the Lord's way is perfect his timing is perfect His plan
is perfect. He knows all about us. And He
knows that time when He will come and receive us unto Himself. And then it will be eternally,
alive forevermore. The Lord says, I am alive forevermore. He was. And every child of God
will also be alive forevermore. No more death. No more sin. No more difficulty. No more problems. It's wonderful to think of, isn't
it? Complete peace. Tranquility. And no need of the sun. Because
the Lord himself is, as the hymn says, there's no need for light. The Lord is all the glory in
Emmanuel's land. And the glory of God is so great. We have one or two little glimpses
of it, don't we, in the Word of God. You may remember, there
was that occasion when Jesus was on the earth and he took
Peter, James and John up a mountain and as they got to the top the
Lord Jesus was, we're told, transfigured before them he changed his appearance
and he was clothed in a spotless white robe and there were these
three disciples and they couldn't look the brightness was so great
they couldn't look and they never forgot that glorious occasion
and even in the case of the Apostle Paul when the Lord came and struck
him down on the Damascus road and it was really there the glory
of God and he refers to it when he came before Agrippa and spoke
of his conversion And he said, there appeared this light above
the brightness of the midday sun. Well, as we all know, I'm
sure it's too dangerous to even look at the sun, because we would
be blinded. And especially the midday sun, which is the hottest
sun, and especially in the Middle East, where it's hotter still.
And yet, the glory of God was above that brightness. Just gives
us a little clue, doesn't it? A little sight of the wonder
of the glory of God. Since again, it's really beyond
our understanding. And so here we have this tremendous
statement, really. And he said, fear not. I am he
that liveth, and was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore. Now, may it be that you and I
have, therefore, some right understanding, naturally. We can't really appreciate
it. We never will, fully. But it's
good to just have a little right understanding. of the majesty
of Almighty God. Yes, it's good to realize this. Isaiah had a vision, and he saw
the Lord high and lifted up, and that had a great effect upon
Isaiah. The great God, high and lifted
up. I really feel we're saying these things because so often
today we have wrong views of the majesty and the power and
the greatness of God. We almost assume that he's like
ourselves. Summarily, just like ourselves. Well, the mercy is we can approach
unto this God. But remember, we do approach
through the Lord Jesus Christ as our intercessor. But nonetheless,
What compassion, what mercy, that you and I, as utterly unworthy
sinners of the earth, can come to the majesty on high, this
great and glorious being, through the Lord Jesus Christ. And to
realize, therefore, that one day, and what a day that will
be, What a day! One day we shall come and see
Him face to face. There will be no veil between.
We will be there in glory. And it is by His grace, and it's
wonderful to think upon it, to realise that the Lord has
loved us so much and again it's so difficult, isn't it? to understand
the love of God you and I look at ourselves perhaps
we wonder, how can anybody really love us? but to think that this great
and holy God who has no sin, who is perfect in every way,
and yet has loved us. Well, I believe it's like this.
He calls a people for His own so that they will be able to
praise and to glorify His name in glory. You see, the Lord Almighty
God is a generous God. and he will be honoured and he
will be glorified. And that will be the blessed
privilege and lot of the Church of God, to praise and to glorify
their God when they get to heaven. And I do believe, as I've said
so often, you know that praise to God doesn't suddenly appear
when we get to glory I believe as we pass through this world
with the many blessings that we receive for the wonderful
gift of eternal life which God evidences to us and shows us
that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ There
is cause, there is reason indeed to praise God while we're on
the earth. And so the praise of the church
of God doesn't begin when we get to glory. It begins on this
earth. And it begins on this earth in
this way, the true church of God will say, worthy is the lamb
that was slain, to receive honour and glory. And I am so unworthy,
but I desire to praise my God. Praise is good. Praise is comely. And we should be concerned to
praise our great and glorious God for his wonderful mercy and
favour And the wonderful plan of salvation, because again,
can't go through everything, but just very quickly, just to
think that there was Adam and Eve put into that perfect place
in the Garden of Eden. And what do they do? They disobey
God. What was that? Sin. they'd spoilt the whole situation
I think the hymn writer is so very accurate when he says O
thou hideous monster sin what a curse hast thou brought in
all creation groans through thee you think about that, it's so
true isn't it? sin is a monster just think if there was no sin
What a wonderful state we would be in. Well, by God's grace,
we will, in due time, get to glory and be in that place where
there is no sin. But nonetheless, as we see, the
Lord God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve and cause them to
sin. And therefore, every person,
every child of God, will desire to praise his maker for redeeming
their souls. Because again the hymn writer
is accurate when he says, lost and ruined in the fall. No hope. Our only hope is through what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done. Now this is done so that poor
mankind will be forever blessed those for whom the Lord has ordained. And the words are very clear. Jesus spoke in the 15th of John.
He said, not that you have chosen me, but that I have chosen you
and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and
that your fruit should remain. That is a picture of the Church
of God bringing glory to God. Fruitfulness in the things of
God. That is our life. Our life should
be concerned about that. Your life and my life. To bring
glory to this great and powerful God, who we are told His own
words, I am alive forevermore. Such a statement may make us
tremble. Because if we're not saved, it's
a terrible position to be in forevermore in utter misery. But on the other hand, if we
are saved, it's a wonderful blessing, an eternal blessing. So how very,
very important it is for all of us to have the evidence that
we're convicted and convinced of our sin and that we are blessed
with that true desire to be sorry and to repent of our sins and
to seek for forgiveness from the Blessed Lord and then to
view, by faith, the Son of God suffering in our place upon that
cross at Calvary to redeem us from all our sins. And you see,
if that is made over to us, then it is well with our souls. And my friends, if it's not,
it's woe to our souls. You see, the Word of God is not
to be trifled with. People today think they can just
cast it aside as irrelevant. The Word of God is forevermore. His words will not change. And so may it be a wonderful
encouragement to us if we have the evidence of the work of God
in our souls. And if we don't, to plead with
Him night and day until he speaks to us and tells us we are one
of his children and if we are then it is well with our soul
that he in his amazing love for us has redeemed our souls so
that by his grace one day we shall be with him and all the
church of God rejoicing in that great salvation oh it's A wonderful
subject, isn't it, to meditate upon. Well, may the Lord enable
us so to do as we think of these words. I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. You see, the Lord God has the
key, the door to life and the key to the door of death. And
oh, may we realize that he's opened the door of life for us,
that door then which will never be closed until all the Church
of God are safe in glory. Well, he was then told, write
the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and
the things which shall be hereafter.